🔗 ESPN Streaming

Revolutionizing sports streaming with an expanded viewing experience

Roles

Product Design
Design Systems
Research

Deliverables

R&D/Pitch Presentations
Rapid Prototyping
System Components
UI & UX Flows
Feature Specs

Platforms

ESPN TV
Roku
Android/FireTV
tvOS
Browser Based Devices

Launched

2025

How might we create a watching experience that embodies the full potential of the ESPN brand?

Creating a framework that can house one-of-a-kind integrations like stats, clips, fantasy sports, betting and shopping for live events.

A Responsive Environment that Engages with Video

Project Focus
Create an interactive experience for live video that doesn’t take away from a busy sports stream.

Considerations
Avoid covering: lower thirds, data feeds, side bars, scorebugs, existing broadcast overlays.

Takeaway
We took inspiration from OBS software, Twitch streamers and AWS video ad formats, that seemed to react less invasively to the video itself. Ads seemed to push video down subtly and let users engage with the video comfortable side by side. We needed a large enough space to design in for multiple formats, data types and presentation options.

Content Load on Focus

Access information easily without having to press ‘OK’ or confirm. A smoother experience with less steps

Fixed Position Scrolling

Content flows vertically into the first position, until reaching a threshhold where the user continues down the scroll area.

Because video is playing side by side the user’s actions, a fixed position allows for clear focus and a learned behavior for future patterns.

Expanding and Anticipatory UX

In the case a user needs to go deeper into a piece of content, we introduced a new expanding card type that reveals a secondary scroll area.

We allowed for the header area to become inactive or un-focusable, with only the extra content inside of it being the main actor.

Proud Dad Moment
We anticipated a user’s actions by removing an unnecessary action step. By auto closing the accordion card if the user presses ‘UP’ to the top area, they’re able to seamlessly glide through multiple areas of content.

Contributions

Lead Designers
Joseph Lasko, Ethan Coy

Product Designers
Travis Baurmann, Jake Parrish, Dena Sabha, Becky Drexler

Design Managers
Tyler Smith, Marcos Escutia, Danielle Klesin

Product Managers
Darren Alphonse, Rachel Goffin, Shaun McPartlin, Alex Weber, Jane Kim

Engineering
Internal ESPN (Alejandro Maya, Angel Rivera, Angela Onofrio, Chris Swain, Courtney Jones, Daniel Smith, David Pean, Diego Montenegro, Edier Sua, Eric Briley, Eric Dockery, Francisco Ramos, Francois Jeanneret, Frank Manni, Henry Acosta, Henry Belmont, Jacob Zadroga, Jason White, Jimin Cutrell, Johnpaul Relunia, Jon Polasaki, Jonathan Pereya, Justin Clark, Kentaro Westdorp, Kevin Clement, Kevin Kim, Luis Zapata, Matt Nash, Megan Janssen, Mutaaf Aziz, Nicholas Perry, Nilesh Shah, Quintan Park, Reid Weber, Robert Wong, Trevor Mullaney, Will Carson, Zoe Buck), Ari Evans (et. al)