new home on pluto
Designing Pluto TV's new centralized hub for what's next & what's not finished
My contributions: User Interviews, workshopping, strategy, design system contribution
Context
Pluto TV relied on an outdated linear cable-style streaming model, so we needed to modernize its passive "lean-back" experience to engage a new generation of users accustomed to on-demand streaming.
Problem
Pluto lacked a system for users to discover relevant content tailored to their interests.
Pluto separated live and on-demand content, limiting user control. As a result, users lacked a seamless way to resume previously watched content.
Solution
"Home" was introduced as a central hub for Pluto users, providing them with curated recommendations for both live and on-demand content while enabling quick access to recently watched content
Impact
Increased quality users from 23% to 28%+
2.2x watch actions
1.5x bookmark actions
FINAL DESIGN
When I joined the team, this project was just coming out of a year long hibernation. I took on the project and continued the process. I iterated on existing concepts, creating high-fidelity screens and validating them directly with users to confirm our strategic direction.
During testing, our users found it challenging to identify live content on the homepage amidst the diverse range of other content types. To ensure the homepage serves as an effective launchpad for content, optimizing the display of live content was critical; this helps users easily choose the content that best suits their needs.
Cardsorting exercise to see how Pluto users would prefer to see their row order
Badging
We introduced a badging system to boost content discoverability. These badges give users key information, helping them decide what to watch. For instance, a "Leaving Soon" badge encourages users to watch content before it's removed from the service.
Explorations of how badging might show up on content cards
Mobile Adaptation
During discovery, the team and I decided that it would save development effort to reuse some legacy code and logic for the new Home section. However, usability testing results revealed that decision was a mistake. Not only that, our users thought that it was broken and unable to watch the piece of live content that they wanted to watch.
This led to a lot of discussion internally and we were able to come to alignment - to listen to our users. Instead of reusing outdated logic and rushing development, we agreed to build a solution tailored specifically for the new section—ensuring a smoother, more intuitive experience for our users.
Mapping out various scenarios on mobile to align stakeholders on key mobile flows
Next Steps
Home is in itself a really big initiative and there are definitely optimizations that are on the roadmap that is worth mentioning.
Display of single content channels vs multi content channels: Right now, some users are having a hard time making watch decisions on channels because they lack a complete understanding of what content is available. I see an opportunity to further explore designs that offer a more comprehensive overview of each channel's programming, all without leaving the homepage.
