Product: Mobile & Tablet Vision
Vision work reimagining the information architecture and content hierarchy of Disney+ on mobile and tablet. Born in an ideation jam and now being shaped toward the product roadmap.
Project Details
Role
Product Designer
Platform
Mobile and Tablet
Timeframe
October 2026
Problem: Phone-First Hierarchy
On mobile, value is front-loaded: 82.5% of plays come from Continue Watching and 80% from the first tile, while users stop scrolling after row 5. Discovery deeper in the feed goes largely unused.
On tablet, most apps still ship a stretched phone layout, even though tablet sessions run longer, calmer and more family-oriented. Navigation and hierarchy don't match how the device is held.
Solution
I joined an ideation jam to generate fresh ideas for the Disney+ app, then built interactive prototypes and research reports that rethink feed modes, navigation and hierarchy for both devices. These concepts are now being developed toward the product roadmap.
By the Numbers: Attention Is Front-Loaded
of plays come from Continue Watching.
Returning viewers want to resume, not browse. Their show has to be the first thing they see.
of plays come from the first tile position.
Whatever sits first does most of the work, so ordering and hierarchy are the product.
is where scrolling drops off.
Content past row 5 rarely gets seen, so the best picks have to live near the top.
01 / MOBILE: FEED & NAVIGATION
Every mobile idea was anchored to engagement data and mapped to five customer journey (CUJ) personas, then pressure-tested against patterns from Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, TikTok and more.
The goal: instead of one generic feed, give each persona a clear home within the rows people actually see.
Who We Designed For
Continue-Watching Man
Wants to jump back into his show fast. Speed-to-play beats everything, and this behavior drives 82.5% of plays.
Captain Downtime
Browses in idle moments and wants something new, without the decision fatigue of an endless catalog.
Professor Livestream
Wants to see what's live right now. Sports, events and premieres where timing and urgency matter.
Key Concepts
Swipeable Feed Modes
Swipe between For You, New and Live so each persona gets a dedicated home instead of one crowded feed.
My Feeds
AI-powered custom feeds that users create by describing a topic, like Cozy Nights or Marvel Universe.
"What Should I Watch?"
A conversational AI entry point. Describe your mood and who's watching to get a curated short-list.
02 / TABLET: DESIGNED FOR THE COUCH
Tablet sessions are longer, calmer and more shared than phone sessions. The tablet deserves its own information architecture, not a scaled-up phone layout.
Yet most apps still ship a stretched phone layout. I adapted the mobile redesign for tablet using usability research, platform guidance and competitor precedent, and added a new persona: the Co-Pilot Parent, who hands over a shared family tablet and watches alongside.
The Tablet Viewer: Seated, Shared, Sideways
of tablet use happens seated.
A lean-back, two-handed device that behaves more like a TV than a phone.
of US kids aged 0-8 have their own tablet.
It's a shared family screen, so profile switching and kid-safe targets stay one tap away.
of large-tablet use is in landscape.
Landscape is the default posture, so layouts are designed for it first, not adapted to it.
Design Principles
Design by Size Class
Portrait and landscape get their own layouts, navigation and grid columns, instead of rotating the phone design.
Reachable Navigation
Tablets are held at the edges, so navigation moves to the sides in landscape, away from the hard-to-reach bottom edge.
Fill the Surface
Use the extra space for more tiles per row and denser grids, rather than stretching phone-sized content.
Key Decisions
Adaptive Navigation
A sidebar in landscape and a bottom-bar option in portrait, keeping the same five destinations as mobile.
Capped Hero, Fuller Rows
The hero no longer fills the viewport, so more rows and titles show on the first screen, where attention is.
Persistent Playbar
Playback survives multitasking. A full-width playbar hands off to picture-in-picture and holds up in Split View.
