DISNEY+ / DESIGN & RESEARCH / SHIPPED
Product: Video Tiles
A video-integrated tile system. I designed an adaptable video-integrated tile format that seamlessly transitions from static art to rich video previews upon user focus.
Project Details
Role
Co-Lead Designer and Lead Researcher
Platform
All Living Room Devices
Timeframe
90 days
Key Partners
Design, Product, Engineering, QA, Programming, Data, Artwork, Studios
Problem: Static Info
Static browse pages fail to capture the cinematic energy of streaming content. Traditional vertical artwork relies entirely on static imagery to convey a title’s tone, genres, and production value.
User research indicated that viewers frequently struggle to evaluate new or unfamiliar content from a single image, leading to decision fatigue and increased drop-off rates.
Solution
I co-led the transition of the Disney+ homepage from a static asset experience to a dynamic video ecosystem that subscribers use as a decision making tool to decide their next watch.
Due to our success, I am currently leading the design strategy to scale and optimize this video framework for Mobile and Web platforms next.
Impact
Engagement in curated sets.
Drove a massive +53.5% CTR increase for key content trays like Newly Added.
Lift in Homepage hours.
Proven net-positive platform engagement and overall streaming time.
Spike in Video Previews.
Massively increased user curiosity and visual discovery across the interface.
01 / MOVING FROM STATIC IMAGERY TO DYNAMIC DISCOVERY
How might we bring video into the browse experience to give subscribers instant narrative clarity without causing fatigue?
Visionwork Concept
02 / DISNEY+ BROWSE GRID
What we started with: Disney+ browse experience with static artwork. Disney+ originally relied entirely on static poster artwork across the interface, offering a dense but motionless browse experience. While visually rich, static images couldn’t capture the tone, pacing, or cinematic feel of our content - forcing subscribers to rely heavily on trial-and-error browsing. This presented a major opportunity for our team to evaluate the entire UI and identify high-impact touchpoints where dynamic video integration could streamline discovery.
Storyboard: Exploring how to leverage video directly in the browse grid.
03 / EXPERIMENT 1: VALIDATION VIA APPLE TV (MVP)
To gather rapid data, we started with standard vertical video assets cropped to keep core subjects centered. We partnered with Apple TV engineering, our fastest-delivering client platform, to deploy our MVP to validate playback performance and baseline engagement.
04 / QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Moderating paper prototyping sessions
Paper Prototyping
In parallel, I conducted internal paper prototyping sessions to test physical card layouts and identify the ”at-a-glance” metadata fields needed for quick decision-making.
This research directly shaped our expanded video tile UI by proving subscribers prioritize high-level orientation tags (like Title, Year Released, and Video Autoplay) over secondary social or deep detail features.
Instant Evaluation
Subscribers rely on a strict hierarchy of high-utility metadata to evaluate titles in under 3 seconds.
Context Preservation
Expanded cards act as ”mini details pages” directly in the grid, letting users evaluate content deeply without navigating away.
Tailored Models
Different content types demand distinct treatments; sports/live require score controls and instant play, while movies rely on ambient narrative clips.
Subscriber Research & Validation: Moderating sessions to evaluate prototypes and key decision moments.
Impact: User Testing
I designed and moderated an end-to-end research study comparing vertical and horizontal expanded video prototypes. After synthesizing subscriber insights, I presented our findings to cross-functional partners and executive leadership - securing buy-in and alignment to advance the expanded horizontal design.
Premium Perception
Expanded horizontal tile formats elevate product quality and user value.
Interaction Mechanics
Anchored focal points reduce cognitive strain during 10ft remote navigation.
Scalability
Partial video rollouts create cognitive dissonance and feel like platform errors.
05 / DESIGN EXPLORATIONS & DECISIONS
Fixed Focus with Expanded Horizontal Layout: Recommended path forward
Disney+ historically used a floating focus model (where the selection outline moves across a static grid). We shifted to a Fixed Focus model, anchoring the active video tile to a predictable landing zone while the grid moves beneath it - reducing visual strain as video previews auto-play.
Floating Focus with Vertical Layout: Disney+ previous model
Standard poster art on Disney+ uses vertical 2:3 aspect ratios. We initially tested cropping video into vertical cards for quick delivery. Subscriber research revealed vertical video previews felt cramped and more like a social feed. Transitioning to an Expanded Horizontal Format provided a cinematic, premium canvas that accommodated video motion and critical metadata cleanly.
Metadata Competitive Analysis & Prioritization derived from previous research + paper prototyping exercise.
06 / VIDEO TILES: WHAT WE SHIPPED
Video in Browse Experience Program: Changes we made to Disney+ over the past year.
07 / VIDEO TILES ON MOBILE
Mobile prototypes: Exploring video tile variants for experimentation.
Following the proven success of video tiles on TV, we secured executive buy in to scale the framework across ecosystems. I am currently leading the design initiative to bring motion-first discovery to Mobile - exploring responsive tile layouts and gesture-based interaction models. Partnering closely with Product and Engineering, we are preparing a suite of experimental variants to test and optimize performance.
Design & Research · Rapid Experimentation · 8 months · Shipped
Product
A motion-first hero experience for Disney+. I designed an adaptive, full-bleed video header system that dynamically transitions from static key art to cinematic video previews upon focus, spotlighting fresh releases and top-tier IP.
Project Details
Role
Co-Lead Designer and Lead Researcher
Platform
All Living Room and Web Devices
Timeframe
8 months
Key Partners
Design, Product, Engineering, QA, Programming, Data, Artwork, Studios
Problem
Static top-of-page banners failed to convey the tone, pacing, and production quality of new or featured titles. Viewers struggled to discover newly added content without scrolling deep into specific trays, leading to browse fatigue and lower conversion on featured titles.
Solution
I co-led the redesign of the premier Disney+ homepage real estate, replacing static banners with an immersive video framework. The design balances studio branding needs with seamless global navigation. Following its massive success, I am now leading the strategy to scale this video framework across Mobile.
Impact
Video art significantly outperformed static key art in US A/B holdouts (Roku +7%, BBD +5.6%, Apple +4%)
Lift in Homepage hours.
Proven net-positive platform engagement and overall streaming time.
Previews reduced aimless scrolling; users browsed fewer titles but converted to full watches faster.
01 / SETTING THE STRATEGY
When tasked with injecting video across the Disney+ app, we didn’t just want to add video for the sake of motion.
I led the creation of a Video in Browse Framework to systematically evaluate which high-traffic surfaces would genuinely benefit from video. Combined with rigorous competitive analysis and historical user data, we established a strong point of view and prioritized three distinct core spaces:
The Details Page / Target: Contextual validation
The Top Hero Space / Target: High-impact content spotlighting
Browsing Trays / Target: Grid discovery
02 / RAPID EXPERIMENTATION: UNLOCKING VIDEO CAPABILITIES
Some experiments fail and the data gathered from those failures is invaluable.
As our first strategic initiative to unlock video capabilities across Disney+ we executed a two phase cross-platform experimentation roadmap starting with our Details Page.
We had access to 2 types of video art assets we wanted to test: Silent videos and Trailer assets.
Details Page: The standard details page with static artwork.
Experiment 1: Silent Videos
Test silent, quick-cut background video against static key art
Experiment 2: Trailers
Test adding trailers to establish audio, genre, and tone.
Early Sketch: Exploring how video could elevate the Details Page, created during our team’s early ideation jam session.
Video in Disney+ Jam Prior to project kickoff, I co-facilitated a cross-functional design jam to explore how video could elevate discovery across Disney+. We framed our exploration around a core How Might We:
How might we use video to help subscribers instantly evaluate content and reduce browse fatigue on Disney+?
03 / EXPERIMENT 1: SILENT VIDEOS
Silent Video Art on the Details Page: Interaction across all clients (TV, Web, Mobile)
Cross-Platform Motion & Behavioral Logic I partnered closely with the Motion Design team to define video mechanics across Living Room, Web, and Mobile clients.
Together we designed and standardized:
Contextual video triggers
Scroll-activation thresholds
Seamless transitions back to static fallback artwork
Underlying playback state logic to ensure a performant, low-friction user experience.
Experiment Details
Control: Standard static key art on the Details Page.
Treatment: Auto-playing, silent, quick-cut background MP4 videos across 1,169 eligible Details Pages to increase visual interest and title engagement.
Impact: Silent Videos
Approach
Muted, quick-cut background video art on the details page.
Result
Stat-sig negative engagement (-0.28% TPV, -10% trailer clicks on unfamiliar titles).
Learning
Silent rapid cuts lacked narrative coherence and audio cues causing confusion.
04 / EXPERIMENT 2: TRAILERS
Trailers on Details: Designed for Android TV and Roku TV
Trailers & Audio Exploration
We ran a second experiment incorporating trailer video assets with audio across Living Room (Android TV and Roku) and Web. As part of this phase, we explored:
Audio Mechanics: Evaluated initial audio behaviors and tested explicit audio toggle controls to prevent sudden sound blasts on TV speakers during evening browsing.
Interactive Button States: Standardized hover and focal behavior for the primary “Watch Trailer” button on the Details Page so that when background playback triggered, UI controls seamlessly dimmed without losing focus state or blocking controls.
Impact: Trailers
Approach
Full-length trailers with audio on the details page.
Result
0% neutral net impact on Roku and Web.
Learning
Trailers were long and heavy rather than a compelling teaser.
05 / LEARNINGS & NEXT STEPS
Video quantity does not equal discovery quality. Clip selection is critical.
This initiative was followed by:
Artwork Team Partnership: Worked to establish a new cross-functional mandate with our Scalable Artwork team to shift from long-form trailers to punchy, short-form “scene lifts” designed to quickly convey genre, pacing, and tone without narrative spoilers.
The Hulu Integration: Concurrent with our launch, a massive company-wide push was underway to merge Hulu into Disney+. I maintained tight sync across parallel design squads to ensure our hero layout remained compatible with evolving global navigation systems.
06 / SCALING SUCCESS: REDEFINING THE FLAGSHIP DISNEY+ HERO EXPERIENCE
How a net new video framework redefined content discovery and elevated flagship IP spotlights across Living Room and Web.
Hero Carousel: What we started with on the homepage.
While our artwork production team scaled the creation of scene lifts for all devices (tv, web, mobile), we identified a critical gap in the core browse experience: subscribers struggled to discover new and featured releases unless they actively scrolled down to specific curated trays like “Newly Added”.
This feature required a ground-up redesign of the premier real estate on Disney+.
Balancing Multi-Stakeholder Needs:
For Subscribers: Instantly highlight content freshness, tone, and production quality without requiring extra clicks.
For Content Partners & Studios: Provide an authoritative, cinematic spotlight that respects studio branding guidelines and IP presentation standards.
07 / EXPLORATION & DESIGN TRADE-OFFS
Exploration: Tested full-bleed and tile formats across Living Room, Web, and Mobile.
The Constraint: 16:9 videos auto-cropped to 9:16 vertical cut off key subjects and context on mobile.
The Strategic Pivot: Lacking native vertical assets, I presented the UX trade-offs to S-level leadership, aligning to table Mobile and focus on high-impact Living Room and Web experiences.
Explorations: Hero video with new global navigation
Impact: Hero Experience
Up to +7% CTR
Video art significantly outperformed static key art across all major TV platforms.
+2% eCTR
Proving long-term engagement and establishing TVs as the primary surface where motion drives the highest subscriber engagement.
Fewer Clicks, Higher Intent
Motion reduced aimless browsing in favor of high-confidence stream starts.
Before and After: Hero with video integrated experience
