Movies & TV
SmartCentral (TV App)
Designing a media streamer that would be built into every flatscreen that was sold by Sharp.
Designs
Movie/TV Catalog
Purchase Process
App Hub
Contribution
User Research
Market Research
Wireframes
SHARP Labs of America
Sharp Corporation is a multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products. Sharp Labs is a special R&D site for product development.
Mockups & Presentations
Challenge
Create a media streamer that would allow users to search for titles across all apps and purchase.
Solution
After looking at the competition and seeing how titles are searched across providers, I was able to form a concept that was both familiar and innovative. It would accomplish familiar tasks but in a much more intuitive manner. We found that we could provide a starting navigation to help foster a relationship with titles and Sharp.
We also kept the array of provider-owned apps in a docket for users who show are more streamer loyalty.
Page Design
For the bulk of the design effort, the decision was to own the presentation of titles rather than depend on external providers. Thus screens focused on expected levels of detail from description to category.
Component Design
Wireframes below are similar to the ones used for identifying how searches are accomplished. This was one of Sharp’s most important features: to search across all providers. Add to the fact that, irrespective of the owner, a title could be purchased.
The Power of One
One crucial strategy across the cycle of this product was to centralize the effort to find media, buy media, and play media. All in one place. Even as other competitors had left the elegance to the providers, such as Netflix, Sharp wanted to do the opposite. Sharp wanted to retain a relationship with the user regardless of the source.
Building Trust
We wanted Sharp to become a trusted connection to all media. Rather than skewing the process for how media can be purchased, which is the case of provider agnostic devices such as Boxee and Roku.
Built-In Awesomeness
We found that many providers had great titles beyond key market leaders like Netflix but poor user experience. Sharp’s product mitigated this by providing its on-board user interface.
Domain Knowledge
On-Board Apps
Cross-Provider Searches
Media streamers
Design Tools
OmniGraffle
Visio
Freemind