JG
StreamScape
Turning Casual Viewers into Loyal Subscribers
The Streaming Dilemma
Streaming apps are everywhere. Users can watch anything, anytime, on any device. But with so many options available, loyalty is fragile. When I was introduced to StreamScape, a freemium streaming app, the challenge wasn’t just about improving usability, it was about encouraging users to upgrade to premium.
The question became clear: how do you design an experience that feels seamless and enjoyable, while also nudging users toward paid membership without being pushy?
The Complete Viewing Experience
The opportunity wasn’t to redesign a streaming app from scratch. It was to refine an existing foundation and make it smarter. I wanted StreamScape to feel intuitive, modern, and personalized. An app users would actually want to invest in.
If premium felt valuable and natural within the experience, upgrading wouldn’t feel like a sales pitch. It would feel like a logical next step.
Studying the Script
At the start of the project, I stepped into an experience that already had a foundation: StreamScape’s initial wireframes. Rather than rebuilding from scratch, my role was to evaluate what was working, identify what wasn’t, and reshape the structure with a clear objective in mind, increasing premium conversions. By critically analyzing the existing layouts and user flows, I developed a strategy to refine the experience so that upgrading felt like a natural and compelling next step.
Looking Behind the Screens
Once I had a sense of the wireframes and a rough plan for how to approach the redesign, I dove into research. I analyzed competitor streaming apps that also used the freemium model to see how they encouraged users to upgrade to paid accounts. Some apps leaned on well-timed prompts, others highlighted exclusive features, and a few used subtle cues within the browsing experience.
Studying these patterns gave me a clearer picture of what worked along with what didn't when motivating users to take the next step. These insights became a guiding reference throughout the project, informing decisions about where and how to surface premium features, and helping me ensure that any updates to StreamScape would feel natural, intuitive, and effective.
Mapping the Viewer's Journey
Using Figma, I created user journey maps to trace how someone would move through StreamScape toward a premium account. Visualizing these steps revealed key moments where users were most engaged and most likely to consider upgrading. I discovered opportunities to encourage conversions naturally, such as strategically placed pop-ups, prompts on the sign-up page, and subtle nudges on the homepage. By mapping the journey this way, I could see exactly where design could guide users toward creating new premium accounts or upgrading existing ones, ensuring that the path to premium felt intuitive rather than forced.
Storyboards in Motion
After reviewing the initial wireframes, conducting research, and mapping user journeys, I began shaping ideas for how StreamScape could better guide users toward premium accounts. Using Figma, I translated these concepts into low-fidelity wireframes that focused on structure, flow, and key interactions rather than visual polish. These wireframes were reviewed and then tested through five rounds of user testing. Insights from these sessions highlighted areas for improvement and informed refinements, ultimately laying the foundation for the high-fidelity mockups that would bring the redesign to life.
From Storyboard to Screen
With insights from testing the low-fidelity wireframes, I transformed the concepts into high-fidelity mockups in Figma. Early feedback had revealed that some buttons didn’t clearly indicate they were clickable and that users weren’t aware they could dismiss pop-ups by clicking outside them. These observations directly informed the design of the polished screens, ensuring interactions were intuitive and visual cues were clear. Once the high-fidelity mockups were complete, they were tested in a second round of usability sessions, validating the updates and confirming that the app now offered a smooth, engaging experience while effectively guiding users toward premium features.
Audience Reactions
Following the creation of the initial high-fidelity mockups in Figma, usability testing was conducted over two days with five participants aged seventeen to fifty-four, all experienced with streaming services. The goal was to see how real users interacted with StreamScape and to identify friction points that could impact their experience.
Issue: Missing filter option
Findings: On StreamScape, content such as television shows and films were shown toegether. Four out of five participants immediately tried to filter content and expressed frustration when they couldn’t. The lack of this functionality made navigation feel confusing, highlighting a gap in the browsing experience that risked disengaging users.
Solution: Following the completion of the usability tests, a redesign was carried out based on the feedback received. As part of this redesign, filtering options were incorporated into the relevant pages to enhance content navigation. Two buttons were introduced to help users filter content by type (movies and television shows), while an additional option was added to filter by genre.
No options to filter content
Option to filter content by type
Option to filter content by genre
Director's Commentary
Working on StreamScape was a hands-on lesson in UX design. Competitor analysis improved how I organize and use my research, while building low and high-fidelity mockups strengthened my Figma skills and made my design process more efficient. Usability testing and presenting my work also honed my communication, teaching me how to explain design decisions clearly. Overall, the project helped me grow as a more confident, versatile, and user-focused designer.
