Product Design
Strategy
CTV
Usability Testing
Your front-row seat, on every platform.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
During March Madness, fans aren't just watching games, they're tracking brackets, checking scores, and trying to keep up with several games at once. Bracket Challenge gave fans a place to build and track their picks. Game Switcher gave them a way to move between the live games.
As lead product designer, I designed both features to work across mobile, web, and connected TV. Each platform came with its own way of navigating and its own audience, making Bracket Challenge and Game Switcher feel native, not just functional.
CHALLENGES
The Bracket Challenge had to feel completely native whether driven by a remote control or a game controller. Those are two fundamentally different input models, and neither could feel like an afterthought.
Game Switcher brought its own design tension. While stakeholders pushed for a multi view layout to show several games at once, my focus was testing what fans actually needed in the moment, balancing the business ask against real world live viewing habits.
PROCESS
The Bracket Challenge had to feel seamless whether a fan navigated with a TV remote or an Xbox controller. I partnered directly with Microsoft engineers to understand the technical capabilities and constraints of the Xbox ecosystem, ensuring our design strategy across teams was grounded in user research and validated behavior.
Game Switcher grew out of a crucial pivot. Originally conceived as a multi view feature, usability testing revealed that fans didn’t want to divide their attention between multiple games at once. I presented these findings to leadership, framing the multi view approach as a potential risk to engagement and advocating instead for a focused single game experience with the ability to switch quickly between games. Another round of testing validated the direction, and Game Switcher was greenlit across all platforms. I guided cross-platform alignment to ensure each team translated the experience around verified fan behavior, from a floating action button for quick access on mobile to a persistent drawer for effortless navigation on CTV.
BUSINESS IMPACT
The strategy contributed to historic growth for March Madness Live, reaching 10.8M live uniques (up 14% YoY) and 97.9M live streams (up 33%). Total property engagement jumped to 20.0M unique visitors (up 56%) and 105.2M visits (up 32%), peaking at 874.9K concurrent users on championship night.
Connected TV led this expansion as the fastest-growing platform in the ecosystem, surging 121% YoY in live uniques. From solving input parity on Xbox to replacing multi-view with an intuitive Game Switcher, every design choice eliminated friction. Grounding the product in verified fan behavior allowed March Madness Live to scale seamlessly across every screen.
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