Rethinking Roku

Clarifying user needs from broad insights proved to be our biggest challenge. It was between our affinity mapping and persona development that our team hit our biggest roadblock of the design sprint.

We were able to narrow down our core concepts to 5. Getting past this point was becoming more difficult as the concepts did not provide a clear problem for us to solve. Some of our failed attempts at problem statements included:

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Roku needs a better way to make their app appealing, because the market is catching up to them. 

(Persona) needs a better way to interact with their friends, because they live in different parts of the country. 

(Persona) needs a better setup to quickly create content, because content creators are increasingly uploading content faster. 

(Persona) needs a better way to watch TV shows when the connection times out, because waiting for their devices to reconnect is too frustrating.

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The original goal assigned was to simply drive more users towards the app by giving it more purpose. ​​

However, that purpose seemed like more of an open book. We knew there were some pain points with the aesthetics of the app and how users did not feel it was as sleak and minimal like HBO MAX or Apple TV. We also knew users were frequently looking up information about the tv shows and movies they watch, and watching certain shows with family and friends. Creating a problem statement around this was proving difficult.

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After facing challenges in defining a clear problem statement, we revisited our research with a renewed lens. We uncovered a growing trend among streaming platforms: the integration of social features to boost user engagement and retention. We also analyzed broader industry shifts, such as Amazon’s acquisition of IMDb to enhance content discovery on Prime Video. These strategic insights helped us reframe our design approach.

Over the next three days, focused analysis, reflection, and agile collaboration allowed us to regain momentum. One of my teammates led the effort in drafting the initial wireframes and building a foundational design system. During this phase, I worked closely with two other teammates to refine our primary persona and articulate a clear, actionable problem statement. With just one week remaining, we made the strategic decision to move forward with a single, well-defined persona—enabling us to streamline the experience and adapt multiple user flows to two key scenarios within that user’s journey.

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