DISH On Demand Purchases

The problem

Electronic sell-through—the ability to purchase video content through DISH—was an opportunity to add a revenue stream while adding value for customers. The challenge was to create a frictionless purchase experience for single movies, movie collections, single TV episodes and full TV series. At the same time, the latest DISH On Demand redesign had created a more fractured 10-foot experience, so the work needed to bridge old and new experiences.

My role

As Lead Product Designer, I focused on a simple experience for users while blending new parts of an evolving UI with legacy portions. I was responsible for iterations of user interactions, UX/UI design and information architecture. I collaborated extensively with my UX Research partner on research, test plans and test execution.

Goals

Working with the Director of Product, Product Managers and Engineering, stakeholder interviews and regular touchpoints distilled five goals: increase On Demand revenue through purchases; balance UX and engineering time/resources; create a simple and usable path to purchase; build consistency in a fractured system; and optimize purchase entry points and the funnel.

Scope

The project covered all content purchases in the DISH system. This case study focuses on purchasing movie collections or bundles. Learnings from this first project laid the foundation for subsequent purchasing projects.

Process

I loosely structured the work around Discover, Design and Deliver, adapting techniques to the timeline, resources and usability focus. The work included a competitive audit, user and stakeholder interviews, personas, wireframes and low-fidelity testing, user flows, high-fidelity prototypes and iterative usability testing.

Competitive audit

The audit examined established market patterns for purchasing content and where users might struggle. Competitor reviews showed a wide variety of ways to promote purchasable content, available purchase options and post-purchase autoplay behavior. A common pattern was to aggregate purchasable content alongside rental content in a provider's On Demand experience. A heuristic evaluation of three large video providers found generally usable systems, but different approaches to purchase confirmation and price visibility. This raised a design tradeoff: show prices early to build trust, or avoid adding unnecessary detail to the browsing experience.

User interviews

Interviews were conducted alongside the On Demand redesign. One-on-one interviews included 15 DISH and non-DISH customers and explored rental and paid On Demand content. The research surfaced emotional drivers and value decisions behind renting once versus purchasing. Customers considering collections still wanted easy access to release date, rating and trailers. Easy trailer access dramatically increased willingness to purchase, especially for content with sentimental value.

Personas and emotional drivers

Because DISH served a very broad customer base, detailed personas were not considered as useful as a more agile synthesis. Emotional drivers served as distilled personas: a concise view of why customers might purchase content instead of renting, without adding unnecessary persona artifacts.

Early wireframes and entry points

Early collection-purchase concepts did not provide a highly visible shelf in On Demand. Entry to purchasable content was contained within the Buy/Rent screen for a single movie. This was initially attractive for implementation simplicity, but proved difficult to discover and understand.

Iteration 1: cross-promotion

The first version added access to single purchases and collection purchases within the existing rental screen. Users often missed the “Available in Collections” button and were confused by “Collections”; several preferred terms such as “Bundles” or “Box Set.”

Iteration 2: shelves and bundles

The second version used shelves similar to the On Demand layout, simplified buttons and added a full shelf of bundles or collections related to a movie. Bundles were easier to find and understand, but both versions felt cluttered and distracting. The cross-promotion approach did not test well: users found the Rent/Buy screens too dense and complicated, and too much choice reduced task completion. Those entry points were set aside in favor of a simpler content-shelf model.

Iterating the Buy screen

Early Buy screen prototypes tested metadata, a shelf of included titles, bundle artwork and simplified buttons. The first version was too simplified for some users, who struggled to understand it and wanted easy access to trailers for each movie. The second version made the bundle more recognizable, but users still preferred the clarity of the existing larger Rent/Buy buttons. They wanted a small amount of movie metadata and trailer access without leaving the purchase flow. Sending users to an individual movie info card pulled them out of the funnel and back into browsing.

Final high-fidelity prototype and testing

Based on low-fidelity findings, I refocused the flow around consistency, simplicity and user expectations. Versions 2 and 3 were built as high-fidelity prototypes with full remote-control functionality. Version 3 returned to a consistent button style and allowed individual movie highlighting and trailer access. It tested well and became the basis for the final design. High-fidelity testing confirmed five findings:

What testing confirmed

Users preferred autoplay after purchasing single movies or episodes, but not collections or TV seasons. Cross-promotion added clutter and confusion. Individual access points and flows were simpler; bundles needed their own On Demand shelf. Movies within a collection still needed useful detail and trailer access. The chosen direction scored 82 on the System Usability Scale (SUS), providing a usable baseline for future improvement.

1. Autoplay made sense for single movies or episodes, not collections or TV seasons.
2. Cross-promotion created clutter and confusion.
3. Bundles needed their own shelf and individual access points.
4. Movies in a collection still needed details and trailers.
5. The selected direction scored 82 SUS.

Final design

The final design combined elements of the new On Demand and current systems to bridge a fractured experience. It used the new 16:9 cards and shelves while retaining familiar buttons, backgrounds and overall visual style. When highlighted, individual movies showed information; selecting them played the trailer and returned users to the Buy screen. After purchase, users returned to On Demand browsing, where purchased content could be found. The bundle shelf led directly to the Buy screen, avoiding a detour through a full Info Card. The Buy screen limited distractions and showed only the information needed to make a purchase decision.

Learning and next steps

Learnings from collection purchasing informed the final designs and flows for single movies, TV series and single TV episode purchases. The simple, consistent purchase flow became a foundation for additional purchase entry points and broader promotion in the DISH system. There was little opportunity to reinvent the visual system because the team was working within an outdated design system and visual style. My focus remained on user experience, understandable information architecture and simplifying the purchase task.