Predictive & Personalized

Saturday Night Live is an iconic brand and property. Spanning over 45 Seasons, over 950 episodes and 15,000 comedy sketches - my teams were tasked to develop and application for the big 40 Year Anniversary of the Show.

Our challenge was both quick and clear - How do we surface the breadth, depth and scale of the library for existing while breathing new life into the series and acquiring new fans and audiences.

We recognized that NBC had a unique opportunity to leverage this opportunity and the forthcoming 40th Anniversary Special. We quickly identified the opportunities for fans and seized the moment by creating a new experience that would ultimately capture the history of SNL cast, sketches and comedy history from 1975 to present day.

CONCEPT SKETCHES

During initial brainstorming, whiteboard and sketch phases, my Product Design and Experience teams found that there weren't any apps that exemplified what we needed to accomplish. We gravitated towards a viewing experience that was a cross between Tinder/Bark Buddy & Pandora/Spotify - diving deep into the logic of sketch comedy, unscripted moments, and the improvisational roots of Second City.

We quickly realized that we were embarking on a product that would become a new paradigm to view, consume and share video experiences - based on user preferences, habits and real-time interactions. 

EARLY CONCEPTUAL WIRES & PROTOTYPES

Following initial research, discovery and ideation phases; I worked with my teams and key executive stakeholders, including the show, to construct a series of wires and mid-fidelity prototypes that allowed us to test the flow of the screens with real customers. This allowed us to recruit and speak to small groups of customers across various demographics and cohorts to determine the viability of the final product.

ANNOTATED UX FLOWS & GESTURES

Once we determined the architecture of the video engine, we focused on the CMS, Metadata and critical moments along the journey that would drive and evolve the predictive engine. The XD Team of Product & Design UX experts were tasked to enhance the experience by creating a series of fun and addictive features, interactions and gestures that would ultimately inform and personalize the experience for each user.

We decided gestures must be simple, intuitive and easy to remember. Swiping left, right, up and down on the experience would yield different results for both the weight and understanding of the content and predictive engine. Each became a critical calculation which ultimately extended both viewing consumption by 5X & 10X respectively.

THE FINAL PRODUCT

After 9 months of research, requirements, design and agile development, the SNL40 App was ready for launch. It included one of the deepest comedy libraries that rests in the palm of your hand. Within the first 3 weeks - the App surpassed 5 Million Downloads for Mobile. 

In the first 3 Months, we streamed over 500 Million clips and continued to enjoy consistent consumption increases for all audiences following every Saturday Night Live Episode.