The Challenge
In 2019, Discovery acquired the exclusive media rights to the PGA TOUR in over 180 countries (all outside of the US), seeking to create a new international multi-platform, global destination for golf fans called GOLFTV.
The PGA Tour has a massive international fan base, but providing live coverage and on-demand content to audiences outside the US proved to be a complex challenge. The objective of GOLFTV was to offer a seamless, high-quality streaming experience to golf enthusiasts in every country outside the US. This involved addressing regional broadcasting restrictions, varying time-zones, and designing an intuitive platform for diverse user demographics.
Process
The design team conducted extensive market research, including user interviews, surveys, and competitor analysis. Insights from these research efforts provided valuable information on user preferences for content consumption, preferred devices, and desired features. Ideation workshops were conducted, included major stakeholders across different areas of the business.
Extensive usability testing was carried out with golf fans from various countries and demographics. Feedback from beta testers played a pivotal role in refining the user interface, enhancing video playback performance, and optimizing the overall user experience.
Figma was used as our primary design tool, facilitating seamless collaboration between the design team and all of our cross-functional partners.
Solution
Taking a modular approach to the overall design, we created a robust design system that scaled across all devices and platforms, enabling our development team to create a singular code-base with flexible components.
GOLFTV successfully launched in over 100 countries, delivering live and on-demand coverage of the PGA TOUR to golf fans around the world. A true first of it's kind, GOLFTV quickly became the go-to streaming service for golf outside of the United States.
Key takeaways
GOLFTV exemplifies the power of user-centric design in creating a premium streaming experience for a diverse international audience. By embracing cutting-edge technologies and adhering to user feedback, the design team successfully redefined the way golf fans engage with the PGA Tour, establishing GOLFTV as a global leader in sports streaming. The project highlights the significance of understanding user needs and cultural nuances to deliver an inclusive and immersive streaming experience on a global scale.
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A large portion of the design work and research that was done for GOLFTV was used in the new PGA TOUR app and website redesign that was launched in the past year.