Shomi: 2013

Role

In early 2014, Rogers Communications launched an online video streaming service to the Canadian market. A couple months earlier, they contracted You.i TV, the company I worked for, to design and build Shomi’s first generation of mobile apps.

As the lead designer for the account, I was responsible for managing a close relationship with our client, overseeing all design deliverables, directing other designers, and collaborating with the engineering team.

Problem

When Shomi launched, it was the new online streaming service on the block and it was going up against some stiff competition with Netflix — it needed a way to stand out. They believed they could do that by offering the best mobile experience paired with staff, and celebrity, curated movie collections from their TV show and movie library.

Approach

When we started this project, we joined an existing group of contractors that had already started working with the brand and the web based experience. We were on a tight timeline and had to catch up with the web team to meet the launch deadline. While the engineering team started planning their technical architecture, I worked closely with Shomi’s product mangers and our engineering lead to define all the use cases we would cover in our first release.

Once we had the scope defined, I started rapidly mapping the various parts of the app with information architecture, wireflow, and storyboard diagrams. These artifacts facilitated lots of great conversations with our client, the engineers, and our other designers. We iterated on them a number of times as they evolved into higher fidelity wireframes and designs. Thanks to You.i’s proprietary technology, we were able to prototype and test our designs with small focus groups very early in the process.

Outcome

Things got really tense as we got close to the deadline but we made it and delivered on time. Shomi was launched successfully and was well received by its customers. It operated for roughly two years until it shut down due to the challenging climate of the online video marketplace in Canada.