Xumo

Role

UI/UX Design

Platform

Mobile App (iOS & Android), Smartwatch

Year

2015–2016

Team

Solo designer, 3 developers, 2 PMs

Tools

OmniGraffle, Sketch, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

Overview

Xumo brings short-form video from digital networks like BuzzFeed, Popsugar, Red Bull TV, and CNET into one app. It was built to complement the Xumo TV experience and to give millennial viewers the shortest path to continuous watching.

I was responsible for the UI/UX design, from the architecture and wireframes through the final UI. That covered the original Android and iPhone app, a smartwatch concept, and a 2016 redesign of the iPhone app.

01The app

One stop for short-form video

The brief asked for a clean design focused on the video: the shortest path to continuous watching, with personalization at its core and anything non-essential moved to secondary flows.

Xumo iPhone app home, live, channels, and menu screens

02Architecture

Mapping the core flows

Wireframes mapped onboarding and brand selection, the featured feed, landscape viewing, My Queue, search, and channels, along with a Send to TV flow for handing a video off to the television.

03Stack design

Flicking through channels

The first release used a stacked layout. Swipe left or right to change channels, scroll down through each channel’s playlists, and video autoplays in preview so there’s always something playing.

04Navigation & queue

Everything one swipe away

A slide-in menu reaches Xumo Mix, all channels, My Queue, and settings. Channels can be favorited for priority placement, and the queue has its own empty and end-of-queue states.

Xumo side menu, channel list, and My Queue screens

05Full screen

Turning sideways to watch

Rotating the phone switches to a full-screen player with a Next Up countdown, and ad breaks were designed into the same frame.

Xumo landscape player with next up and ad states

06Send to TV

The phone becomes the remote

When a video is sent to the TV, the app turns into a remote with the up-next playlist and playback, seek, and volume controls, and it collapses down to a mini bar when you keep browsing.

Xumo remote view screens for casting to a TV

07Watch push

Notifications on the wrist

A smartwatch concept: get notified when a new episode is available, tap Watch Now to start it on the TV, and control playback from your wrist.

Xumo smartwatch notification and playback concept

08The redesign

Rethinking the app in 2016

For the next version, the iPhone app was re-architected around a Home feed with Live and My Feed tabs, a channel strip for quick switching, and full account features.

09Personalization

Pick five channels

New users sign up with email, Facebook, or Twitter, or browse as a guest, then pick five channels so their feed is personalized from the very first video.

Xumo redesigned full-screen player and next video countdown

10Account

Search, likes, and profile

Search with filters, a Videos I Like list, a profile with favorite channels and linked social accounts, and quick sharing to Facebook and Twitter.

11Outcome

Shipped

The Xumo app launched.