NBC Olympics 2024 – Designing a Streaming Experience for Millions
As Senior Product Design Manager at NBCUniversal, I helped lead the digital experience for the 2024 Paris Olympics. My team’s mission: make navigating live events, replays, and schedules across web, mobile, and TV effortless — for millions of users around the world.
It was the ultimate test of systems thinking under pressure — much like rebuilding a classic engine while it’s still running.
⚙️ My Role & Responsibilities
Led design strategy and execution across all digital Olympic platforms
Partnered with engineers, product managers, and stakeholders across NBC Sports, Peacock, and Olympic teams
Oversaw UX research, live testing, and iterative design during the Games
Managed real-time updates based on user behavior and feedback
📈 What We Solved
Simplified navigation for faster access to live events and replays
Designed a universal schedule system that scaled across platforms
Added personalization (favorite teams, alerts, saved events)
Improved accessibility for all user types
RESEARCH AND INSIGHTS
We conducted extensive user research, including surveys, interviews, and usability testing. Key insights included:
User Journey Pain Points: Users struggled with the complex menu structure and often found it challenging to locate specific events, particularly those outside of mainstream sports.
Events Schedules: Many users experienced issues finding schedules from live events and information.
Personalization: Users expressed a desire for more tailored content, such as notifications for their favorite sports or athletes.
Accessibility: The platform lacked features such as screen reader compatibility and customizable text sizes, limiting access for users with disabilities.
DESIGN PROCESS
Wireframes and Prototyping: We began by creating low-fidelity wireframes, focusing on simplifying the navigation and improving the overall layout. User feedback was incorporated to refine these designs into high-fidelity prototypes.
User Testing: Interactive prototypes were tested with a diverse group of users. We focused on the ease of finding live events, the effectiveness of personalization features, and the overall aesthetic appeal.
Iteration Design: Based upon feedback we made several iterations, particularly in simplifying the interface and improving the performance of the live streaming function.
ALL DIGITAL PLATFORM ROLL OUT
key features implemented
Simplified Navigation: A streamlined menu and intuitive search function allowed users to quickly find live events, replays, and highlight clips.
Events Schedule: We optimized the event schedule to reduce the lack of information of where the user can find their favorite event during the Olympics.
Personalization: Users could customize their viewing experience by selecting favorite sports, athletes, medals, and receiving personalized notifications and recommendations.
Accessibility Improvements: We integrated features like screen reader support, keyboard navigation, and adjustable text sizes, making the platform more inclusive.
Visual Design: The interface was redesigned to reflect the dynamic and prestigious nature of the Olympics, using bold colors, clear typography, and engaging visuals.
Why It mattered
Rebuilding the Olympic experience in real-time gave me a front-row seat to high-volume, high-stakes design. It also confirmed something I’ve felt in both the shop and the studio: Great systems are built to adapt. Whether you’re tuning a carburetor or refining a global UI, the principles are the same test, listen, adjust, repeat.