UI/UX Design for a Global Live Streaming & VOD Platform
Werner Viljoen
UI/UX Systems Design for a Global Live Streaming & VOD Platform
Role: UI/UX Systems Designer
Project Overview 🎯
The Goal
Design a seamless, cross-platform streaming experience and a comprehensive cloud-based video distribution solution capable of delivering thousands of hours of live content globally.
The Context
The platform required a dual focus: a consumer-facing application serving users in over 210 countries across web, mobile, and TV, and a backend publishing tool ("Eleven Studio") empowering content creators to independently manage live streams, monetization, and real-time data.
The Challenge
Navigating Technical Complexity at Scale
Designing graceful user experiences around hard technological and legal constraints, such as geo-blocking, Digital Rights Management (DRM), VPN restrictions, and concurrency limits.
Combating piracy not through restrictions, but by designing intuitive, high-value monetization flows (PPV, multi-term subscriptions, localized bundles) that make legitimate viewing the path of least resistance.
Abstracting the complexities of professional live broadcasting into a self-serve publishing tool for non-technical users.
The Approach: Systems-Thinking and Product Requirements
Real-Time Data Integration
Designing interfaces that handle live streaming, real-time voting mechanics, and complex data collection. This required building product requirements that seamlessly layer live statistics, team lineups, and chat features into the viewing experience without overwhelming the user.
Algorithmic & Editorial Balance
Structuring content discovery to blend personalized algorithms with curated editorial hubs, ensuring users are quickly routed from onboarding to relevant live engagement.
Frictionless Compliance
Designing low-friction authentication and onboarding flows that inherently address platform security, user privacy, and GDPR consent across diverse global jurisdictions.
Key Solutions & Capabilities Demonstrated
Omnichannel Digital Ecosystem
Establishing a cohesive design system deployed across desktop, mobile web, native iOS/Android, and dedicated TV applications.
Cloud-Based Distribution Tools
Creating "Eleven Studio" to allow external organizations to independently oversee the entire process of publishing live video and complex data to the platform.
Adaptive Error Handling
Crafting thoughtful UX patterns to inform users of unavoidable technical or rights-based limitations without causing terminal frustration.
Outcomes
Delivered a globally scalable, cross-platform streaming ecosystem that seamlessly integrated complex real-time data while empowering non-technical creators to independently publish and monetize live content.
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Posted Mar 15, 2026
Designed a global streaming ecosystem integrating real-time data, empowering non-technical users to seamlessly publish and monetize live content.
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