TLDR An emerging online entertainment streaming service struggled with user engagement and subscriber growth due to a lack of human-centered design in a saturated market. By implementing a redesign focused on personalization and user feedback, the organization achieved significant improvements in user engagement and retention, highlighting the importance of aligning strategic initiatives with customer needs.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Background 2. Industry Analysis 3. Internal Assessment 4. Strategic Initiatives 5. Human-centered Design Implementation KPIs 6. Human-centered Design Best Practices 7. Human-centered Design Deliverables 8. Implement a Human-Centered Design Approach 9. Advance Data Analytics for Personalization 10. Explore Interactive Content Offerings 11. Human-centered Design Case Studies 12. Additional Resources 13. Key Findings and Results
Consider this scenario: An emerging online entertainment streaming service is facing challenges in differentiating itself in a highly saturated market by not fully leveraging human-centered design.
Despite having a diverse content library, the service has seen a 20% decrease in subscriber growth rate over the last quarter. The organization is wrestling with internal challenges such as content discovery issues and a one-size-fits-all user interface, while externally, it confronts fierce competition from established players and changing consumer preferences toward personalized viewing experiences. The primary strategic objective of the organization is to enhance user engagement and retention through a differentiated, customer-centric service offering.
This organization, an online entertainment streaming service, is navigating the complexities of a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Initial analysis suggests that the core of its strategic challenges lies in the relative neglect of human-centered design principles, which has led to a generic user experience and difficulty in content discovery. Additionally, the lack of a data-driven approach to content personalization has hindered its ability to meet diverse customer needs effectively.
The online streaming industry is characterized by high consumer demand coupled with intense competition. Content differentiation and personalized user experiences have become pivotal in securing market share.
We begin our examination by looking at the primary forces shaping the competitive landscape of the industry:
Emerging trends in the industry signal a shift towards AI-driven content personalization and interactive viewing experiences. Major changes in industry dynamics include:
For a deeper analysis, take a look at these Industry Analysis best practices:
The organization possesses a strong content library and a growing subscriber base but struggles with creating a personalized user experience and optimizing content discovery.
A PEST Analysis highlights the increasing importance of data privacy regulations, the impact of technological advancements, and changing social attitudes towards digital consumption. These factors underscore the need for a robust data management framework and continuous innovation.
A Value Chain Analysis reveals inefficiencies in content curation and recommendation algorithms, indicating an opportunity to enhance these areas for improved customer satisfaction. Strong performance in marketing and customer service emerges as a key strength.
A Core Competencies Analysis underscores the organization's potential to leverage its agile culture and technological infrastructure to become a leader in personalized content delivery, though it currently lacks the necessary analytics capabilities.
Based on the insights from the industry analysis and internal assessment, the management has outlined the following strategic initiatives to be pursued over the next 18 months :
KPIS are crucial throughout the implementation process. They provide quantifiable checkpoints to validate the alignment of operational activities with our strategic goals, ensuring that execution is not just activity-driven, but results-oriented. Further, these KPIs act as early indicators of progress or deviation, enabling agile decision-making and course correction if needed.
These KPIs will provide insights into user satisfaction and platform performance, guiding continuous improvement efforts and informing future strategic decisions.
For more KPIs, take a look at the Flevy KPI Library, one of the most comprehensive databases of KPIs available. Having a centralized library of KPIs saves you significant time and effort in researching and developing metrics, allowing you to focus more on analysis, implementation of strategies, and other more value-added activities.
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To improve the effectiveness of implementation, we can leverage best practice documents in Human-centered Design. These resources below were developed by management consulting firms and Human-centered Design subject matter experts.
Explore more Human-centered Design deliverables
The strategic initiative to implement a human-centered design approach was greatly informed by the Design Thinking framework. Design Thinking is an iterative process that teams use to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems, and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. This framework was chosen for its emphasis on empathy with users, a core component of human-centered design. It proved invaluable in reimagining the user interface and content discovery process to better meet user needs and preferences.
Following the selection of the Design Thinking framework, the organization undertook the following steps:
The implementation of the Design Thinking framework led to significant improvements in the platform's user interface and content discovery mechanisms. User engagement metrics saw a notable increase, and feedback loops established during the testing phase have become a continuous source of insights for further enhancements. The initiative's success underscored the value of deeply understanding and empathizing with users in creating a more engaging and personalized streaming service.
For the strategic initiative focused on advancing data analytics for personalization, the organization utilized the Kano Model alongside Customer Segmentation analysis. The Kano Model, a theory for product development and customer satisfaction, categorizes customer preferences into five categories: Must-be, One-dimensional, Attractive, Indifferent, and Reverse. This framework was instrumental in identifying features that could enhance user satisfaction through personalization. Customer Segmentation, on the other hand, allowed the organization to group users by similar viewing habits and preferences, enabling more targeted content recommendations.
The team applied these frameworks through the following steps:
The strategic application of the Kano Model and Customer Segmentation analysis significantly enhanced the platform's personalization capabilities. The introduction of a tailored recommendation engine led to a marked improvement in viewer engagement and subscription renewal rates. Users reported higher satisfaction with the platform, highlighting the effectiveness of personalized content suggestions in meeting their viewing preferences.
To explore interactive content offerings, the organization embraced the Ansoff Matrix for strategic planning and the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) framework for innovation. The Ansoff Matrix helped in identifying growth opportunities by mixing current and new products with existing and potential markets. It was particularly useful in strategizing the expansion into interactive content. The JTBD framework, focusing on understanding the customer's desire to "hire" a product or service to get a job done, guided the development of interactive content that resonated with viewers' underlying needs and preferences.
In implementing these frameworks, the organization proceeded as follows:
The strategic exploration of interactive content offerings, guided by the Ansoff Matrix and JTBD framework, resulted in the successful launch of several highly engaging interactive series. These offerings not only differentiated the platform in a competitive market but also opened new avenues for growth and subscriber engagement. Feedback from users was overwhelmingly positive, confirming that the new content formats effectively met their entertainment needs and preferences.
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Here are additional best practices relevant to Human-centered Design from the Flevy Marketplace.
Here is a summary of the key results of this case study:
The strategic initiatives undertaken by the organization have yielded substantial improvements in user engagement, subscription renewal rates, and content discovery efficiency. The successful implementation of a human-centered design approach and advanced data analytics for personalization directly addressed the core challenges of creating a personalized user experience and optimizing content discovery. These results are indicative of the strategic alignment between the initiatives and the organization's primary objective to enhance user engagement and retention. However, the results were not without their shortcomings. The anticipated differentiation through interactive content, while successful in engaging users, faced challenges in scalability and high production costs, which could impact long-term sustainability. Additionally, the reliance on machine learning for content recommendation necessitated a significant upfront investment in data science talent and technology infrastructure, the returns on which will need continuous monitoring to ensure they justify the expenditure.
Given the mixed results, the organization should consider diversifying its content strategy further to mitigate the high costs associated with interactive content production. Exploring partnerships with emerging content creators and leveraging user-generated content could offer cost-effective ways to enrich the platform's offering. Additionally, to enhance the ROI of the advanced analytics initiative, the organization could explore new applications of its data science capabilities, such as predictive analytics for content performance and dynamic pricing models for subscriptions. Finally, to sustain the momentum of user engagement, it is recommended to institutionalize the culture of continuous improvement and user-centricity, ensuring that the platform remains responsive to changing user preferences and market dynamics.
The development of this case study was overseen by David Tang. David is the CEO and Founder of Flevy. Prior to Flevy, David worked as a management consultant for 8 years, where he served clients in North America, EMEA, and APAC. He graduated from Cornell with a BS in Electrical Engineering and MEng in Management.
To cite this article, please use:
Source: Organic Growth Strategy for a Wellness App in the Digital Health Niche, Flevy Management Insights, David Tang, 2025
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