I know how to hold a product together across devices when every decision ripples. I can design the same experience to feel native on every screen it lands on - not adapted, not scaled, but actually built for it. That's what it took to ship a global sports platform across Mobile, Tablet, and SmartTV.
Sports organisations saw revenues fall 30–40% during the pandemic. Canceled events hit broadcasting, sponsorships, and match-day income all at once. But on the flip side, media consumption surged. People were home, and they wanted sport. Our client wanted to meet that moment with something better than what existed: a global football entertainment platform that didn't just stream matches, but brought fans genuinely closer to the game.
Tata Elxsi assembled a team to deliver end-to-end product design across four devices - Mobile, Tablet, SmartTV, and Web. I joined as a UX design Intern, embedded in the team from research through to the design system. Midway through the project, I took ownership of two of the most interaction-dense surfaces in the product: the media player and the match centre.
ROLES / RESPONSIBILITIES:
I joined Tata Elxsi as a UX design intern on a client engagement to build a multi-device sports entertainment platform from scratch.
Working closely with Ariana, the design lead, I contributed across research, wireframing, and screen design for Mobile, Tablet, and SmartTV - with my heaviest work on the Fixtures, Match Centre, and Media Player flows.
The team ran 30 user interviews to understand how people actually watch sport - not how they say they do. Three distinct viewer types emerged.
'Dedicated Viewers' carved out time specifically to watch, had high expectations, and wanted everything in one place.
'Surfers' wandered through content on impulse, rarely planning ahead.
'Selective Viewers' were loyal to a specific team or player and tuned everything else out.
I observed these sessions and took notes throughout. What struck me wasn't the differences between these three types - it was the one thing they all shared: nobody wanted to work to find what they came for. The moment a fan has to hunt, the experience has already failed them. That became my north star for every decision I made on the player and match centre. Not "how much can we surface?" but "what does this person need right now, and how little do they have to do to get it?"
The media player wasn't meant to be a standard video player with a progress bar, it was meant to feel like it understood football.
The key moments feature let fans scrub directly to goals, VAR decisions, and red cards, so a 'Selective Viewer' catching up after work could get the emotional beats without sitting through 90 minutes. The camera angle toggle let 'Dedicated Viewers' switch perspectives mid-play - a small interaction that fundamentally changes how someone experiences the same moment.
But designing the player for SmartTV meant unlearning mobile instincts entirely. On a phone, proximity guides interaction - things close together feel related. On a TV navigated by remote, proximity means nothing. Focus states, directional navigation, and information hierarchy all had to be redesigned from the ground up - not adapted from mobile, but built as their own thing.
A tap target that felt natural at 6 inches became a navigation dead-end at 65 inches. The match centre had a different problem: too much information, all of it legitimately useful. Live scores, lineups, player stats, league tables, manager interviews - all valid, all competing for the same screen.
I used progressive disclosure to layer by urgency: live score and key events always visible at a glance, everything else one tap deeper. The goal was for it to feel like a knowledgeable friend sitting next to you — not a database you queried.
Access team and player stats, player and manager interviews, your favourite player signings, ceremonies awards and go behind the scenes with our exclusive club content.
Match Centre is the essential match day companion. Whether it’s build-up, team news, who’s influencing the game, lineups, live score updates… find it all with Match Centre.
Users can enjoy viewing LIVE streaming of matches with friends and family, virtually using the group chat feature available on the product. To ensure there are no spoilers there is video synchronization among participants that ensures the streaming doesn’t lag.
You had 24/7 access to content, live and past streams, and interviews. Keep track of player activities, clubs, managers and gain insights and analytics with the statistics provided!
Predict the score, line-ups, first scorer, and man-of-the-match and win some incredible prizes and offers along the way
Listen and watch experts analyse Pre and Post Match Events, and gain insights on how the event is running.
