Carnival Corporation
Second Screen
TV Remote

Xevo was one of several partners building a multi-platform guest experience for Carnival Corporation: Compass (mobile and desktop, for cruise planning and commerce) and OCEANView, an over-the-top TV app delivering movies, shows, and exclusive content to guests' Stateroom TVs. Carnival wanted a way for guests to control and interact with their Stateroom TV from their own mobile device — but hadn't specified what that experience should actually include.

I was the sole UX designer on the second-screen effort through wireframing and design, then passed the work to a senior designer for prototype construction ahead of the client demo.

ROLE
UX Designer

TEAM
Sr UX Designer
Project Manager

DURATION
Fall/Winter 2016

CHALLENGES

  • An open brief. Carnival didn't specify what kind of second-screen engagement they wanted, which meant generating a wide range of concepts before narrowing toward a direction.

  • A shared design system. The experience had to work within design standards set by Matter, the lead partner across Compass, including its N/S/E/W interaction model.

  • A crowded field with real failure precedent. Second-screen products had already failed to gain real market adoption from major hardware and content players — this wasn't a category with an obvious right answer to copy.

RESEARCH

Comparative research into existing second-screen products turned up three common engagement patterns: chatrooms, trivia, and live-reacting. One finding stood out — a chatroom feature on a live-sports app saw no more than 10 users per event, and broader reading suggested viewers preferred engaging on their own social platforms (Facebook, Twitter) rather than an app built specifically around what they were watching. That was a real signal against betting the design on a chat-style engagement layer.

Audience research mattered too: Carnival's guest base skewed 45+, including many first-time cruisers and multi-generational families — a different starting point than a tech-forward, gesture-native audience.

SCOPING: FROM ENGAGEMENT PLATFORM TO REMOTE

Early concepts explored a broad range of engagement — chatrooms, live polls, applause/reaction tracking, trivia — mapped against the N/S/E/W model Matter had established. After review with the Xevo and Matter design teams, we concluded that kind of engagement didn't provide enough measurable value inside the mobile Compass experience specifically. Rather than scrapping the ideas, we redirected them: they became the foundation for a separate OCEANView feature ("Front Row"), while the second-screen effort narrowed to solving a more specific problem — replacing the Stateroom's physical 5-way remote with something better.

Second screen possibilties · 2016 These concepts do not include fully vetted UX, but helped define the types of engagement we wanted to provide. Some of these elements did not make it to the approved second screen product, but were saved for the Stateroom TV "Front Row" experience.
Concept demonstrating use of the N/S/E/W interaction model · 2016 Tip-ins indicate additional explorable elements. At a rough preliminary stage I wanted my wireframes to accurately capture transition states. In this version, I also provided a swipe-able/trackpad navigation vs. the common 5-way remote interfaces.

DESIGNING THE REMOTE

The existing plastic 5-way remote was often clunky, and most competing remote apps I reviewed just recreated that same hardware-style layout in software — usually cramming every function onto one screen regardless of what the guest was actually doing. I wanted the remote's available controls to change dynamically based on context — browsing content versus actively playing or pausing it — rather than presenting the same dense control set at all times.

I explored two navigation models: a swipeable trackpad (gesture-based, closer to the Apple TV remote) and a traditional D-pad. Given Carnival's older-skewing, less gesture-native audience, I chose the D-pad — prioritizing familiarity over novelty for this specific guest base.

OUTCOME

Ahead of the client review, I walked our design PM through the reasoning behind each design decision and how it aligned with Matter's design standards. The PM then presented the prototype to Carnival's SVP and partner design teams at Carnival's Doral, FL headquarters. It was well received — well beyond what the team had expected, especially given that second-screen products had struggled to find real adoption even from major players like Microsoft, Amazon, and Logitech.

"I think what was most groundbreaking about your design was it offered a platform to all the partners to leverage merchandise sales, service delivery and provide the user more information about the content delivered beyond the standard consumption driven model of watching television... The design was simple, inclusive, and engaging for everyone."
— Sam Barret, Design PM, Xevo

Second screen motion study · 2016 Animated demo highlighting tap-states that navigate through the second screen remote, demonstrating the N/S/E/W interaction model, and drilling into detail pages that correspond to the content the user is viewing on their Stateroom TV.