We administered a ZOE (Zone of Exploration) to uncover pockets of audience behavior when met with native ads throughout DIRECTV Now experience. Now we understand ads suck, but the project was an initial screening to test markets of ad tolerance for even paid subscription plans. The project required a balance of design, business strategy, and clever use of resource capabilities. The goal was to set a high bar in utility and design so that the ads felt native to the experience, and if possible, come off as a feature or recommendation. We even quantified this high bar by creating a scorecard that tested new ad ideas against tentpole principles we defined through existing research about ad consumption. If the idea passed a certain threshold on the scorecard, we would design and build a prototype to test the reaction from audiences.

Case study on this project coming soon.