A row of 5 Sky sponsored sportspeople superimposed on the Sky Sports red and blue background

The all new Sky Sports brand refresh

Client: Sky UK Limited

  • Mobile app
  • Private sector
  • Prototyping
  • Usability testing
  • News & media

Overview

Sky Sports needed to align their iOS and Android apps with a major brand refresh and introduce new flagship features—on a tight deadline. The goal was to increase content consumption, improve logged-in usage, and maintain strong app store ratings.

What I did

  • Led discovery research (surveys, app store reviews, Twitter analysis)
  • Facilitated cross-functional ideation workshops
  • Defined user journeys, information architecture, and key UX patterns
  • Created prototypes using Axure, Sketch, and InVision
  • Planned and ran usability testing (lab + unmoderated studies)
  • Iterated designs based on user feedback and analytics

The problem

The existing app didn't reflect the new Sky Sports brand or content structure. Users struggled to filter the overwhelming volume of content, and live content—one of the most valuable features—was hard to access quickly. Differences between iOS and Android design patterns also needed to be respected to maintain familiarity.

The Approach

Working within an Agile squad, I led research to understand user needs, mapped journeys for new features, and facilitated workshops to align the team around priorities. I created platform-specific prototypes and validated them through lab research and remote testing. We refined designs iteratively until usability issues were resolved.

An animation of a user in a research session scrolling on the Sky Sports mobile app
Me facilitating a user research session to test the app at Sky's research lab in Leeds.

Example design assets

A wireframe showing a video with a timeline of events below it
A page from the Axure wireframe prototype for the 'enhanced timeline' feature.
A high fidelity design in Sky Sports branding showing a video with a timeline of events below it
A design concept for the 'enhanced timeline' feature.
8 mockups showing a Sky Sports app homepage on mobile, tablet and desktop devices
Design concepts for the all new Sky Sports app across different devices.

Outcomes

The final experience made live content easier to find, allowed for user customisation, and improved content relevance. The enhanced live timeline and simplified navigation improved discovery and engagement.

Results

  • +12% pageviews per visit
  • +8% logged-in users
  • +5 minutes average increase in live content viewing sessions
5 tweets with users saying things like 'The new Sky Sports app is looking pretty swanky if ya ask me...'
A selection of tweets from happy app users.