Big Brother +: A TV Show Companion App for Loyal Subscribers
Paramount+ subscribers were relying on a fan-run Twitter bot to know if Big Brother live feeds were on-air. I designed a dedicated app to fix that and build something CBS could actually own.
Context
Big Brother is one of CBS's longest-running TV programs and attracts a unique, paying audience to its subscription-based online live feeds. Fans have built entire communities around watching the live feeds, but a common long-standing frustration among subscribers is that the feeds are frequently turned off without warning, leaving viewers staring at a blank screen after setting aside hours to watch.
Big Brother + is an app that remedies this for CBS's most valued viewers and provides a wealth of features to keep the community engaged. As the designer, I planned and conducted user research with real subscribers, considered business needs, explored technological viability, and used human-centered design methodology to inform the final product.
In addition to this case study, I kept a detailed diary of the project from conception through completion on Medium.
Problems to Solve
The task was to design an app that alleviates prolonged pain points felt by the Big Brother fan community. Three design challenges emerged from foundational research.
1. Hook Users
Use external triggers to keep Paramount+ subscribers engaged with CBS/Paramount products, drawing on the methods outlined in Nir Eyal's Hooked. Research showed that when subscribers start watching live feeds, they devote an average of three hours per day to viewing, a powerful engagement loop waiting to be formalized.
2. Keep Users Informed
Implement multiple elements that alert subscribers when the Big Brother live feeds are turned on. Nearly all survey and interview participants expressed a strong desire for a product that would tell them, at any moment, whether the feeds are on or off.
3. Embrace the Competition
Design a platform that showcases the competitive elements of the show, giving subscribers more of a rooting interest in the contestants. Research showed that participants regularly engage with fan-run Big Brother Twitter accounts (90%+), podcasts (66%), and websites (75%) to stay current with live feed events.
The Solution
Big Brother + uses push notifications to alert subscribers when there are changes in live feed status. The app features a prominent live feed status indicator on the home screen so subscribers are always informed. It also showcases the competitive nature of the show and presents statistics in a format that emulates sports apps, catering directly to the community's obsessive engagement with the game.
Push notifications alerting subscribers when the Big Brother live feeds come back on.
User Research
Research was conducted in three phases. First, a technology probe shared with various community groups to gauge overall interest. Then, a user survey that garnered over 70 responses. Finally, user interviews, with all data analyzed in an affinity map to answer research questions. In total, more than 100 actual Paramount+ subscribers participated.
Research Goal 1: How much time do subscribers spend watching live feeds?
Subscribers watch live feeds three to seven days per week during the season, spending an average of five hours per day on days they watch. That's an enormous engagement window, and one CBS had no product for.
Research Goal 2: Do subscribers use an existing product to check if feeds are on?
Nearly all survey respondents (93%) are subscribed to Feeds Bot on Twitter. Half receive mobile push notifications from Feeds Bot. And 94% expressed a desire to know the current on/off status of the live feeds before attempting to access the website. CBS had a loyal audience relying on a fan-made bot for a service CBS itself wasn't providing.
Research Goal 3: Where do subscribers find information about the live feeds?
Over 90% of participants find information about the live feeds on Twitter. 66% listen to podcasts to stay current. Dedicated fan-made sites attract 75% of respondents. All of this value was flowing to third-party creators, not to CBS or Paramount.
Problem Statement
"Paramount+ subscribers need to know if the Big Brother live feeds are currently on-air with a real-time tracker that is always available to them because the process of checking the website is too time consuming without certainty that the live feeds are on-air. We will know this to be true when subscribers refer to a dedicated mobile app that informs them of real-time live feed status before they decide to watch."
User Persona & Journey Map
Research insights were synthesized into a user persona named Mary Riley, who represented the voice of CBS's paid subscribers throughout the design process. Her journey map documented the frustrating experience of planning a night around live feeds only to find them off, and revealed additional touchpoints where a better product could intervene.
Mary Riley, the Big Brother + user persona representing CBS's loyal Paramount+ subscribers.
Journey map of Mary's experience finding the live feeds turned off after planning her evening around them.
"How Might We" Questions
With the research synthesized and the persona in place, two "How Might We" questions guided ideation:
How might we provide real-time Big Brother live feed status to loyal subscribers in a way that minimizes effort? The core feature needed to solve the pain point directly, because if subscribers keep canceling their Paramount+ subscriptions over this, it's a retention problem, not just a UX inconvenience.
How might we provide additional information like stats and events to increase subscriber engagement? The goal was to design something that would make subscribers prefer a CBS/Paramount app over any third-party competitor for Big Brother content.
Mid-Fidelity to High-Fidelity
Paper sketches mapped the core screens: a home screen with the live feed status indicator, a push notification experience, a live events page incorporating fan Twitter content, and a dedicated stats page emulating sports apps. These were then digitized into mid-fidelity wireframes before evolving into high-fidelity mockups.
The shining stars of the experience are the live feed status indicator and the push notifications. Once alerted, users can open Paramount+ directly or engage with additional content inside Big Brother +.
High-fidelity home screen with live feed status indicator and house event highlights.
Usability Tests
Five actual Paramount+ subscribers were tested using fully up-to-date content to create an experience that reflected reality. This helped give participants the illusion that the product functioned exactly as their own mental model.
Errors Found
Two participants didn't understand what the numbers on the Stats page represented. One participant didn't understand the function of the notification toggle switches. Participants couldn't navigate to player profile pages from home screen pictures. Most errors were the result of ambiguous design choices: numbers without labels and UX language that didn't match user expectations.
Positive Feedback
Participants understood and enjoyed the push notifications. Two expressed concern about receiving too many, which led directly to adding granular notification controls. Positive quotes included: "The notifications are really great. They would be a useful addition to my other BB resources" and "There is a lot of added value from the additional information on the app." One participant said simply: "I would download this immediately."
Iteration
Two rounds of preference tests on key screens yielded no statistically significant results, but participant comments were insightful about which design elements were doing their job. This led to giving users more control over notification settings and refining the UX language to reduce confusion.
The biggest decision at the end of testing: incorporate existing Paramount+ design elements to create a consistent brand experience. This also led to the final name, "Big Brother +", giving users a sense of familiarity when interacting with the product for the first time.
Results
If Big Brother + were to be built today, the most important element to build first would be the live feed status indicator. This core feature drove the overall success of the app in testing. The necessary infrastructure to run such a feature already exists. I did extensive research on the Twitter bot "Feeds Bot" to verify the product is not only technologically feasible, but can be operated for under $50 a month.