
Filtered Search
Designing the advanced search experience for Content Programmers at Disney Streaming

ROLE
Product Design Intern
DURATION
4 months (Sep 2020 - Jan 2021)
DELIVERABLES
User Research and Insight Analysis
Affinity Diagrams
User Flows
Low-fidelity Sketches
High-fidelity Prototypes (Sketch)
Interactive Mockups (Sketch and InVision)
Developer Annotations
Design Handoff
Company Presentations

Overview
This project was completed during my second internship at Disney. I focused on delivering the Consolidated Set Search designs for Polaris, the enterprise content management tool that powers Disney+ and Star+. I was the only IC designer on this project working on the end to end design from research to conception to launch.

Since the start of my internship project, I've been involved in discussions about where we are heading in order to integrate new streaming platforms. My goal was to design a robust filtering system to help manage the large amounts of Disney Media Content flowing into Polaris. This system will serve as the foundation for future designs and will be critical for supporting multiple tenants, such as Disney+ and Star+. Through conducting 1:1 user interviews, I became familiar with the tools and processes that the editorial team uses to deliver content to over 100 million viewers. Privileged to work closely with the internal employees, I deeply understand the complexities and current challenges associated with Polaris.
After talking with product owners and learning about the backend search and metadata attributes, I ideated a solution that would integrate filters in a way that would preserve Polaris's current search functionalities. This will drastically reduce the repetitive work currently done by our users and allow for a more flexible and powerful search. I shared the design prototype with leaders and stakeholders, and I'm grateful that my work received a very enthusiastic response from leadership, including the VP of Product Design. The designs are now live in all environments.
Learnings
Overall, one of the biggest challenge was to learn all aspects of the product and understand the complicated workflows that our users have to go through to complete their work. I've learned to think about engineering constraints and find the the best solution that addresses both product and user needs, and is feasible within current technical capability. In a fast-moving product life cycle, I appreciate being able to solicit feedback from users, designers, product managers and engineers on a frequent basis, ensuring we are aligned on the approach so I can continue iterating and optimizing the design to meet everyone's needs and goals. I’ve learned so much from this internship, especially when it comes to advocating for users, thinking in their perspective and creating empathetic designs that help them grow trust in this tool, so they can do their work more efficiently and confidently.
To learn more about my work, please feel free to reach me at rmx369@gmail.com. I would be happy to chat more :)