The Strategic Evolution of DIVA: Redefining Interactive Sports for the Big Screen
Transforming DIVA into a lean-back TV experience—redefining how fans discover, navigate and relive key moments in live sport.
Problem
In 2020, Deltatre’s DIVA faced a pivotal challenge. While it was a market leader in synchronizing sports data with video, the experience was limited to responsive web and native mobile [user prompt]. Recognising that the majority of sports viewing occurs on the big screen, I led the strategic move to redesign and redevelop DIVA for a native "lean-back" environment.
Our mission was to transform a dated mobile-first product into a high-performance TV SDK, bringing immersive interactivity to Smart TVs and game consoles for the first time.
Context
This work coincided with a broader shift in how audiences consume video.
Research such as The Age of Television highlights that viewing behaviour is driven by distinct “need states”—including Unwind, Comfort, Experience, and In Touch.
For live sport, two are particularly critical:
Experience → viewers want to feel part of a shared, real-time moment
In Touch → viewers want to stay informed and connected to what’s happening
Live TV remains dominant in these moments because it creates:
shared cultural experiences
real-time engagement
social “talkability”
This insight shaped the design direction:
The player should not behave like a traditional VOD interface
It should enhance live participation, not interrupt it
My Role
As Lead Product Designer, I was responsible for:
Defining the end-to-end TV player experience
Leading workshops to define the MVP across product and engineering
Designing the interaction model for remote-based navigation
Creating prototypes for user testing
Ensuring consistency across multiple platforms (tvOS, Android TV, consoles)
This was a cross-functional effort spanning product, engineering, and client stakeholders.
Process
Aligning on MVP
We ran collaborative workshops (Miro, whiteboarding) to define:
Core use cases for live sport
Technical constraints across platforms
Prioritisation of features
This ensured we focused on delivering a scalable foundation, not just a feature-rich player.
Understanding the 10-Foot Experience
Designing for TV required rethinking interaction fundamentals:
Navigation via D-pad (directional input)
Larger UI elements for visibility
Reduced cognitive load
We established design principles:
Clarity over density
Focus-driven navigation
Minimal steps to key actions
Prototyping & Testing
We built an interactive prototype to test:
Timeline navigation
Highlight discovery
Remote interactions
Users were asked to complete real tasks such as:
Replaying a goal
Jumping between match events
Returning to live playback
This helped validate both usability and engagement.
Key Design Decisions
The Interactive Timeline
The core innovation was transforming the timeline from a passive scrubber into an event-driven navigation system.
Instead of time-based seeking, users could:
Navigate between key match moments
Jump directly to highlights
Maintain context within live playback
This aligned perfectly with the “Experience” need state—keeping users immersed in the event.
Card-Based Navigation for Remote Controls
To support D-pad interaction, we introduced:
Horizontally scrollable event cards
Clear focus states
Predictable directional movement
This reduced friction and made complex interactions feel simple.
Layered UI (Video First)
We prioritised the video as the primary surface:
UI overlays were lightweight and non-intrusive
Information appeared on demand
The design respected the lean-back viewing context
Designing for Comfort
TV viewing is often passive and extended.
Based on research:
Users are often in “unwind” or “comfort” states
We adapted the UI accordingly:
Off-white colours to reduce glare
Reduced visual noise
Smooth, predictable motion
Platform-Native Performance
We deliberately chose:
tvOS AVPlayer
Android native player frameworks
This ensured:
Performance at scale
Stability across devices
Faster delivery timelines
Outcome
The result was a fully reimagined TV sports player that:
Enables fans to navigate live sport in real time
Surfaces key moments without disrupting playback
Works consistently across multiple platforms
The experience bridged the gap between:
broadcast television simplicity
digital interactivity
Impact
The DIVA TV player helped position Deltatre as a leader in interactive sports streaming.
Key outcomes included:
Deployment across major platforms:
Samsung
LG
Apple TV
Android TV
Xbox & PlayStation
Creation of a scalable cross-platform architecture
A more engaging viewing experience that:
Increased interaction with live content
Improved highlight discovery
Strengthened fan engagement
Most importantly:
It transformed the TV player from a passive viewing tool into an active sports experience
