oct 2021 - apr 2023
I led the design of new interactive ad formats which enabled viewers to convert using their remote, whether by directly subscribing to your service, purchasing an item, or learning more about your brand or products.
Project Overview
The interactive ads organization was tasked with designing and delivering high-performing on-screen ad formats.
I began the project by auditing current formats and, recognizing the novelty of TV performance marketing, worked with product to define the highest-value opportunities for customers.
After multiple conversations across the board we documented the priorities—data, best practices, and flexibility in TV advertising—and used these insights to structure experiments that revealed the source of truth.
competitive landscape
Almost every streaming service was investing heavily in interactive ads. Studying their interaction patterns helped me identify key focus areas for how to make Roku's interactive ad formats stand out.
One key area I identified was where we request user input — such as a phone number or email needed to claim an offer. Unlike YouTube, which already had this data, this was a unique opportunity for Roku to capture valuable first-party information. By turning this input step into a branded, delightful experience, we could both strengthen Roku’s brand presence and enhance user satisfaction.
Approach
To narrow down the scope and simplify the variables we can test, we capped each test at three design variables for interpretability, and standardize success metrics (CTR, CVR, engagement). Over 1,500 controlled experiments shaped the design patterns and roadmap, codifying winners and retiring ineffective ones.
Working alongside marketing I identified 3 experiment variables to conduct these quantifiable experiments and worked with them to instrument these tests with 50+ alpha partners.
overlay iterations
winning formats
We focused on these ad formats because they consistently outperformed the alternatives we tested. Their specifications were migrated into Roku Ad Manager to make them scalable and repeatable. Even small design tweaks made a measurable difference—for example, adding a simple “system message” overlay to an interactive ad increased performance by 45%.
For on-screen checkout, we tested multiple approaches and landed on the Squeeze Back ad format. Because this was a distinct new capability—one that very few streaming platforms supported—it was critical to design the checkout flow differently from other interactive ads. The dramatic animation of the Squeeze Back format proved highly effective at capturing user attention and driving engagement.
rebranding interactive pages
One of the key insights from my competitive research was that most streaming providers treated interactive input pages—where users entered their details—as purely functional, with little to no brand integration.
This screen primarily functioned as a system input page, since key data such as email and phone number were already available to the platform.
We reskinned and rebranded these pages to align with the advertising brand, making the experience feel native and trustworthy. This not only clarified that the offer came directly from the brand (not Roku), but also gave advertisers more room to showcase details about their offer—strengthening both brand presence and user confidence.
Outcomes
"This is a market that is a multibillion dollar – many multibillion dollar market that just traditionally was not even tapped into by TV platforms. We have so much opportunity to experiment with this type of interactivity adding value to the viewing experience. "
— CEO, Anthony Wood
The suite of ad offerings I worked on during my time at Roku has bolstered the company as a dominant leader in the ads space, accounting more than 49% of it's revenue. Thankful to have been a part of this initiative.
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