BonsaiHD

Designing a streaming app that helps you find what to watch

A streaming app UX case study: personalised discovery, mood-based AI recommendations, watch parties with friends and a VIP subscription that shows its value first.

Role: Product Designer
Platform: Mobile app (iOS and Android)
Category: Streaming · Mobile app
Status: Shipped

Problem

The challenge

Streaming users spend as much time deciding what to watch as they do watching. Browsing felt generic: people opened the app wanting to watch something but could not quickly find what matched how they felt.

Solution

The approach

I designed the complete experience: a personalised home, movie and series details, a mood-based AI recommendation tool, social watch parties, a VIP subscription and the full profile flow, all aimed at shortening the path from opening the app to pressing Play.

Lead with mood, not genre. Ask Bonsai AI starts from how the viewer feels, returns one best match and offers more options below it.
Make watching together simple. Watch With Friends creates a room shared by code or QR link, with up to eight people watching in sync.
Show value before the paywall. The VIP screen leads with features, a time-limited offer and a 7-day trial instead of a hard gate.

Outcome