Overview

FilmSlate is a streaming platform prototype designed to improve the indie film discovery experience. As Product Manager, I led the end-to-end product approach—from research and insight development to MVP design and validation—focusing on onboarding, personalisation and early-stage engagement. 

The Problem

Indie film viewers feel underserved by mainstream platforms. Discovery feels generic, recommendations lack personalisation, and existing community features fail to support deeper engagement. 

The Solution

FilmSlate was built around two strategic pillars:

• Personalised onboarding to deliver relevant film discovery from the first session

• Early community concepts exploring social discovery and shared film exploration 

These pillars were designed to strengthen early engagement, clarify the value proposition and create a foundation for future conversion experiments.

My Role

I owned key product responsibilities across the lifecycle:

• Led user interviews, competitor analysis and persona development to surface unmet needs

• Mapped user journeys and prioritised features using behaviour insights

• Designed and tested a mid-fidelity MVP to validate assumptions around navigation, recommendations and community value

• Ran usability testing and lightweight A/B test scenarios on onboarding flows

• Translated insights into a prioritised backlog, clearer value communication and evidence-based feature decisions

 
• Defined a phased roadmap aligned to FilmSlate’s engagement and growth goals

Core Features 

• Curated onboarding flow delivering personalised recommendations

• Early community exploration concepts to test appetite for shared film discovery

 
• Optimised user journey improving navigation and clarity of value

• Conversion hypothesis projecting 32 percent to 40 percent to improvement, based on user insight and A/B test scenarios 

Results

User testing validated the onboarding concept, identifying clarity improvements that informed a 32 percent to 40 percent conversion hypothesis. 

• Validated the onboarding experience through qualitative usability testing, highlighting strengths and friction points in sign-up and early navigation. 

• Identified clear opportunities to improve discovery, trust and community engagement, including payment transparency, skip behaviour and social sign-up flows. 

• Turned research insights into a prioritised backlog, roadmap and metrics focus on sign-up rate, onboarding completion and early engagement.  

• Defined success KPIs (sign-up completion, drop-off and satisfaction) that FilmSlate can use to evaluate future experiments and measure conversion impact. 

• Modelled a conversion hypothesis (32 percent to 40 percent) to guide future experimentation and value-prop testing. 

Key Learnings

• Personalisation must be grounded in real user behaviour—not abstract assumptions 

• Community features drive long-term value in niche streaming experiences 

• Small UX refinements meaningfully affect clarity, trust and perceived value 

• Early concept testing and iteration are essential for reducing risk and improving conversion 

Reflection

This project strengthened my ability to combine research, product thinking and iterative validation to build a clear and scalable product direction. It reinforced the value of understanding emotional drivers in discovery experiences and translating insight into strategy. 

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