The goal
The brief was to lead the strategy, iteration, validation, and launch of an updated cross-device experience for Amazon Kids. It needed to do two things at once: let our engineers scale across operating systems, content types, and new features, and lift engagement and retention, specifically the number of distinct days a customer used Amazon Kids+ in their first 30 days.
Why it needed a redesign
Children change fast. Their cognitive, motor, and technical abilities at six look nothing like they do at twelve, and a single static experience can't serve both well. The original design dated to 2011 and had barely changed by 2016, which left us with scaling limits for the team and friction for customers. The redesign started there.
The approach
I ran design-thinking workshops across the organization to align on direction, then we rebuilt around a few principles:
- Discovery on the home screen, with mixed-content and genre rows that surface the right thing for each child.
- A responsive, flexible grid that keeps layouts consistent across screen sizes.
- Media-type awareness that adapts the experience from a phone in hand to a 10-foot TV.
- Content interstitials that simplify downloading, launching, and removing titles.
Designed as a system, it also cut the design and engineering resources each new surface required.
How I led it
My role was leadership and coordination: roadmap and design-resource planning, partnerships with product, marketing, and development, research planning and usability testing, and the executive engagement that kept the work visible and folded leadership feedback back into the product. I drove the multi-team go-to-market partnership with engineering and product, and built the scalable design system and process that let a 200-plus-person organization move quickly without losing craft.
Timeline
Outcomes
The redesigned experience launched with Amazon Kids+ on iOS in June 2018 to a 4-star app store rating and an App Store homepage feature, and reached Fire tablets two months later. It ships bundled with the bestselling Fire Kids Edition tablets.
I love how everything is kid and baby friendly. The setup was super easy and fast!
Customer review
Want to talk about scaling design systems or leading cross-device redesigns? Get in touch.