Location-Based Features

2022

Bleacher Report

Data Consent Approach

Problem

Bleacher Report wants to leverage user location data, and cares about doing it in a thoughtful way that won't negatively impact user sentiment.

AT&T, the parent company of WarnerMedia and Bleacher Report, will ask its subsidiary companies to use location data to help inform its 5G rollout plan. This presented a business solution seeking a user problem.

Solution

We developed a data consent language for two location-based features that would maintain trust in the brands.

We conducted qualitative interviews to drive iterative design on consent language options. We launched a pop-up to over 110K users on the Bleacher Report app to gather insights on feature desirability alongside the proposed consent language.

Impact

The Find Local Teams feature prompts new and existing users with the updated, transparent data consent language.

We emphasized that asking for consent to collect location data must be linked to a clear value that users receive within the product.

User Types

Credit Union Card Services Member

Has access to one Credit Union’s data

Co-op Contact Center Agents

Has access to all Credit Unions that a customer may be a part of but has limits on what tasks they can perform for a Credit Union

My Role

Product Designer

Hypothesis-driven experiments for quick insights

Conducted bi-weekly experiments including research planning, prototyping, and usability testing.

Drafted data privacy consent language with Legal

Collaborated with Privacy and Data Strategy Counsel to create and obtain approval for multiple language variants.

Partnered with Engineering to launch in-app quantitative experiments

Used tools such as Optimizely, LeanPlum, and SurveyMonkey for implementation.

Managed stakeholder expectations and socialized progress

Shared key takeaways and actionable insights.

My Team

Collaboration

We collaborated closely with WarnerMedia and Bleacher Report, meeting regularly throughout the week and participating in workshops and reviews.

Goals

Data Privacy Strategy

Targeted-advertising consent requirements:

Consent should cover today’s use cases as well as those we envision in the near future
Consent needs to cover transfer of data within the WarnerMedia family AND to AT&T
Consent should use language around “customizing your advertising experience”

Understanding

Qualitative Research

We aimed to understand what makes people lose trust in data consent question. We tested how different phrasings influenced this using two location-based features, featuring three consent messaging variants.

Qualitative Research

Key Takeaway

If users see a benefit from the feature, they are more willing to share their location.

As for consent language:

Participants want clarity on who will receive their data. However, the term "Third Parties" or "WarnerMedia Family" raises concerns.

Design

Feature Ideation

Our research then focused on identifying valuable location-based features for users. When location data is seen as essential, we can increase the number of users willing to share their location while maintaining brand trust.

Through collaboration with the WarnerMedia and Bleacher Report, we identified two key location-based features:

Find Local Teams: Prompt users to share location to find local teams.
Ways to Watch: Prompt users to share location to find local channels.

Qualitative Research

Understanding the Value of Proposed Features

Find Local Teams

B/R users already know their preferred teams, so searching the catalog is often more efficient than using the ‘Find Local Teams’ feature. This feature would be unlikely to attract a significant user base.

Ways to Watch

Participants primarily rely on Google for this info. If Bleacher Report offered this within the app, it would provide unique value. The feature must include easily accessible streaming options to be valuable.

Quantitative Research

In-Production Test

Partnering with Legal, we launched three variants of the Ways to Watch pop-up to over 110K users on the app to determine which language resonates with users and clearly communicates why their location data is necessary for the feature.

Results

Variant B performed the best and had the highest opt-in rate of 'I'm interested' (5.07%)

Ways to Watch is a feature the Bleacher Report team can consider adding to their roadmap. Users already have existing workflows to solve for this problem, so it’s important to provide a unique value such as easily accessible streaming options.