Designing the app behind Telly's free 4K smart TV

Onboarding, referrals and launch for a brand-new TV company, from zero to 230,000 reservations in a week.

Product Design

Consumer Electronics

Mobile App

Designing the app behind Telly's free 4K smart TV

Onboarding, referrals and launch for a brand-new TV company, from zero to 230,000 reservations in a week.

Product Design

Consumer Electronics

Mobile App

Spoiler

Telly gives people a free 4K smart TV, paid for by ads, and the mobile app is where they sign up for one. When I joined there was no app, no brand and no user data. I designed the mobile experience from scratch, from onboarding to referrals and launch on the App Store and Google Play. In the first seven days, the app recorded over 230,000 reservations.

Spoiler

Telly gives people a free 4K smart TV, paid for by ads, and the mobile app is where they sign up for one. When I joined there was no app, no brand and no user data. I designed the mobile experience from scratch, from onboarding to referrals and launch on the App Store and Google Play. In the first seven days, the app recorded over 230,000 reservations.

Spoiler

Telly gives people a free 4K smart TV, paid for by ads, and the mobile app is where they sign up for one. When I joined there was no app, no brand and no user data. I designed the mobile experience from scratch, from onboarding to referrals and launch on the App Store and Google Play. In the first seven days, the app recorded over 230,000 reservations.

230K+

Reservations in the first 7 days

$100K+

Revenue in the first 7 days

230K+

Reservations in the first 7 days

$100K+

Revenue in the first 7 days

Problem

Telly wants to turn the TV into a connected home hub: a free 4K smart TV with video calling, a personalized home feed and a voice assistant. The TV is free because Telly earns from ads shown below or beside the picture. People reserve their TV through the mobile app.

When I joined, Telly had no name recognition, no brand identity and no app. The app had to explain the value of getting a free 4K smart TV and guide people through signing up for one. With no existing users, there was no data to start from.

Problem

Telly wants to turn the TV into a connected home hub: a free 4K smart TV with video calling, a personalized home feed and a voice assistant. The TV is free because Telly earns from ads shown below or beside the picture. People reserve their TV through the mobile app.

When I joined, Telly had no name recognition, no brand identity and no app. The app had to explain the value of getting a free 4K smart TV and guide people through signing up for one. With no existing users, there was no data to start from.

Problem

Telly wants to turn the TV into a connected home hub: a free 4K smart TV with video calling, a personalized home feed and a voice assistant. The TV is free because Telly earns from ads shown below or beside the picture. People reserve their TV through the mobile app.

When I joined, Telly had no name recognition, no brand identity and no app. The app had to explain the value of getting a free 4K smart TV and guide people through signing up for one. With no existing users, there was no data to start from.

My Role

Senior Product Designer at Telly from May 2022 to May 2024. I designed the mobile app and its launch, working with developers and stakeholders: onboarding and activation, the referral flow, settings, security and legal sections, launch prep for the App Store and Google Play, and the standards documented in Notion.

My Role

Senior Product Designer at Telly from May 2022 to May 2024. I designed the mobile app and its launch, working with developers and stakeholders: onboarding and activation, the referral flow, settings, security and legal sections, launch prep for the App Store and Google Play, and the standards documented in Notion.

My Role

Senior Product Designer at Telly from May 2022 to May 2024. I designed the mobile app and its launch, working with developers and stakeholders: onboarding and activation, the referral flow, settings, security and legal sections, launch prep for the App Store and Google Play, and the standards documented in Notion.

Process

With no brand and no existing users, the work started from Telly's core offer and what people needed to do to get their TV. Features were prioritized by those core jobs using an Eisenhower matrix.

From the core offer to launch: prioritization, prototypes and handoff.

From wireframes to launch-ready flows

Design sprints turned those priorities into wireframes, interactive prototypes and a high-fidelity prototype ready for development. The work covered:

  • Onboarding that guides people from sign-up to receiving their TV

  • A reward-based referral flow to invite friends

  • Settings, security and legal sections

  • Store assets and requirements for the App Store and Google Play

Onboarding asked a series of required questions so each TV could be set up correctly.

Onboarding and referral flows.

Handoff and launch

I handed off detailed specs, supported QA with the developers and helped write the user stories in Jira.

Solution

The native app launched on the App Store and Google Play. It takes people from learning about Telly to reserving their free TV, with setup questions that make sure each TV is configured correctly, a referral flow that rewards inviting friends, and the settings, security and legal sections a real product needs. A shared component library kept the app consistent as it grew.

Solution

The native app launched on the App Store and Google Play. It takes people from learning about Telly to reserving their free TV, with setup questions that make sure each TV is configured correctly, a referral flow that rewards inviting friends, and the settings, security and legal sections a real product needs. A shared component library kept the app consistent as it grew.

Solution

The native app launched on the App Store and Google Play. It takes people from learning about Telly to reserving their free TV, with setup questions that make sure each TV is configured correctly, a referral flow that rewards inviting friends, and the settings, security and legal sections a real product needs. A shared component library kept the app consistent as it grew.

Onboarding: from sign-up to reserving a free TV.

Setup questions that make sure each TV is configured correctly.

Referral flow with rewards for inviting friends.

Settings, security and legal sections.

Component library and UI standards.

Outcome

In the first seven days after launch, the app recorded over 230,000 reservations and generated more than $100,000 in revenue.

The app was designed to grow beyond sign-up and the waitlist, toward a personalized experience with widgets for weather, stocks, sports and news.

The lesson: when there's no brand yet, the product has to do the explaining. The app had to make a free TV make sense before anyone would reserve one.

Outcome

In the first seven days after launch, the app recorded over 230,000 reservations and generated more than $100,000 in revenue.

The app was designed to grow beyond sign-up and the waitlist, toward a personalized experience with widgets for weather, stocks, sports and news.

The lesson: when there's no brand yet, the product has to do the explaining. The app had to make a free TV make sense before anyone would reserve one.

Outcome

In the first seven days after launch, the app recorded over 230,000 reservations and generated more than $100,000 in revenue.

The app was designed to grow beyond sign-up and the waitlist, toward a personalized experience with widgets for weather, stocks, sports and news.

The lesson: when there's no brand yet, the product has to do the explaining. The app had to make a free TV make sense before anyone would reserve one.

Process

Process

Google Play ↗

App Store ↗

Telly website ↗

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