Designing a video player and PDP for dramatic storytelling

The impact

This redesign of MGM’s product detail pages drove +$7.4M in annualized entertainment revenue (+$2.5M margin), +$2.4M in annualized attractions revenue (+$864K margin), and a +4% lift in mobile web conversion. As Senior Product Designer, I owned the redesign end-to-end and worked with MGM’s head of design on a strategy to unify PDPs across all of MGM’s 13+ properties, starting with the Entertainment PDP.

Reimagined the PDP as a sales tool, not an information hub

How can we reimagine the PDP to better communicate MGM’s unique set of offerings? The previous PDPs were a basic information hub, lacking multimedia, location information, and in-depth event or offer details. We set out to build a new PDP that sold MGM’s offerings by weaving dramatic storytelling into the foundation of the design, not bolting it on top.

Business objectives

• Optimize mobile web and desktop for a more efficient booking experience.
• Unify MGM’s digital experience with the Indigo design language.
• Enhance visual storytelling to increase engagement and conversion rates.
• Personalize the experience with data-driven recommendations and up-sell opportunities.

Bet on a scalable template, not a one-off entertainment page

Rather than design a single bespoke PDP for entertainment and adapt it ad hoc for every other offering, I bet on one scalable template, built around video, motion, and rich media, that could flex across every offering type MGM sells. Starting with Entertainment let us prove the template before extending it to the rest of MGM’s 13+ properties.

A “Hero Media Player” optimized for mobile

I worked with the Engineering team to develop a Hero Media Player that presents a visually appealing introduction to our offerings on the page. This player showcases the key elements of our entertainment and attractions through a combination of video and photographic highlights.

The Hero Media Player as it shipped, on mobile web and desktop.

Flexible, dual-purpose media gallery

I crafted an interactive image gallery that invites guests to explore visual stories. By simply clicking on a gallery collage located below the Hero Media Player, guests can view imagery in a media gallery modal that brings MGM entertainment offerings to life. This feature is especially valuable for showcasing MGM offers that lack video accompaniment. Guests can take a closer look by clicking on any image for a focused lightbox viewing experience.

Clicking the photo collage opens this gallery modal for a closer look.

Enhanced resort wayfinding tool

I designed a new wayfinding tool to enhance guests’ experience at MGM’s events. The tool provides clear, step-by-step directions to the venue, complete with parking information and a Google Maps view of the event location. This makes it easier for guests to find their way and arrive at the event with confidence.

Design strategy: Atomizing the trip-building experience

I collaborated with MGM’s head of design to develop a cohesive strategy to unify the PDPs across all of MGM’s 13+ properties. Previously, MGM guests were incentivized to stay on property and purchase experiences at a single resort. Standardizing the PDPs allowed MGM to start incentivizing more cross-property purchases and guest exploration. Through careful research, analysis, and collaboration with key stakeholders, I developed a new PDP design that combined the best elements of each property’s individual PDP design, resulting in a unified, cohesive product experience for all MGM guests.

Mapping how a unified PDP template could extend across all 13+ properties.

Early explorations I used to pressure-test the storytelling direction with our research team.

Outcomes from a stakeholder workshop where Entertainment, Marketing, and Product all weighed in on what the legacy PDP was missing.

Documentation, delivery, and QA

I developed comprehensive design specifications for this project to assist the Discovery Engineering team in efficiently and accurately implementing the designs. This approach not only streamlined the build process, but also reduced the risk of technical debt and the amount of time required for QA testing.

Zoomed out: the full spec handed to the Discovery Engineering team.

Zoomed in: a contextual quick-link to an upsell opportunity for “MGM Concert Packages,” bundling a room, dining, and concert tickets.

Would build more room for each property’s personality

Standardizing on one scalable template made the redesign possible across 13+ very different properties, but it also meant compressing some of each resort’s distinct character into a shared structure. I’d want to build more deliberate flex points into the template next time, so property-specific personality doesn’t get sanded down in service of consistency.