MTV Trax

Product Design Strategy and UX transformation for entertainment platform at MusicQubed. Showing the MTV Trax brand by Viacom

Overview

When Viacom set out to expand its millennial reach and bring its iconic music brand into the digital space, I led the creation of MTV Trax - Viacom’s first-ever music application. As Head of Design of MusicQubed, I conceptualised, art-directed, and led the creative direction for both the brand identity and product experience, guiding the project from vision through launch.

Working across both B2C and B2B audiences, I was responsible for designing a product that reflected MTV's cultural influence while embracing modern digital behaviours. The result was a mobile-first, immersive music experience that connected fans to curated playlists, exclusive content, and artist stories - all under the MTV brand.

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Scope of Work

Hands-on UX and UI design for the full platform and feature set.
Created and documented a design system to ensure scalability and visual consistency.
Conducted UX research, journey mapping, wireframing, prototyping, and facilitated workshops with internal and client teams.
Led brand and identity creation, defining the look, tone, and motion language of the MTV Trax product.
Developed product roadmap and feature planning in partnership with Viacom stakeholders.
Chaired global rollout meetings with Viacom and internal teams to coordinate release milestones.
Served as brand guardian for MTV Trax, ensuring fidelity to both MTV's heritage and evolving digital culture.

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The Challenge

The product needed to express MTV’s distinctive energy while providing a seamless, intuitive, and engaging experience for younger audiences who consumed music primarily through mobile.

MTV had never previously explored music streaming within its content strategy, so this project represented a complete end-to-end platform design - combining UX innovation with brand evolution to launch a new product category for the company.

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The Results

The MTV Trax launch exceeded expectations across engagement, satisfaction, and market recognition:

#1 highest-rated music app in the UK Apple App Store (July 2017).
88% of users reported they loved and would recommend the app.
As part of the UX upgrade to the white-label product that I designed and rolled out we achieved a 10% increase in engagement per playlist and a 25% overall rise in platform usage compared to the legacy version.
Enabled Viacom to expand its digital footprint through a SIM partnership with EE, achieving a 20% increase in millennial customer acquisition.

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