Diagnal
Optimizing the Game Behind the Scenes
Year
2019
Role
UI/UX Designer
Client
Optus Sport
Tools
Figma
Sketch
Zeplin
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Industry
Sports Streaming / Media Operations
Company Context
Diagnal is a media technology company that designs and builds digital platforms for video streaming services, broadcasters, and telecom providers. The company specializes in OTT applications and content management systems used to manage and distribute large volumes of video content.
For this project, Diagnal partnered with Optus Sport, a sports streaming service in Australia, to design a Video Content Management System (VCMS) that supports the operational demands of managing live matches, highlights, and sports media libraries.
Project Overview
Optus Sport streams live and on-demand sports content to audiences across Australia. As the volume of matches, highlights, and media assets increased, internal teams relied on fragmented tools and manual workflows to organize and publish content.
To support faster and more reliable operations, Diagnal designed a Video Content Management System (VCMS) — a centralized platform that helps teams manage media assets, coordinate match content, and streamline publishing workflows.
My Role & Responsibilities
As a UI/UX Designer at Diagnal, I worked on the Optus Video Content Management System from January to October 2019. I collaborated with stakeholders, developers, and leadership to translate Optus Sport’s operational requirements into an intuitive and scalable content management platform.
Key Responsibilities:
• Designing user flows and interaction patterns for complex content workflows
• Creating wireframes and high-fidelity UI designs for core platform modules
• Prototyping and iterating on features based on user and stakeholder feedback
• Collaborating with developers to ensure designs were technically feasible
• Preparing design specifications and assets for implementation
The Problem
Optus Sport manages large volumes of live and on-demand sports content, including full matches, highlights, and supporting media assets. As the platform grew, internal teams relied on fragmented tools and manual workflows to organize and publish content efficiently.
Managing Content at Scale
Teams handled hundreds of hours of video, images, and supporting assets across live matches and on-demand libraries. Without a centralized system, locating and organizing media was time-consuming and prone to duplication or errors.
Inefficient Workflows
Existing CMS tools forced teams into rigid processes that required manual updates and repetitive tasks. These workflows slowed publishing and created unnecessary friction during daily operations.
Live Event Pressure
Sports broadcasting requires fast updates during live matches. Teams needed to coordinate assets, highlights, and publishing schedules in real time, making delays or mistakes particularly costly.
Collaboration & Permissions
Multiple teams worked on the same content but lacked clear role-based access and workflow visibility. This created miscommunication and bottlenecks when managing assets and publishing decisions.
Design Goals
Based on the challenges identified during research, we defined a set of design goals to guide the development of the content management platform and ensure it addressed both operational and user needs.
Streamline Content Workflows
Simplify how teams upload, organize, and publish sports media. The system needed to reduce manual steps and help users manage both live and on-demand content more efficiently.
Support Live Event Operations
Sports content is highly time-sensitive. The platform needed to enable teams to update assets, highlights, and match-related content quickly during live events.
Improve Collaboration and Role Clarity
Multiple teams interact with the same content. Introducing structured workflows and role-based permissions would help reduce confusion, prevent errors, and improve coordination across teams.
Build a Scalable Content System
The platform needed to support growing volumes of media assets and users. The design focused on flexible structures that could expand without making workflows more complex.
Design Process
To design a system that could support complex content operations, we followed an iterative design process focused on understanding user workflows, testing early ideas, and refining solutions through collaboration with stakeholders and developers.
Discovery & Research
We began by speaking with internal users to understand how they managed sports content on a daily basis. These conversations revealed pain points such as slow publishing processes, unclear workflows, and difficulties managing assets during live events.
Ideation & Concept Development
Based on the research insights, we explored solutions to improve content workflows, collaboration, and live event management. Workshops and internal discussions helped prioritize ideas that would simplify processes while supporting the scale of sports content operations.
Improve Collaboration and Role Clarity
Multiple teams interact with the same content. Introducing structured workflows and role-based permissions would help reduce confusion, prevent errors, and improve coordination across teams.
Build a Scalable Content System
The platform needed to support growing volumes of media assets and users. The design focused on flexible structures that could expand without making workflows more complex.
The Solution
To address the challenges of managing sports content at scale, we designed a centralized content management system that simplifies workflows, supports live event operations, and improves collaboration across teams.
Rather than relying on isolated features, the platform brings together a set of interconnected tools that help users manage assets, coordinate live content, and maintain consistency across workflows.
Asset Manager
The Asset Manager serves as the central hub for storing, organizing, and managing media assets such as videos, images, graphics, and documents. It provides teams with a single interface to access and manage the content used across matches, highlights, and publishing workflows.
Problem
Teams needed to manage large volumes of media assets across live matches, highlights, and supporting content. Without a centralized system, files were often scattered across folders and tools, making it difficult to locate the right asset quickly. This created delays and increased the risk of duplication or using incorrect media during time-sensitive workflows.
Design Decision
To address this, we designed a centralized asset management interface where users could upload, organize, and retrieve media assets from a single platform. The goal was to create a reliable source of truth for all media while making asset management faster and easier for content teams.
Key UX Decisions
The interface prioritizes quick access and clarity. Assets can be organized using metadata tagging and categories, allowing users to filter and locate content quickly without navigating through complex folder structures.
To reduce friction, the design includes visual previews, inline editing actions, and flexible viewing options such as grid and list layouts. These interactions help users verify assets, update information, and manage media directly from the main interface without unnecessary navigation.
Outcome
By centralizing asset management and improving searchability, teams were able to locate and organize media more efficiently. This reduced time spent searching for assets and improved consistency across the content library, particularly during live event workflows where speed and accuracy were critical.
Bucket Manager
The Bucket Manager allows users to group and organize content into flexible collections for matches, highlights, and campaigns. It helps teams prepare, adjust, and manage content sets based on different publishing needs.
Problem
Teams needed a way to organize assets for specific use cases such as live matches or highlight reels. Without a structured system, content had to be manually grouped and reassembled, which slowed down workflows and increased the risk of inconsistencies.
Design Decision
We introduced a flexible system for creating and managing content buckets, allowing users to group related assets and adjust them as needed. This provided a structured yet adaptable way to organize content across different workflows.
Key UX Decisions
The interface was designed for speed and flexibility. Drag-and-drop interactions allow users to quickly add, remove, and reorder assets within a bucket, making it easier to adapt to changes during live events.
Clear visual hierarchy, thumbnail previews, and status indicators help users understand the contents of each bucket at a glance. This reduces the need to open multiple views and supports faster decision-making when managing content under time pressure.
Outcome
This reduced the time required to organize and update content collections, especially during live events. Teams were able to respond more quickly to changes while maintaining consistency across content workflows.
Match Manager
Match Manager provides a centralized interface for scheduling, tracking, and managing sports matches along with their associated content. It helps teams coordinate timelines, assets, and publishing status in one place.
Problem
Managing match-related content required coordination across multiple teams, assets, and timelines. Without a dedicated system, teams relied on fragmented tools, leading to scheduling errors, missed updates, and difficulty tracking the status of live and upcoming matches.
Design Decision
We designed a centralized match management interface that brings together scheduling, asset linking, and status tracking into a single workflow. This allowed teams to manage all match-related activities in one place rather than switching between tools.
Key UX Decisions
The interface emphasizes clarity and real-time visibility. Calendar and timeline views help users understand match schedules at a glance, while status indicators provide quick insight into content readiness and publishing progress.
To support fast updates, interactive controls allow users to link assets, adjust schedules, and update match details directly within the interface. Filtering and search features make it easy to locate specific matches, even within large datasets.
Outcome
This improved coordination across teams and reduced scheduling errors. Users were able to track match-related content more efficiently, leading to smoother workflows and more reliable handling of live events.
Content Bank
Content Bank acts as a centralized library for storing and retrieving media assets across different formats, including videos, images, and documents. It enables teams to quickly search, access, and reuse content across workflows.
Problem
As the volume of sports content grew, teams struggled to locate the right assets when needed. Content was often fragmented, making it time-consuming to search and increasing the risk of duplication or missed assets during production.
Design Decision
We introduced Content Bank as a dedicated space for browsing and retrieving media assets. The goal was to create a reliable and searchable repository that supports fast access to content across different use cases.
Key UX Decisions
The interface was designed for efficient content discovery. Advanced search and filtering allow users to narrow down results using metadata, while multiple view options such as grid and list layouts support different browsing behaviors.
To reduce uncertainty, asset previews and contextual metadata are surfaced directly within the interface, allowing users to quickly assess content without opening separate views.
Outcome
This improved content discoverability and reduced the time spent searching for assets. Teams were able to reuse existing media more effectively, leading to more efficient workflows and better content consistency.
Data Manager
Data Manager provides a structured interface for managing metadata associated with sports content. It ensures data consistency across modules like Asset Manager, Bucket Manager, and Match Manager, enabling reliable operations.
Problem
Inconsistent or missing metadata caused errors in content workflows and made tracking, scheduling, and publishing inefficient. Teams had to double-check information manually, increasing cognitive load and risk of mistakes.
Design Decision
We designed Data Manager as a central hub for editing, tagging, and validating metadata. The system integrates directly with other modules, ensuring clean data flows and reducing manual corrections across workflows.
Key UX Decisions
The interface allows users to quickly edit metadata through inline forms while visual cues highlight missing or inconsistent fields to prevent errors. Metadata changes automatically propagate across Asset Manager, Bucket Manager, and Match Manager, keeping workflows aligned and reducing rework. By combining speed, clarity, and integration, the design ensures that teams can maintain accurate data without friction or disruption.
Outcome
Teams gained confidence that metadata was correct, reducing errors and rework. Workflows became more reliable, and content could be published or repurposed efficiently, even at scale.
Role Manager
Role Manager enables teams to define and manage permissions for different users, ensuring that everyone has access only to the tools and content relevant to their role. This creates a secure, organized environment that supports collaboration without risking content integrity.
Problem
Without clear permission structures, collaborative workflows became chaotic. Sensitive content or critical processes could be mismanaged, and onboarding new team members required extra time to explain responsibilities. Misaligned access caused errors and slowed down operations.
Design Decision
We designed Role Manager to provide an intuitive interface for assigning roles, setting restrictions, and monitoring activity. Permissions are visually clear, with hierarchical views and contextual explanations, so users understand exactly what each role can do. Inline toggles, group management, and a history log give teams transparency and control over access, while minimizing the chance of mistakes.
Key UX Decisions
The design balances security with usability. Clear visual hierarchy and labels make roles easy to scan, while contextual explanations guide users through permission settings without confusion. Grouping users by teams and integrating activity history ensures accountability. Iterative testing focused on minimizing errors, reducing training needs, and helping users confidently manage access across complex workflows.
Outcome
Role Manager improved team efficiency, reduced operational risk, and sped up onboarding. Users reported fewer mistakes and smoother collaboration, and the platform provided a reliable system for managing access at scale. From a UX perspective, it created trust and clarity, allowing teams to focus on content and workflow rather than worrying about permissions.
Impact & Results
The Optus VCMS project delivered measurable improvements in how teams manage sports content, supporting efficiency, reliability, and scalability across operations. The design addressed both immediate workflow challenges and long-term organizational needs.
For Teams – Smoother, More Efficient Workflows
Centralizing assets, simplifying playlist creation, and streamlining match scheduling allowed teams to focus on high-value tasks instead of navigating cumbersome processes. Fewer errors and reduced bottlenecks made daily operations smoother, freeing time for strategic and creative work.
For the Organization – Scalable, Flexible Operations
The platform’s architecture and tools supported increasing volumes of live and on-demand content, enabling the organization to scale without disrupting existing workflows. Operational efficiency improvements ensured content delivery was consistent, reliable, and timely, enhancing fan engagement.
For the Future – Building Adaptability and Innovation
Modular design, role-based permissions, and structured metadata created a foundation for long-term growth. Teams gained confidence to experiment with new content formats and workflows, allowing the platform to evolve while maintaining operational stability.
Reflection & Key Learnings
The Optus VCMS project reinforced how critical it is to design complex systems that balance usability, scalability, and operational needs. Close collaboration with stakeholders, developers, and end users helped ensure solutions were practical, achievable, and aligned with real workflows.
Planning for scalability early allowed the platform to grow without disrupting existing processes, while understanding team operations ensured features fit naturally into daily work. Rapid prototyping and user validation revealed friction points quickly, guiding feature decisions and improving usability.
Ultimately, this project highlighted that impactful UI/UX design goes beyond screens—it’s about building systems that empower teams, scale with growth, and deliver measurable results. Even small decisions, like metadata structure or permission flows, can have significant operational impact.