Roku Unveils First Major Home Screen Redesign in Over a Decade
The company, which reports over 100 million streaming households, began the U.S. rollout on May 27, with international expansion planned in the coming months.
A New Look for Streaming
Roku has begun rolling out a redesigned home screen for its streaming devices and TVs across the United States, marking the first significant overhaul of the interface in over ten years.
Key Features of the Redesign
The updated home screen introduces several new features designed around personalization and content discovery.
- Quick Access: A section that displays a user's most frequently used apps and adapts to changing viewing patterns.
- Top Picks for You: An intelligence-driven content recommendation section that displays suggested apps and shows.
- Destinations: New genre-based hubs that curate content, including a "For You" section with recommended titles and a "Subscriptions" section for browsing content from subscribed services.
- Your Daily Scoop: A dynamically generated row highlighting breakout shows and cultural trends.
- Unified Search: An expanded search function with relevant suggestions and results.
- Shortcuts: Dedicated buttons for "Saved List" and "Continue Watching."
- Collapsible Menu: A streamlined, collapsible navigation menu.
- Interactive Screensaver: An interactive version of the "Roku City" screensaver, accessible via a dedicated tile on the home screen.
The Business Behind the Screen
The redesigned home screen also includes a new, larger "marquee" advertisement slot designed to promote apps or shows. Roku relies on advertising as a primary revenue source.
Frances Callaghan, head of ad product commercialization, stated that the company operates as both an entertainment platform and an ads business.
According to the company, the home screen features billions of possible layout combinations, with intelligence models selecting the optimal arrangement for each viewer each time they turn on the TV.
What Roku Leadership Is Saying
Roku executives provided the following statements regarding the design philosophy behind the update:
Anthony Wood, Founder and CEO: "Our new Home Screen puts entertainment at the center of everything, while staying true to Roku's simple, intuitive roots."
Wood also stated that the redesign was based on "deep behavioral insights" and viewer input, adding that users "will feel the difference the moment they turn on their TV."
Preston Smalley, Vice President of Viewer Product: "The new homescreen will lean into personalization, while making sure that it retains the simplicity that it has been known for."
Smalley noted that the redesign was guided by user research and data, and that the home screen can adapt to different household members based on the TV's location.
Margret Schmidt, Vice President of UX Design: "Simplicity is and has always been our north star at Roku... this wasn't about reinventing Roku."