Powering Home Workouts with a Premium TV Experience for Les Mills+

With home fitness on the rise and the big screen becoming the go-to for immersive workouts, Les Mills+ saw an opportunity to level up their Connected TV (CTV) experience. As a long-time partner of Les Mills, I was brought in to lead the design effort across their CTV platforms, helping them deliver high-quality workouts to users in their living rooms across the world.

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My Role

‍I led the design from the ground up, covering everything from discovery and stakeholder workshops to interface design and documentation. I worked closely with product owners, engineers, and internal teams to ensure this project delivered not just on aesthetics, but on functionality and business value. My responsibilities included:

• Leading design kickoff and planning sessions
• Scoping UX and UI priorities with stakeholders
• High-fidelity UI design across tvOS, Roku, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, and RDK
• Running a design workshop to introduce CTV-specific design principles
• Conducting Maze testing and analytics reviews for behavioural insights
• Building design systems tailored to CTV platforms
• Creating developer handoff documentation and design QA

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Why This Was Needed

‍Les Mills+ wanted to:

• Modernise the existing TV experience
• Align with current design systems used on mobile and web
• Enhance user retention during peak seasonal usage (New Year, Winter)
• Future-proof the experience for global audiences in markets like the US, UK, Germany, Spain, and France

We knew that users often rely on their TV for long-form workouts, so the experience had to be frictionless, focused, and visually rich. With fewer distractions and the best AV setup in the house, the TV app needed to match the premium nature of Les Mills' content.

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How I Delivered

‍Working in tandem with Les Mills' product teams, I translated their mobile Fitness+ app and their dated TV app into an intuitive, remote-friendly TV experience without sacrificing quality. I ensured consistency with Les Mills’ broader ecosystem while optimising layouts for big-screen interactions.

Key steps included:

• Reviewing user personas to ensure accessibility and simplicity
• Using the Golf TV app as a dev reference to ensure lightweight, scalable builds
• Tailoring visual assets per region
• Working with the Accedo engineering team to meet platform-specific constraints

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The Result

‍We delivered a new CTV experience that went live on all platforms, just in time for the high January season. The updated homepage and user flows made the app more inviting and intuitive, helping increase retention and user engagement during the most critical part of the year. Stakeholder feedback was incredibly positive, and the app now acts as a foundation for future iterations and feature enhancements.

The success of this project wasn’t just in what was delivered—it was how it was delivered: on time, aligned with business strategy, and designed to scale. I wasn’t just ticking boxes; I was helping Les Mills bring their premium fitness experience to life on the most important screen in the house.

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Phase 2: Continued Design Support

‍Following the success of the initial launch, Les Mills re-engaged us to continue improving the Les Mills+ TV app. With the goal of expanding functionality and tailoring the experience for Google TV, I led a second design phase focused on:

• Extending the design system to support Google TV
• Personalisation enhancements including onboarding flows and workout stats
• Post-MVP features such as login via QR code, interactive plans tracker, and personalised news rails
• Creating an interactive end-to-end prototype for internal and developer use

I created a fully comprehensive Google TV prototype in Figma, designed specifically to help gain approval from the Google Store. This prototype visually demonstrated how the Les Mills+ app would function on the GTV OS, and was tailored for a big-screen experience with navigation and interactions clearly outlined.

This work required close collaboration with stakeholders across both Les Mills and Accedo, as well as deeper exploration of device-specific UX considerations. I ensured the handoff was clean, and the vision stayed aligned with the original design intent while building in space for future growth. This second phase solidified our partnership and showed how great design can keep evolving with user needs and platform demands.

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Why This Work Matters

‍The TV experience became a cornerstone of Les Mills' digital ecosystem, delivering high-value content in the best viewing environment possible. From enhancing engagement to future-proofing their streaming experience, this work reflected the value of aligning design strategy with business goals.

By building trust and delivering quality consistently, the result wasn't just a launch — it was long-term partnership and continued innovation. After doing the job well in phase one, we got the green light for phase two and beyond.

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