Fifteen years into the mobile era, the apps for sports leagues had all morphed to serve their fans with the same utilitarian, information-dense—and let’s just say it, boring—interface. Then the new NBA app checked into the game in September 2022.
Designed by Michelle Layne Lawson, who has headed up design for the league since 2020 after stints at Showtime and Google, the new NBA app is more like a streaming or social media product. Her overhaul mirrors the kinetic energy of basketball itself—with bigger, colorful typefaces, more white space, and an emphasis on full-screen video. These videos appear in a familiar vertical feed (like TikTok) that are designed to maximize engagement. “I want fans to be able to access content in a friction-free manner,” she says.
Users might start on the app by watching full-screen video highlights of recent games. But rather than stop there, the app lets them tap a button from that story straight into a related article or broadcast that’s also inside the app, and users can watch any game on their device via the NBA League Pass for $15 or $20 a month. (All content is created or licensed by the NBA.) Designed to allow fans to bounce around the latest league news without ever needing to leave, the app is racking up hall-of-fame-level stats: Video streams are up more than 200% since the launch, and NBA League Pass subscriptions are up 50% this season.
Lawson says that her team will continue to expand the app’s capabilities to keep pace with the ever-evolving presentation of media on the internet. “I’m looking forward to a year from now,” says Lawson. “We have emerging [AI] technology on the horizon. How can we leverage that technology to deepen the fandom? It’s up for grabs.”
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