Case Study: Sirius Satellite Radio

Giving The People What They Want
Sirius Satellite Radio, a major player in the burgeoning subscription-based radio category and new employer of Howard Stern and Mel Karmazian, asked Catalyst to provide usability testing on its web presence. Sirius.com is used by the company both as a promotional and informational channel - and as a platform for direct sales. Prior to testing, it was not clear to the company how subscribers and non-subscribers differed in their reactions to the site and its offerings. In particular, the company wanted to determine whether the "satellite radio" category itself was understood, how easy it was to convert people into subscribers on the site, how well people could use the tools on the site to listen to radio, and whether industry nomenclature was clear.

Services Provided

User Interface Design, Usability Testing + Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Audience Profiling

Methodology/Solution
Catalyst conducted multiple tests with subscribers and non-subscribers alike - focusing not only on Sirius.com, but also competitors, especially XMradio.com. We identified a variety of navigational and information architecture related improvements to make service purchasing and site usage more intuitive. We also delivered multiple wireframe treatments for major areas of the site to guide re-design, including the homepage and sub-pages related to purchasing, replacement, in-car usage, basic information and programming.

Benefits

• Improved homepage navigation - clearer pathways for subscribers and non-subscribers on the homepage, so that members could navigate more easily to desired services and so that Sirius.com could sell more effectively to non-members.

• Clearer information architecture - allowing people to better distinguish between service offerings, equipment and different lines of business.

• Audience profiles as an online marketing tool - introduced user scenarios directly to the public for equipment pages of site - so that people would better understand all the various options available for satellite-based radio.

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