Case Study 01
Protecting $6 Billion in sports rights and creating new 'concurrency' revenue streams
DAZN is the world's largest sports streaming platform with over 200 countries and territories, with Europe being its largest market to date.
In locations like Italy DAZN is as dominant as Sky Sports is for the UK.
Creating a global streaming service that's safe and not open to account sharing abuse is a gargantuan challenge.
Principal Designer
Product & Design systems
~7 minute read
Project duration
~8 months intermittent
Team set up
Product Owner,
Principal designer (me)
Lead technical architects
6 Engineering teams
Senior Copywriter
My IC deliverables
Stakeholder interviews
Workshops
Journeys and flows
UI and Visual Design
Project documentation
Dev-handover process
Concurrency is the number of times you can view content simultaneously with one account on different devices.
Concurrency is the number of times you can view content simultaneously with one account on different devices.
Why is concurrency
important for DAZN?
Why is concurrency
important for DAZN?
Does anyone remember
when Netflix said this?
Does anyone remember when Netflix said this?
And then…
And then…
$149m
↓
Losses PA
$149m
↓
Losses PA
Account sharing with friends and family outside your household isn't love, it's theft and piracy…
Account sharing with friends and family outside your household isn't love, it's theft and piracy…
And and as a streaming service, if you can't combat this?
And and as a streaming service, if you can't combat this?
Well, then you're cooked!
Well, then you're cooked!
$2m
↓
Losses PA
$2m
↓
Losses PA
$2m
↓
Losses PA
A global, always-on sports streaming service is a constant hustle to be secure, fair, and protected.
A global, always-on sports streaming service is a constant hustle to be secure, fair, and protected.
≤ 5
Devices per account
≤ 5
Devices per account
Concurrency mechanics
If a user exceeded DAZN's concurrency rules, they would be asked to 'manage their devices' to continue streaming.
However, it was quite a complicated task to complete.
If a user exceeded DAZN's concurrency rules, they would be asked to 'manage their devices' to continue streaming.
However, it was quite a complicated task to complete.
↓
↓
≤ 2
Streaming simultaneously
≤ 2
Streaming simultaneously
Report unauthorised accesses
Remove any devices you don't recognise
The assumption was that if device management was an arduous task, then this would be enough to deter and curb account sharing.
A Product and Engineering assumption
View all devices connected to your account
Remove & block streams on devices
Report unauthorised accesses
Remove any devices you don't recognise
The assumption was that if device management was an arduous task, then this would be enough to deter and curb account sharing.
A Product and Engineering assumption
View all devices connected to your account
Remove & block streams on devices
But this felt like a dark and cumbersome solution.
Concurrency had the potential to be an essential and strategic product opportunity similar to the way Netflix had turned their account sharing threat into fortune.
But this felt like a dark and cumbersome solution.
Concurrency had the potential to be an essential and strategic product opportunity similar to the way Netflix had turned their account sharing threat into fortune.
Account sharing at DAZN was detected by a dizzying array of IP addresses, locations, numbers of devices, time and distance from one device to another, all with ~60% of accounts unverified - not even a verified email address.
Account sharing at DAZN was detected by a dizzying array of IP addresses, locations, numbers of devices, time and distance from one device to another, all with ~60% of accounts unverified - not even a verified email address.
On the first major concurrency launch, fans in Italy and Spain are anticipating an exciting day of LaLiga and Serie A action.
On the first major concurrency launch, fans in Italy and Spain are anticipating an exciting day of LaLiga and Serie A action.
In Spain and Italy, it's quite common to share Wifi in apartment blocks in .
This means potential for shared IP addresses. (Your computers address.
The concurrency update started tripping DAZN's Back-End and triggering concurrency false positives.
In Spain and Italy, it's quite common to share Wifi in apartment blocks in .
This means potential for shared IP addresses. (Your computers address.
The concurrency update started tripping DAZN's Back-End and triggering concurrency false positives.
Concurrecny triggered
Concurrecny triggered
🤌
Thousands of users were being asked to manage devices when no passwords had been shared.
Thousands of users were being asked to manage devices when no passwords had been shared.
😡
False positives
False positives
False positives
+
+
+
'Techy' messaging
'Techy' messaging
'Techy' messaging
+
+
+
Difficult device task
Difficult device task
Difficult device task
=
=
=
Very upset football fans
Very upset football fans
Very upset football fans
+
+
+
Overloaded customer services
Overloaded customer services
Very upset football fans
We hadn't yet been afforded the opportunity to properly collaborate on the concurrency problem as a holistic design, engineering and product problem.
But this latest learning curve meant it was time to take a fresh look.
Until now the concurrency problem wasn't afforded the time and resource to be tackled as a holistic design, engineering and product problem.
But now, this was earmarked as mission-critical by the DAZN's CTO and so Product and Design were drafted in.
Kick off
Set up documentation spaces
+
Create stakeholder list
+
Conduct stakeholder interviews
+
Plan and schedule workshops
+
Kick off
Set up documentation spaces
+
Create stakeholder list
+
Conduct stakeholder interviews
+
Plan and schedule workshops
+
I collaborated with product and Engineering to set up team project spaces, booked in stakeholder interviews and scheduled workshops to align across departments.
Pain-points from stakeholder interviews and workshops
Pain-points from stakeholder interviews and workshops
200%
Increase in customer service calls on major sporting events. 80% of which are for lost login credentials.
Cause and affect
X
Antiquated inputs
,
X
Poor Password retrieval flow
,
X
No single-sign-on
,
X
No password hinting
,
=
Lost logins & CS calls
,
200%
Increase in customer service calls on major sporting events. 80% of which are for lost login credentials.
Cause and affect
X
Antiquated inputs
,
X
Poor Password retrieval flow
,
X
No single-sign-on
,
X
No password hinting
,
=
Lost logins & CS calls
,
200%
Increase in customer service calls on major sporting events. 80% of which are for lost login credentials.
Cause and affect
X
Antiquated inputs
,
X
Poor Password retrieval flow
,
X
No single-sign-on
,
X
No password hinting
,
=
Lost logins & CS calls
,
200%
Increase in customer service calls on major sporting events. 80% of which are for lost login credentials.
Cause and affect
X
Antiquated inputs
,
X
Poor Password retrieval flow
,
X
No single-sign-on
,
X
No password hinting
,
=
Lost logins & CS calls
,
200%
Increase in customer service calls on major sporting events. 80% of which are for lost login credentials.
Cause and affect
X
Antiquated inputs
,
X
Poor Password retrieval flow
,
X
No single-sign-on
,
X
No password hinting
,
=
Lost logins & CS calls
,
No 2FA
Only security feature at this time was an optional email verification flow
Cause and affect
X
Unverified accounts
,
X
Unverified devices
,
=
Hard to control concurrency
,
No 2FA
Only security feature at this time was an optional email verification flow
Cause and affect
X
Unverified accounts
,
X
Unverified devices
,
=
Hard to control concurrency
,
No 2FA
Only security feature at this time was an optional email verification flow
Cause and affect
X
Unverified accounts
,
X
Unverified devices
,
=
Hard to control concurrency
,
No 2FA
Only security feature at this time was an optional email verification flow
Cause and affect
X
Unverified accounts
,
X
Unverified devices
,
=
Hard to control concurrency
,
No 2FA
Only security feature at this time was an optional email verification flow
Cause and affect
X
Unverified accounts
,
X
Unverified devices
,
=
Hard to control concurrency
,
2/10
Of users we questioned understood the error message
Cause and affect
X
Engineer-copy
,
X
URL to type in by hand
,
X
No QR code/hand off
,
X
Difficult tasks
,
=
Confusion
,
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
2/10
Of users we questioned understood the error message
Cause and affect
X
Engineer-copy
,
X
URL to type in by hand
,
X
No QR code/hand off
,
X
Difficult tasks
,
=
Confusion
,
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
2/10
Of users we questioned understood the error message
Cause and affect
X
Engineer-copy
,
X
URL to type in by hand
,
X
No QR code/hand off
,
X
Difficult tasks
,
=
Confusion
,
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
2/10
Of users we questioned understood the error message
Cause and affect
X
Engineer-copy
,
X
URL to type in by hand
,
X
No QR code/hand off
,
X
Difficult tasks
,
=
Confusion
,
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
2/10
Of users we questioned understood the error message
Cause and affect
X
Engineer-copy
,
X
URL to type in by hand
,
X
No QR code/hand off
,
X
Difficult tasks
,
=
Confusion
,
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
No Upsell
Or subscription packages available for customers wanting more concurrent streams
Cause and affect
X
No upgrades
,
X
No 'premium' subscription
,
=
Missed revenue opportunity
,
No Upsell
Or subscription packages available for customers wanting more concurrent streams
Cause and affect
X
No upgrades
,
X
No 'premium' subscription
,
=
Missed revenue opportunity
,
No Upsell
Or subscription packages available for customers wanting more concurrent streams
Cause and affect
X
No upgrades
,
X
No 'premium' subscription
,
=
Missed revenue opportunity
,
No Upsell
Or subscription packages available for customers wanting more concurrent streams
Cause and affect
X
No upgrades
,
X
No 'premium' subscription
,
=
Missed revenue opportunity
,
No Upsell
Or subscription packages available for customers wanting more concurrent streams
Cause and affect
X
No upgrades
,
X
No 'premium' subscription
,
=
Missed revenue opportunity
,
5-10 Min Latency
Concurrency was being 'faked' with 'grace' periods and could be cheated by logging in and out.
Cause and affect
>
Log in
>
Watch for 5-10 mins
>
Watch for 5-10 mins
>
Concurrency message
>
Log out and back in
>
Concurrency message
>
Log out and back in
>
5-10 Min Latency
Concurrency was being 'faked' with 'grace' periods and could be cheated by logging in and out.
Cause and affect
>
Log in
>
Watch for 5-10 mins
>
Watch for 5-10 mins
>
Concurrency message
>
Log out and back in
>
Concurrency message
>
Log out and back in
>
5-10 Min Latency
Concurrency was being 'faked' with 'grace' periods and could be cheated by logging in and out.
Cause and affect
>
Log in
>
Watch for 5-10 mins
>
Watch for 5-10 mins
>
Concurrency message
>
Log out and back in
>
Concurrency message
>
Log out and back in
>
5-10 Min Latency
Concurrency was being 'faked' with 'grace' periods and could be cheated by logging in and out.
Cause and affect
>
Log in
>
Watch for 5-10 mins
>
Watch for 5-10 mins
>
Concurrency message
>
Log out and back in
>
Concurrency message
>
Log out and back in
>
5-10 Min Latency
Concurrency was being 'faked' with 'grace' periods and could be cheated by logging in and out.
Cause and affect
>
Log in
>
Watch for 5-10 mins
>
Watch for 5-10 mins
>
Concurrency message
>
Log out and back in
>
Concurrency message
>
Log out and back in
>
False +
IP address inaccurate trigger and indicator for detecting account sharing triggering false positives.
Cause and affect
X
IPv4 vs IPv6
,
X
Shared wifi
,
X
Shared apartments
,
X
Apple private relay
,
X
VPN's
,
False +
IP address inaccurate trigger and indicator for detecting account sharing triggering false positives.
Cause and affect
X
IPv4 vs IPv6
,
X
Shared wifi
,
X
Shared apartments
,
X
Apple private relay
,
X
VPN's
,
False +
IP address inaccurate trigger and indicator for detecting account sharing triggering false positives.
Cause and affect
X
IPv4 vs IPv6
,
X
Shared wifi
,
X
Shared apartments
,
X
Apple private relay
,
X
VPN's
,
False +
IP address inaccurate trigger and indicator for detecting account sharing triggering false positives.
Cause and affect
X
IPv4 vs IPv6
,
X
Shared wifi
,
X
Shared apartments
,
X
Apple private relay
,
X
VPN's
,
False +
IP address inaccurate trigger and indicator for detecting account sharing triggering false positives.
Cause and affect
X
IPv4 vs IPv6
,
X
Shared wifi
,
X
Shared apartments
,
X
Apple private relay
,
X
VPN's
,
We'd uncovered this was not just a concurrency and account sharing issue.
There was a ton of technical and design debt that had compounded and contributed to CS being far busier than they need to be.
The priority for DAZN is expansion and world domination.
That's not even me being satirical. It's genuinely DAZN's modus operandi.
To be successful in our next launches we felt it was imperative we fix the backlog of debt that design and engineering had been
We took all the most pressing pains and jobs to be done, assigned ownership and prioritised them into a high-level release plan based on what the next concurrency launch needs to be successful.
Must
:
Should
Could
Won't
Save our customer services!
UX
Utilise the best of IPv6
Engineering
Not be an error message
UX and copy
Enable upsell and cross-sell for extra concurrency
Product
Use natural language
Int. Markets
Ship new subscriptions with more concurrency
Product
Utilise QR codes for TV
UX
To be viable and usable
Must
:
Should
Could
Won't
Save our customer services!
UX
Utilise the best of IPv6
Engineering
Not be an error message
UX and copy
Enable upsell and cross-sell for extra concurrency
Product
Use natural language
Int. Markets
Ship new subscriptions with more concurrency
Product
Utilise QR codes for TV
UX
To be viable and usable
Must
:
Should
Could
Won't
Save our customer services!
UX
Utilise the best of IPv6
Engineering
Not be an error message
UX and copy
Enable upsell and cross-sell for extra concurrency
Product
Use natural language
Int. Markets
Ship new subscriptions with more concurrency
Product
Utilise QR codes for TV
UX
To be viable and usable
Shipping products is often like a platform game, there's certain tasks you need to complete to unlock the next level.
//////////// To be conintued ////////////
//////////// To be conintued ////////////
//////////// Under construction ////////////
//////////// Under construction ////////////
//////////// Check back soon ////////////
//////////// Check back soon ////////////
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Timothy Parkes Design 2025. All copyright reserved
Timothy Parkes Design 2025.
All copyright reserved