Samsung Ads

Creative Canvas: from catch-up to industry leader in TV advertising.

I led the design of Samsung TV Plus's interactive and non-interruptive ad formats, ran the viewer research behind them, and brought them together into one sponsored brand journey across the whole TV.

Role

Staff Product Designer; design and research

Partners

Product, ads strategy, engineering, sales, legal, privacy, Amazon

Research

4 TV studies I planned and ran, 64 viewers

System

GUI, motion and advertiser templates for every format

$15M

$15M+ · 2026 revenue; $15M from one advertiser alone

90%

of viewers recalled paused ads, and squeezed ads; 100% found them acceptable

May 2026

Amazon Add to Cart launched with Amazon

8/10

advertiser verticals adopted the new formats

THE BIG PICTURE : SPONSORED PACKAGE

One brand, one journey across the whole TV

A seasonal sponsor (for example, Halloween) follows the viewer from the home screen to the show and beyond. Each step is a format I designed.

“My role: I defined the end-to-end sponsor journey across the TVPlus home screen, collections and guide, designed the new sponsorship units, and set the theming rules that let one advertiser's brand carry across every surface.”

— 11 / 11
Validated with viewers (Aug 2026). Every participant found the seasonal takeover useful and right for the moment, and said they would use it at home. The study also showed that themed sponsorship moved viewers toward the advertiser's products, not just brand awareness. That reframed the package from a branding placement into a path to purchase, and points to the next step: pairing sponsorships with shoppable formats like Add to Cart.

Three Acts : How Creative Canvas grew

BACKGROUND

Why it mattered

  • Free TV runs on ads. Samsung TV Plus is free, so ad experiences drive revenue.

    We were behind. Peacock and Roku already sold paused, overlay and squeeze-back ads; we didn't.

    Third-party formats were costly. Outside vendors charged extra per impression, so few advertisers bought interactive ads. In-house formats removed that barrier.

    More ads would hurt viewing. The business needed new inventory without adding commercial breaks.

  • TV ads were static and interruptive. Viewers switched channels or watched passively, with banner blindness and low QR scan rates.

    How might we create new ad moments that viewers choose to engage with, so the business grows without interrupting the show?

ACT 1 • MAKE ADS INTERACTIVE

Let viewers act without leaving the show

Product Carousel

Challenge : Show several products in one TV ad without adding effort on a D-pad remote.

What I did : Designed two prototypes and tested them on a Samsung TV with 10 regular TV Plus viewers: auto-rotating vs. manual.

Decision : Auto-rotate a few times to prompt interaction, with left/right override and an ad countdown.

Research-led decision
Iterated after launch

70% preferred auto-rotate; 100% wanted the ad countdown. Viewers said seeing products during playback kept them watching.

ROUND 2 • A/B TEST ON THE RELEASED AD • AUG 2026

Simpler ad, more scans: reducing cognitive load after launch

What we learned: In the first release, video, carousel interaction and a separate QR code competed for attention. Viewers had too much to process in a lean-back moment, so I simplified the ad and moved the action to where attention already was.

Copy

Removed all sub headers; enlarged the header and raised its character limit.

QR placement

Moved the QR code next to the carousel, where viewers were already interacting.

Ad length

Set a 30-second minimum for any interactive ad with a QR code.

Navigation & Auto-scroll off

Added arrows beside the pagination so the carousel reads as clickable.

Turned off auto-scroll so every product change is a real viewer action we can measure.

Result Viewers noticed the QR code more while still using the carousel. "Viewers noticed the QR code more while still using the carousel: 7 of 10 spotted it, up from 3 of 10 in the first release."

New rule Whatever the QR placement, viewers need at least 30 seconds to reach for their phone and scan. This is now a standard for every interactive format.

See the process

Competitive teardown

4 shoppable TV ads, what I kept and changed

Explore and test

5 layouts, A/B on a Samsung TV

Advertiser template v1.5

Annotated zones and limits

INFLUENCE WITHOUT AUTHORITY • ENGINEERING PARTNERSHIP

Dynamic QR: the fix I pushed outside the roadmap

Product Carousel

Challenge : Our QR code took up about 35% of the ad because of a long tracking URL, and testing showed only 20% of viewers would scan a QR at all.

What I did : With a team of three, shortened the URL from 65 to 43 characters, redesigned the code for TV viewing distance, and took the case to Samsung's Revenueathon.

Decision : Dynamic QR became the default: smaller, trackable, and its destination can change without re-shipping the ad.

“35% → small Freed ad space and enabled new formats: overlays, squeezed ads, picture-in-picture. Revenueathon”.

Click to Email

Viewers send an offer to their email with one press, or scan a QR, without leaving the show.

Live I co-wrote the shared spec for interactive ads: QR layouts, email button states (default, enlarged, sent) and logo rules, so every advertiser's ad behaves the same way.

Vertical ads

Mobile-first video on the big screen, with QR and email actions beside it.

Live Built from the same shared spec: one set of QR and email components across 16:9 and vertical ads.

ACT 2 • NEW AD MOMENTS THAT DON’T INTERRUPT

Ads that live alongside the show

Non-linear formats were where Samsung TV Plus was furthest behind competitors.

Squeezed ad (L-bar)

Challenge : Live shows have few ad breaks, and the business needed new inventory without adding interruptions. How much is too much?

What I did : Ran usability tests on squeeze motion, size and placement, then an ad-tolerance study with 11 viewers: 30 minutes of a non-stop live-action show with 3 L-bars, paired with quick-service food brands like KFC and Pizza Hut.

Decision : Right & Left side, muted, at natural transitions, matched to the moment in the content, and capped at 3 L-bars per hour.

Releasing soon
Ad-load research
Contextual relevance

Max 3 / hr - Viewers tolerated 3 L-bars in 30 minutes because they could keep watching, and when the ad fit the moment, most wanted to order the food. The 90-minute sessions also included the Sponsored package and other ad formats, so I set a conservative cap of 3 per hour to account for total ad exposure.

Why it matters: Relevance turned an ad beside the show into an ordering moment, not just an impression. That points to contextual targeting and shoppable L-bars as the next step.

See the process

Competitive teardown

4 squeeze-backs, what I kept and changed

L-bar vs. double box

~60% vs. ~13% of the screen on the show

Advertiser templates

L-bar right and left, same zones and limits

Paused Ads

Pausing is voluntary, so an ad there feels contextual. I tested a basic paused ad against one with QR plus social proof across 32 viewers.

Ready to build · on hold for business priorities

90% recalled both ads and preferred QR plus social proof; 100% found paused ads acceptable

Pre-roll

One 15-second ad that starts as soon as a viewer picks a show. Kept to a single short ad so viewers don't abandon the show before it begins.

No pushback Most viewers didn't notice a difference from mid-roll ads; feedback was positive overall

Skippable ads

A mid-roll ad viewers can skip. I tested 5 variations with 11 viewers across live TV and VOD.

Skippable: tested · on hold for business priorities

90%wanted a countdown before the skip button; 70% tried the "Moment of Zen" option

ACT 3 • FROM AD TO ACTION

Ads that lead somewhere

Amazon Add to Cart

Challenge : Viewers wanted to buy through platforms they already trust, not a new QR flow.

What I did : Designed the add-to-cart and email flows with Amazon, plus versions for brands that sell on Amazon and brands that don't.

Decision : One press adds the item to the viewer's Amazon cart; brands not on Amazon get "Send to phone" or "Sign up".

Cross-company partnership
Shoppable TV

May 2026 – Launched with Amazon at NewFronts May2026. It answers our earlier finding that 80% of viewers preferred to shop on platforms they already trust.

Tune-in and add to favorite

An ad deep-links to a live show with "Watch now," or lets viewers favorite an upcoming one, turning promos into viewing.

11 / 11 viewers found tune-in very useful (Aug 2026 study). They also wanted a quick way back if the new show wasn't what they expected, which set the next iteration: a one-press return to the previous channel.

RESEARCH I LED

Every format was tested on a real TV first

Product Carousel

Product Carousel, round 2

Paused Ads

Skippable Ads

Ad experiences study: Sponsored package, L-bar, Tune-in and other formats

WHEN

Sep 2025

Aug 2026

Dec 2025

Jan 2026

Aug 2026

VIEWER

10, moderated on TV

DECISION IT DROVE

Auto-rotate with override; ad countdown on all interactive ads

11, moderated on TV

32, unmoderated, moderated and in person

11, 90-minute sessions

Simplified layout; arrows beside pagination; auto-scroll off to measure real interaction; optional QR next to carousel; 30-second minimum for QR ads

5-second delay, transparent static ads, QR plus social proof

11, moderated on TV

Countdown before skip; rotating secondary CTAs

Sponsored package validated (11/11); L-bar capped at 3 per hour and matched to content; Tune-in found useful by 11/11, with a quick way back as the next step

STUDY

WHAT I LEARNED

Viewers engage when they choose the moment

Control beats interruption

Paused and skippable ads were accepted because viewers decide when they appear.

Trust drives action

Only 20% would scan an unfamiliar QR; social proof and Amazon's cart turned that around.

What I'd do next

Contextual targeting by time of day and content type, and QR trust signals across all formats.

Thank you so much!

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