Thoughtworks, a global technology consultancy integrating design, engineering and AI to drive digital innovation, today announced it has been recognized as a 2026 Australian Good Design Award Winner in the Digital Design (Apps and Software) category for its work with Kayo SPORTS, Australia’s leader in sport streaming. The prestigious accolade was awarded for reimagining the streaming experience for millions of sports fans, tackling the critical challenge of modernizing legacy, TV-first interactions for a modern, mobile-native audience.
In a hyper-competitive subscription streaming market where user engagement is the primary driver of success, Kayo SPORTS recognized the need to evolve its platform and make it fit for purpose with the way users were engaging with content on mobile. To meet the expectations of modern sports fans and maintain its market leadership, Kayo SPORTS partnered with Thoughtworks to transform its mobile app into a deeply personalized, highly engaging and scalable ecosystem.
“Kayo is an iconic sports brand, so evolving the mobile experience meant building on what fans already loved while creating something purpose-built for how they watch sport on the go,” said Jardian Ormsby, Kayo SPORTS Director of Product. “Our design was guided by two principles: reflecting the passion and tribalism fans feel for their favourite players, teams and sports and meeting them wherever they are, on whatever device they’re using. Working with Thoughtworks, we brought this vision to life, creating an award-winning app designed to evoke excitement, anticipation, belonging and connection. This award recognizes the talented teams behind the experience and reinforces that great product design is about not just what customers can do, but how we make them feel.”
The 9-month design and engineering engagement successfully overhauled the app’s homepage, video player, browse capabilities, onboarding flows and the underutilized Fixtures page (interactive TV guide and schedule hub). By transitioning away from TV-style features in favor of swipe gestures, tap-to-watch functionality and short-form content, the redesign directly targeted the viewing habits of modern mobile audiences, ensuring fans no longer needed to rely on multiple sources to plan their viewing.
“The Kayo SPORTS app is an iconic digital product in Australia, but to ensure continued relevance for its target audience, the platform needed more; it required a fundamental shift toward mobile-native behaviors and a highly scalable architecture,” said Nic Smythe, Director of Customer Experience, Product & Design at Thoughtworks APAC. “By combining rapid, high-fidelity prototyping with a deep technical modernization, we were able to deliver a unified, cross-platform experience that not only delights fans today but sets the foundation for Kayo SPORTS’ future innovations.”
Key elements of the successful delivery included:
High-fidelity prototyping and visualization: Using Figma-based prototypes and UX walkthroughs that allowed tech, product and content teams to visualize complex animations, micro-interactions and in-app streaming before final requirements were set.
Scalable cross-platform design system: The creation of a scalable foundation featuring over 50 bespoke sports icons and reusable custom components to ensure consistent branding and dynamic state handling (pre-game, live, post-game) across mobile, TV and web.
Robust technical modernization: Complete technical modernization for a fluid cross-platform experience, engineered with smart data handling that ensures the app stays stable during massive live sports traffic spikes.
Future-ready AI concepts: Exploratory AI features, including a live game companion, were designed to demonstrate Kayo SPORTS' future value and tech capabilities.
The Australian Good Design Awards, celebrating design excellence since 1958, present the ‘Green Tick’ accolade to entries that meet rigorous evaluation criteria and exemplify best practice design. By integrating deep customer experience strategy with complex technical modernization and AI-ready concepts, Thoughtworks and Kayo SPORTS have built a resilient, mobile-first streaming application capable of defining the next era of sports entertainment. Moving beyond isolated innovation, the platform is now fully equipped to deliver AI that works, with a scalable, data-ready foundation that will enable them to turn exploratory concepts into real, measurable value for the fans.
Supporting resources:
Read the Kayo SPORTS case study.
Explore Thoughtworks’ expertise in Customer Experience.
Keep up with Thoughtworks news by visiting the company’s website.
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About Kayo SPORTS
Kayo SPORTS is Australia's largest and fastest-growing sports streaming service providing the best sports experience for a new generation of fans.
Kayo SPORTS streams over 50 sports for fans to access Live or On Demand, anywhere, anytime. With access to Fox Sports Australia, ESPN and beIN Sports, Kayo SPORTS delivers over 30,000 hours of the best action including Australia's most popular sports - AFL, NRL, cricket, netball and Supercars, along with a wide range of sports documentaries. It also provides sports fans with game-changing features like SplitView, Key Moments, No Spoilers, Interactive Stats and Kayo Minis.
About Thoughtworks
Thoughtworks is a global technology consultancy that integrates design, engineering and AI to drive digital innovation. We are over 10,000 people strong across 47 offices in 18 countries. For 30-plus years, we've delivered extraordinary impact together with our clients by helping them solve complex business problems with technology and culture as the differentiator.
Media contacts:
For Kayo SPORTS
corporateaffairs@foxtel.com.au
For Thoughtworks
Michelle Surendran
Head of Public Relations for APAC and India
Email: michels@thoughtworks.com