The Weather Channel — Reimagining Engagement in a Changing Ad Ecosystem

Client: The Weather Company
Duration: March - September 2025

Challenge

With engagement declining amid competition from native weather apps, The Weather Channel needed to modernize its mobile experience and restore user trust. The app was weighed down by fragmented UX patterns and low-quality programmatic ads that disrupted attention and undermined credibility. The broader business challenge: shift from a broadcast, programmatic ad model to a native, direct-sales strategy that balanced user value with advertiser goals.

Approach

Over six months, our research team partnered with product leads and the Chief Business Officer to run more than 30 targeted studies across usability, in-depth interviews, and data analysis.

Mapped how users navigate daily weather content and decision-making moments.
Evaluated ad perception and tolerance to guide a more user-friendly monetization model.
Facilitated cross-functional workshops with product, design, editorial, and ad-sales leaders to align on engagement metrics and success criteria.
Developed and tested concepts for new features — including custom weather trackers, calendar integration, and severe-weather storytelling modules — designed to enhance utility and retention.

Outcome

Findings informed a unified product and business strategy that strengthened both user engagement and advertiser relationships.

Guided the transition to native “billboard” ads that integrated seamlessly with content.
Supported a redesigned information architecture that prioritized discoverability and aligned with user mental models of weather decision-making.
Positioned The Weather Channel as a trusted, everyday decision-making companion amid a rapidly evolving ad and media landscape.