BBC miPlayer
Pre-aky Blindin'
Project Overview
Summary
This concept project delivered additional functionality and engaging ways of increasing engagement with the content streaming platform, BBC iPlayer. The solution was a companion app called 'miPlayer'.
Brief
"Make iPlayer the number one TV streaming service in the UK by capturing the current and potential audience in a unique and compelling way"
My role
Working as part of a three person team, my role was to lead the design for the project. I followed the British Design Council’s Double Diamond process with its four phases: Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver.​
Source: The Design Council
Key deliverables
A number of deliverables were required for the project, including:
Results
Our solution was a companion app that would be used by audiences on a second screen whilst they watch a show on BBC iPlayer on their primary screen.
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This met the project brief by ensuring users could:
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Browse content
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Engage with content
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Share on social media
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By achieving these requirements we anticipate the overall brief goal will be met by an increased uptake of audience viewings.
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As a team, we received positive feedback for our solution:
Next Steps
As part of our Minimum Viable Product, we allocated the following as our 'Next' functions:
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Video clips and editor
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Suggestions related to previous viewings
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What my friends are watching
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In-app messenger
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Add text to GIFs
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Add next show info
Personal Learnings
This project was a great experience and put me back in amidst a group situation. I think this project showed me that I am able to lead a team effectively. This is based not only on my previous experiences but also because of the confidence I have in my UX capabilities and the ability to empathise with people and recognising how they work.
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I really enjoyed working on this project with my team and we now have strong professional and personal bond.
After understanding the brief from the client, the team got together to understand the dynamic and the ground rules we wanted to operate by. This helped with understanding how each member worked and set us up for success. Bruce Tuckman's stages (forming–storming–norming–performing) of group development were something that came to mind during these initial stages.
Once these initial activities were complete, we started working on the first set of discovery tasks. I also set up a 'team tracker', knowing that this document would be useful to help with work allocation, insights, risks and lessons learned.
Competitor Analysis
In order to understand what the current market is like and who the big players are, we did a competitor analysis. This activity showed us that iPlayer has more than just direct competitors for consumer attention. We also identified that certain shows also have an additional 'companion app'.
For example, Britain's Got Talent has an app dedicated to be used a 'second screen' whilst consumers are tuned into the show. This app allows viewers to join in with the voting aspect of the show, thus increasing engagement.
User Research
As the discovery deepened we started on our user research by conducting a screener survey. This survey, which consisted of 52 responses, asked specific questions that would allow us to funnel a subset to conduct interviews with. As can be seen from the breakdown below, we had indicative information on how our interviews should be structured.
User Interviews
Our user interview stage involved 16 interviewees and this is what our key findings were:
We used a technique called 'Affinity Mapping' to categorise our findings into groups of similarity.
The insight gathered from the discovery phase can help you to define the challenge in a different way.
Hypothesis
Based on our research findings we created a hypothesis of our users:
Persona
When synthesising the research it is common to develop one key representative of the data. Typically, this is represented by a User Persona. Our user persona was Lucy:
Problem & Solution
When Lucy gets home after work, she likes to unwind and, after cooking dinner, likes to stream her favourite TV shows. She usually has her phone with her, because after spending all day talking to strangers, she wants to engage with near and dear ones.
Solution: A companion app that allows the creation and curation of popular ‘clips’ that can be shared on social media
User Flow
To demonstrate how the proposed solution would make an impact on Lucy's problem, we drew up a user journey and a flow to demonstrate where the miPlayer app would come into play:
Feature Prioritization
At this point we understood the market, our users, and we set up Lucy’s journey in which the main goal is to share a clip on social media.
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But she could achieve that in different ways and so we pegged these potential options on a prioritisation graph:
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
To understand what to focus on, we mapped out the objectives and features in priority of 'now', 'next' and 'later':
The second diamond encourages people to give different answers to the clearly defined problem, seeking inspiration from elsewhere and co-designing with a range of different people.
Low-Fidelity Prototyping
Based on the MVP, we were able to establish an understanding the app navigation and structure. This allowed us to develop our 1st paper prototype.
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We ran 6 user tests which gave us feedback on various parts that we'd developed, for example, position of the playback 'slug' should be changed from bottom to the top so that it can be more prominent.
Mid-Fidelity Prototyping
We were able to iterate our designs to mid-fidelity by incorporating the feedback and making the changes that we felt were necessary:
Delivery involves testing out different solutions at small-scale, rejecting those that will not work and improving the ones that will.
Brand Guidelines
Inclusive Design
In order to understand whether our solution was accessible, we conducted a usability test with a visually impaired individual. This was some of the feedback we received:
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Can’t read the pink over the black
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Can’t zoom to see better
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Once I click on the episode page can’t read the warning in white on a red background is too small
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On the description of the show can only read the title
These considerations were taken on board into our final iteration of the high fidelity prototype.
High Fidelity Prototype
Results
We were very glad to report that the Project Brief was met through the implementation of our solution, which allowed our users to:
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Browse content
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Engage with that content
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Share that content over social media
We anticipated an increase in the current audience engagement of 20% and predicted an increase of 30% of new users.
Future Considerations
The proposal included features and goals defined on the 'Now' column of our MVP. For our future considerations we would focus on the 'Next' column. The post-its marked in orange are additional functions that we discovered would be worth putting in when we tested our hi-fidelity prototype.
Personal Learnings
This project was a great experience and put me back in amidst a group situation. When working on an individual project, the onus is oneself to get everything done. I know how I work, the effort levels I work at and the standard I am aiming to achieve.
In a group situation I always remember Bruce Tuckman's model, which outlines the stages a group goes through when working on something together: forming, storming, norming and performing.
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At the beginning, it was understanding my team mates and how they operate. When we actually began some of the work, the operational behaviours surfaced. For example, one team member was susceptible to panicking about the workload and had a tendency to over-stress. I was able to resolve this and alleviate concerns by being empathetic and recognising strengths and weaknesses and, unknowingly, effectively allocating tasks accordingly.
The unknown 'leadership' traits that surfaced from within me were recognised by team mates, who vouched that the successful team performance was because I was able to motivate them throughout:
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"His extensive background in tech and his eye for detail, as well as his capacity of quick problem solving, were a key part in producing our high-quality deliverables"
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"His ability to keep the the team united and excited throughout the project showed me he has the team management skills to succeed in any project"
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I think this project showed me that I am able to lead a team effectively. This is based not only on my previous experiences but also because of the confidence I have in my UX capabilities and the ability to empathise with people and recognising how they work.
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I really enjoyed working on this project with my team and we now have strong professional and personal bond.