Unifying and developing a new flagship product
Unifying and developing a new flagship product
Unifying and developing a new flagship product
Overview
What is BBC Music?
BBC Music is an umbrella brand that brings together the breadth of content that broadcasts across all BBC networks and channels, including live music events such as Radio 1's Big Weekend, Live in Hyde Park and In Concert for Radio 2, the BBC Proms, and the BBC 6 Music Festival.
Project at a glance
Driving the growth of a new flagship brand across native apps and responsive web.
My role
Team/Quad lead
Leadership & communication
Stakeholder engagement
Planning & organisation
Creative direction
Coaching & mentoring
Impact
A unified experience for the user across platforms
Cohesive 'My Music' proposition aligned with 'My BBC' vision
Several feature launches based on insights from monthly research
Migration off legacy systems
Overview
What is BBC Music?
BBC Music is an umbrella brand that brings together the breadth of content that broadcasts across all BBC networks and channels, including live music events such as Radio 1's Big Weekend, Live in Hyde Park and In Concert for Radio 2, the BBC Proms, and the BBC 6 Music Festival.
Project at a glance
Driving the growth of a new flagship brand across native apps and responsive web.
My role
Team/Quad lead
Leadership & communication
Stakeholder engagement
Planning & organisation
Creative direction
Coaching & mentoring
Impact
A unified experience for the user across platforms
Cohesive 'My Music' proposition aligned with 'My BBC' vision
Several feature launches based on insights from monthly research
Migration off legacy systems
Overview
What is BBC Music?
BBC Music is an umbrella brand that brings together the breadth of content that broadcasts across all BBC networks and channels, including live music events such as Radio 1's Big Weekend, Live in Hyde Park and In Concert for Radio 2, the BBC Proms, and the BBC 6 Music Festival.
Project at a glance
Driving the growth of a new flagship brand across native apps and responsive web.
My role
Team/Quad lead
Leadership & communication
Stakeholder engagement
Planning & organisation
Creative direction
Coaching & mentoring
Impact
A unified experience for the user across platforms
Cohesive 'My Music' proposition aligned with 'My BBC' vision
Several feature launches based on insights from monthly research
Migration off legacy systems
Challenge
Unify the experience and deliver personalised music journeys.
User research interviews exposed navigation issues with clashing brands (BBC Music & Playlister) failing to serve music lovers' diverse tastes.
Challenge
Unify the experience and deliver personalised music journeys.
User research interviews exposed navigation issues with clashing brands (BBC Music & Playlister) failing to serve music lovers' diverse tastes.
Challenge
Unify the experience and deliver personalised music journeys.
User research interviews exposed navigation issues with clashing brands (BBC Music & Playlister) failing to serve music lovers' diverse tastes.
Approach
Backlog, planning and prioritising
Utilised a mental model to find market gaps and unique user needs, which became the foundation for our feature development backlog.
Data-driven design
Quantitative and qualitative data from monthly ‘Rapid Usability Testing‘ informed decision-making: 1 day of testing + 6 participants + 1 day for analysis and documenting.
Agile design and development
Two-week sprints with feature-based task scoping
Regular feedback sessions with designers
Weekly reviews with stakeholders
E2E collaboration between design and development
Sprint-end show & tells, and retrospectives
Monthly hackdays for experimentation
Approach
Backlog, planning and prioritising
Utilised a mental model to find market gaps and unique user needs, which became the foundation for our feature development backlog.
Data-driven design
Quantitative and qualitative data from monthly ‘Rapid Usability Testing‘ informed decision-making: 1 day of testing + 6 participants + 1 day for analysis and documenting.
Agile design and development
Two-week sprints with feature-based task scoping
Regular feedback sessions with designers
Weekly reviews with stakeholders
E2E collaboration between design and development
Sprint-end show & tells, and retrospectives
Monthly hackdays for experimentation
Approach
Backlog, planning and prioritising
Utilised a mental model to find market gaps and unique user needs, which became the foundation for our feature development backlog.
Data-driven design
Quantitative and qualitative data from monthly ‘Rapid Usability Testing‘ informed decision-making: 1 day of testing + 6 participants + 1 day for analysis and documenting.
Agile design and development
Two-week sprints with feature-based task scoping
Regular feedback sessions with designers
Weekly reviews with stakeholders
E2E collaboration between design and development
Sprint-end show & tells, and retrospectives
Monthly hackdays for experimentation
Output
Major releases
Rolled out a new brand identity, modular content structure, and consistent user experience across platforms. Enhanced pages, personalised recommendations, and "one-touch play" functionality increased user engagement. Web onboarding and music discovery with full playback further improved the service, aligning it with the "My BBC" strategy.
Output
Major releases
Rolled out a new brand identity, modular content structure, and consistent user experience across platforms. Enhanced pages, personalised recommendations, and "one-touch play" functionality increased user engagement. Web onboarding and music discovery with full playback further improved the service, aligning it with the "My BBC" strategy.
Output
Major releases
Rolled out a new brand identity, modular content structure, and consistent user experience across platforms. Enhanced pages, personalised recommendations, and "one-touch play" functionality increased user engagement. Web onboarding and music discovery with full playback further improved the service, aligning it with the "My BBC" strategy.
Native app on iOS and Android
Redesign of events templates including the homepage, schedules and personalised areas
Redesign of BBC Music Introducing homepage and artist registration process
Record ID pages developed through Hackday participation
Snapshot of new branding and component library
Recommendation pattern that become the pattern used across the BBC
Outcome
A consistent user experience across all platforms via the rebrand and increased engagement via research-based continuous improvements.
Looking to the future
In a fiercely competitive market, we were hitting our targets. However, to secure future relevance, we had to engage with a younger audience. We’d combine Music and Radio, bringing together live and on-demand radio, music, and podcasts into a single personalised product instead of two. In response, I led three discovery design sprints to explore how we would implement this strategy.
Outcome
A consistent user experience across all platforms via the rebrand and increased engagement via research-based continuous improvements.
Looking to the future
In a fiercely competitive market, we were hitting our targets. However, to secure future relevance, we had to engage with a younger audience. We’d combine Music and Radio, bringing together live and on-demand radio, music, and podcasts into a single personalised product instead of two. In response, I led three discovery design sprints to explore how we would implement this strategy.
Outcome
A consistent user experience across all platforms via the rebrand and increased engagement via research-based continuous improvements.
Looking to the future
In a fiercely competitive market, we were hitting our targets. However, to secure future relevance, we had to engage with a younger audience. We’d combine Music and Radio, bringing together live and on-demand radio, music, and podcasts into a single personalised product instead of two. In response, I led three discovery design sprints to explore how we would implement this strategy.
Reflections
Migrating off legacy tech was the breakthrough for efficiency, team morale, and user experience.
Juggling internal & external teams, diverse stakeholder needs, outdated tech, complex data, and music rights limitations was a challenge, but managed by establishing rituals and close collaboration.
Reflections
Migrating off legacy tech was the breakthrough for efficiency, team morale, and user experience.
Juggling internal & external teams, diverse stakeholder needs, outdated tech, complex data, and music rights limitations was a challenge, but managed by establishing rituals and close collaboration.
Reflections
Migrating off legacy tech was the breakthrough for efficiency, team morale, and user experience.
Juggling internal & external teams, diverse stakeholder needs, outdated tech, complex data, and music rights limitations was a challenge, but managed by establishing rituals and close collaboration.
Credits
Susan Walsh, Senior UX Designer - Native app
Nourdine Arsalane, Senior UX Designer - Native app & events redesign
Christian Statham, Senior UX Designer - Native app
John Castle, UX Designer - App feature enhancement
Simon Meredith, UX Designer - Rich playlists
James Bowen, UX Designer - Responsive features
Kelly Bachelor, UX Designer - Responsive features
Alex Ballantyne, UX Designer - Responsive features
Mick Flynn - Responsive features
Oliva Rofail, UX Designer - BBC Music Introducing branding
Erica Wakerly, Contract Designer - Music rebranding and personalisation proposition
Credits
Susan Walsh, Senior UX Designer - Native app
Nourdine Arsalane, Senior UX Designer - Native app & events redesign
Christian Statham, Senior UX Designer - Native app
John Castle, UX Designer - App feature enhancement
Simon Meredith, UX Designer - Rich playlists
James Bowen, UX Designer - Responsive features
Kelly Bachelor, UX Designer - Responsive features
Alex Ballantyne, UX Designer - Responsive features
Mick Flynn - Responsive features
Oliva Rofail, UX Designer - BBC Music Introducing branding
Erica Wakerly, Contract Designer - Music rebranding and personalisation proposition
Credits
Susan Walsh, Senior UX Designer - Native app
Nourdine Arsalane, Senior UX Designer - Native app & events redesign
Christian Statham, Senior UX Designer - Native app
John Castle, UX Designer - App feature enhancement
Simon Meredith, UX Designer - Rich playlists
James Bowen, UX Designer - Responsive features
Kelly Bachelor, UX Designer - Responsive features
Alex Ballantyne, UX Designer - Responsive features
Mick Flynn - Responsive features
Oliva Rofail, UX Designer - BBC Music Introducing branding
Erica Wakerly, Contract Designer - Music rebranding and personalisation proposition