Design a mobile application that would allow users across the
YouView ecosystem to set recordings and reminders from their phone
when they are away from the home.
Allow Users to be able to see and manage their existing recordings
and to plan for the future
YouView TV Ltd
2016
Product Designer
As it expanded its reach into the UK television market, YouView wanted to give their customers a way to remotely record the TV shows and Films they enjoy on the go. A feature much requested by existing users this app would be the first step into pushing the product to a much wider audience and being able to take the YouView experience out of the home.
Work started with the YouView mobile app with the use of personas, we adjusted a few variables in relation to taking the product onto the small screen in the form of mobile phones and tablets. These new personas were created with the help of external agencies who we also outsourced our initial user research too. This company were brought in various times throughout the project to relay feedback and to help shape our vision of the product.
The first step in our thinking was how best to replicate the
journeys the users had been accustomed to when using the product
in the home.
We wanted a consistent pattern in both platforms whilst also
taking both the apple and android guidelines and creating
consistency with the overall branding and UI of our existing work.
The information architecture of the app was decided early,
creating a strong foundation of hierarchy and a user centred
approach to delivering the right information at the right time in
order to benefit our users. Working alongside the Lead Interaction
Designer we collaborated on various aspects of the the app,
bouncing ideas with each other and using an agile approach to the
workflow, creating a dynamic working relationship leading to
furthering ideas and concepts.
Industry research in conjunction with user feedback told us that
the discovery of new content was one of the pain points people had
when using TV products. With that in mind we created the idea of a
whole area relating to discovering the content you would like to
watch when you got home, allowing the user to set the recordings
for the evening
By splitting the content into relevant categories it allowed us to
highlight content first and foremost for the user whilst also
having a quick shortcut to see all of the content
The concept came from concept of allowing the user to scroll
leisurely through the content available to them at anytime, with a
actions available on a long press of the content. I also wanted to
ensure that the user wasn’t overwhelmed with choice and so we
limited the carousels to 10 items with a SEE ALL call to action.
This also improved page loading on the app as the back end service
didn’t have to request so many images at once
As the app gained popularity inside our user base, there was a
business decision to push the app further with the introduction of
a tablet mode,initially with the iPad and then as the opportunity
arose moving onto android tablets
A key point with making a project for second screen devices was
using the screen estate in the correct way and when creating the
application with the larger tablet form in mind we wanted to
ensure that we could create a more lean-back experience. The goal
was to create a bespoke experience for a tablets to allow us to
show more on screen at one time utilizing the bigger screen size
The final visuals for the app were constantly adjusted with each new feature and release that was available to customers so there may be some variations depending on the release version of the app available currently.
Combined app downloads of over 1,000,000 across both Android and
iOS
Constant high usage by a high portion of the YouView user-base
“YouView’s Remote Record app is a definite saviour for those days
when you’re stuck at work, late on public transport, or something
else just happens to crop up”