BBC's Blog, page 34
September 14, 2012
What's On BBC Red Button 15th September - 22nd September
BBC Philharmonic Presents: A James Bond Special
Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo
Watch Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo on the Red Button presenting not one, but two James Bond specials, featuring the greatest Bond film songs with the help of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and guest vocalists Ren Harvieu, Lance Ellington and Claire Moore.
On Friday 14th September, Kermode and Mayo were live from the BBC Philharmonic studio for a Film Review: James Bond Special, as they revealed the song you voted as the greatest James Bond theme ever, alongside other 007 classics.
At 8pm, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra presented a whole Friday Night Is Music Night: Bond and Beyond concert, including songs from the classic Bond films and music from well-known spy films such as Mission Impossible, Where Eagles Dare and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The Philharmonic were conducted by Robert Ziegler.
Watch highlights on the Red Button of the best Bond themes performed from the day of the live shows!
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sat 15th September, 6:00am - Wed 19th September, 6:30pm
Freeview:
Sat 15th September, 6:00am-11:45am, 9:20pm-12:55am
Mon 17th September, 4:10am-1:55pm, 3:25pm-12:05am
Tue 18th September, 4:40am-1:55pm
Wed 19th September, 12:10am-1:55pm, 3:25pm-6:50pm
Radio 1 Symphony
Press red to watch the xx and Richard Hawley make music with the BBC Philharmonic.
Mercury Prize winners, the xx, play orchestral arrangements of songs from their first two albums; and guitarist Hawley performs with an orchestra for the first time.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Wed 19th September, 7:00pm-9:00pm
Thu 20th September, 12:00am - Fri 21st September, 6:00am
Fri 21st September, 6:00am-1:55pm, 4:35pm-6:00am
Sat 22nd September, 6:00am-11:40am, 3:00pm-12:00am
Freeview:
Wed 19th September, 7:00pm-9:00pm
Thu 20th September, 3:20am-1:55pm, 6:10pm-6:00am
Fri 21st September, 6:00am-10:45am
Sat 22nd September, 12:10am-9:50am, 9:20pm-12:00am
Doctors
Dr Elaine Cassidy, played by Janet Dibley
Doctors viewers are in for a treat with a special week of Red Button episodes featuring the return of murderer Harrison Kellor (James Larkin), much to the distress of Dr Elaine Cassidy (Janet Dibley). When Harrison changes his plea for Lauren's murder to not guilty, a chain of events are set in motion which sees Alex Redmond (Stuart Laing) asking for Elaine's help. Discovering that Alex's wife went missing after an affair with Harrison, Elaine is forced to consider that he may have killed other women too. Plagued by phone calls from Harrison in prison, will Elaine be able to confront her former lover and resist his charms?
Series Producer Mike Hobson said "Lauren's murder was one of Doctors' most popular storylines and this Red Button event picks up on one of the show's most chilling villains, building across the week to a dramatic conclusion."
Starting on Monday 17th September, follow the storyline through the regular daytime episodes of Doctors on BBC One and press red straight afterwards to continue Elaine's story. Red Button episodes will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Mon 17th September, 2:05pm-6:00pm
Tue 18th September, 2:05pm-6:00pm
Wed 19th September, 2:05pm-6:00pm
Thu 20th September, 2:05pm-6:00pm
Fri 21st September, 2:05pm-6:30pm
Freeview:
Mon 17th September, 2:05pm-3:15pm
Tue 18th September, 2:05pm-3:50pm
Wed 19th September, 2:05pm-3:15pm
Thu 20th September, 2:05pm-3:15pm
Fri 21st September, 2:05pm-2:17pm
Dragons' Den
(L-R) Duncan Bannatyne, Hilary Devey, Theo Paphitis, Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones
For a look into this week's Dragons' Den Red Button episode, read a special blog post from executive producer Sam Lewens.
It's a new series and a new raft of keen entrepreneurs are about to enter the Den and make a pitch for an investment that could make their business - and change their lives.
Here on the Red Button we get to peek behind the scenes and get the inside story on the investments made in the Den each week. What attracted the Dragons to the business? What did the other Dragons make of the deals? And why did the entrepreneurs take the deal they did in the Den?
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sun 16th September, 9:55pm-4:00am
Mon 17th September, 7:00pm-4:00am
Tue 18th September, 10:30pm-4:00am
Wed 19th September, 7:00pm-4:00am
Thu 20th September, 7:00pm-4:00am
Fri 21st September, 9:30pm-4:00am
Sat 22nd September, 9:40pm-4:00am
Freeview:
Sun 16th September, 9:55pm-4:00am
Tue 18th September, 12:15am-1:15am
Wed 19th September, 9:10pm-10:00pm
One Man and His Dog
One Man and His Dog is back for more exciting action on the Red Button and this year the setting is the beautiful Gower peninsular in Wales.
The 'Young Handlers' round kicked off the two-day competition in style. Four Young Handlers, representing England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, nervously took to the field with their dogs - and you can see their four nail-biting rounds in full only on the Red Button.
Matt Baker and Michaela Strachan are the hosts, with expert commentary from Gus Dermody.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky:
Sat 15th September, 6:10pm-4:00am
Sun 16th September, 6:10pm-4:00am
Virgin Media:
Sat 15th September, 6:10pm-4:00am
Sun 16th September, 6:10pm-9:25pm
Freeview:
Sat 15th September, 6:10pm-8:10pm
Sun 16th September, 6:10pm-9:45pm
Secret Fortune - Play Along Quiz
The National Lottery: Secret Fortune - The ultra-tense quiz show with lots of twists returns to BBC One, hosted by Nick Knowles.
Studio contestants compete to win their Secret Fortune, anything from £100 to £100,000. Press the Red Button during the show to play along at home with the contestants. What would your Secret Fortune be?
Available on Sky/Freeview:
Sat 15th September, 8:20pm-9:10pm
Sat 22nd September, 8:15pm-9:10pm
CBBC Extra
Press red on the CBBC channel this week and join Chris and Dodge T. Dog as they introduce exclusive clips from a wealth of brand new CBBC goodies including The Revolting World of Stanley Brown and Dick and Dom's Hoopla. They're joined in the studio by some cast members from the totally awesome Wolfblood!
You can also read Chris and Dodge's blog, answers to some of your questions, read your horoscopes and see if the jokes that made Chris and Dodge LOL will have the same effect on you.
Go on, press red... You know you want to!
Available on Freesat/Sky:
Sat 15th September, 7:00am-10:00am
Mon 17th September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:30pm
Tue 18th September, 7:00am-10:00am, 4:45pm-7:00pm
Wed 19th September, 7:00am-10:00am, 4:30pm-6:30pm
Thu 20th September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:30pm
Fri 21st September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Sat 22nd September, 7:00am-12:00pm
Available on Virgin:
Sat 15th September, 7:00am-10:00am
Mon 17th September, 7:00am-10:00am
Tue 18th September, 7:00am-10:00am
Wed 19th September, 7:00am-10:00am
Thu 20th September, 7:00am-10:00am
Fri 21st September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Sat 22nd September, 7:00am-12:00pm
Freeview:
Thu 20th September, 3:25pm-6:00pm
Sat 22nd September, 10:00am-12:20pm
CBeebies Red Button
BBC Red Button welcomes younger viewers and grown-ups with a sense of adventure to the big, bright and fun world of CBeebies interactive!
Your children's favourite characters are at the heart of the interactive TV experience. Satellite and digital terrestrial viewers will have slightly different offerings
from one another. This has enabled the Red Button team to offer the best games tailored to each system.
CBeebies Red Button is available on the CBeebies channel, and via page 5900 on other channels.
Available on Freeview and Sky only
BBC Sport Multiscreen**
Catch up on all the latest Sport via the BBC Sport multiscreen. Headlines are available around the clock with up to five additional streams available to cover the best that BBC Sport has to offer.
Please note that Red Button sport timings are subject to change at short notice.
For the latest information refer to the BBC Sport website.
Highlights
Cycling - Live coverage from the World Road Cycling Championships in Limburg, Netherlands
MotoGP - Live coverage of the Italian races in Misano
American Football - Live NFL: Denver Broncos v Atlanta Falcons
**Note all Red Button times are subject to change at short notice
Connected Studio: UX&D brief in context
The UX&D sign in the Broadcast Centre, home to the BBC UX&D team
Hi, my name is Ulrik and I'm a Senior User Experience Designer working in Personalisation and Social Platform, a service division of UX&D that works across the BBC online portfolio. I'm helping to organise the UX&D Connected Studio workshops scheduled for the 4 October, 30 October and 31 October 2012.
I'd like to give you a preview into some of the thinking that has gone into the brief for the UX&D events - as well as a little bit of wider context for the work we currently do in UX&D.
If you haven't done so already, I suggest you take a peek at the Connected Studio brief then return to this post for more on what we're trying to achieve and how.
A BBC that is bigger than the sum of its parts
The BBC online portfolio is split into 10 different products: Sport, News, iPlayer, Knowledge and Learning, CBBC and Cbeebies, Radio and Music, Homepage and Search, and Weather. While each product has a unique value for different audience sectors, we're increasingly thinking of them as components of 'One Service', a coherent and connected whole that delivers 360º value for our audience - on any device - wherever and whenever the user wants access.
As designers and innovators who hope to get involved, this means your challenge gets bigger but potentially much more fun. We're asking you to come up with ideas that build connections across BBC products, linking digital content so that users can roam freely, without a sense of disruption. We're asking you to consider how to optimise the power of online to drive experiences that are personal, social and participatory, extending the reach of our talent and amplifying the voice and engagement of our audience.
We'd like you to give special consideration to the 4-screen (TV, mobile, tablet and desktop) environment and its fit with BBC content: not an easy task, by any measure, but one that does give you the entire ecology of the BBC to play with and innovate around.
How does it work?
The Connected Studio as a whole is split into two events: Creative Studio, a rapid-fire pitch day held in London on 4 October, and a two-day Build Studio on 20 October and 31 October.
In the Creative Studio we aim to inform and inspire you with a speaker or two in the morning; the rest of the day is given over to brainstorming the best ideas you can develop with your team. At the end of Creative Studio, you will have a chance to pitch your idea to our judges, who intend to select a handful of the best pitches for further refinement in the 2-day Build Studio. Creative Studio is intended to be a fun, high-intensity event that gives you a chance to hang out with other designers and innovators, bandy ideas around the room and generally don your creative hat.
If selected by the judges, you will continue to the Build Studio where you will have a chance to extend and refine your ideas by accessing internal BBC expertise from the different product areas to help inform your decisions.
In this workshop, we will put much more emphasis on the 'One Service' concept and at the end of the two days you will be asked to present a prototype that conveys a core experience for the user, along with visuals and wireframes to convince us of the value and feasibility of your proposal. It's up to you how you wish to convey the experience, whether it be as a short film, a clickable .pdf or a quick-and-dirty prototype: we hope you discover where the strengths of your team lie in this respect. It's important to note, that since this is a two-day event, the BBC will compensate you for your time.
Is Connected Studio a tech or a design challenge?
We believe that tech and design go hand in hand, although these events are necessarily skewed toward the concept and design side of things. However, if you do have technical skills, there will be ample opportunity to showcase these during Creative Studio and, should you go through to the Build Studio, we will match you with design expertise to supplement your skills.
What if I win the Build Studio?
If you are part of one of the teams that win the Build Studio, we have committed money and resources for you to develop a pilot in cooperation with the BBC. The pilot will be used to pitch for investment and will pin your idea on the BBC roadmap, which means that it should eventually go live, just like any project that originates within UX&D and gets the green light. Ultimately, this means you could see your idea become a reality enjoyed by millions of users across the UK.
Ulrik Hogrebe is Senior User Experience Designer, Personalisation and Social Platform, User Experience and Design, BBC Future Media
September 11, 2012
BBC Blue Room: ten things we learnt at IFA 2012
For more information about OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TV read this Wikipedia entry
The BBC Blue Room team was back at IFA 2012 last week.
For those of you who haven't heard of the BBC Blue Room or indeed IFA, let me explain. The Blue Room is the BBCs consumer electronics lab, based in London W12, in a room unsurprisingly filled with a lot of the latest consumer electronics. So, if you were a developer working on the BBC Olympics App and you wanted to see it working on one of the latest connected TVs or programme maker wondering what ultra high definition looks like, then BBC Blue Room would be the place you would want to visit.
Which brings us to IFA, Europe's largest consumer electronics show that takes place annually in Berlin.
Having so many of the manufacturers located in one place is a great opportunity for information gathering and a way for us to keep our BBC colleagues up-to-date with the fast changing world of consumer electronics.
So, with this aim in mind Richard, Lindsey and myself (the team) walked the halls, listened to press conferences and soaked up the atmosphere.
At the end of three long days, we jotted down what we had learnt;
• Organic LED TVs drew the crowd
• Windows 8 was everywhere
• Expect more waving, shouting and eye control
• 3D is hanging on .... just!
• 21:9 has gone mainstream
• Cameras have got smart
• They want our homes connected
• Hybrid devices were in abundance
• The world is getting more pixels
• Things just got "see through"
From these initial thoughts, we created a PDF:
"10 Things We Have Learnt at IFA 2012"
Please download and of course share.
Alison Hunter is Senior Technology Demonstrator, BBC Technology
Follow the BBC Blue Room on Twitter at @BBCBlueRoom>
September 7, 2012
What's on BBC Red Button 8th - 15th September
Last Night of the Proms
2011's Last Night of the Proms at Hyde Park
Watch Last Night of the Proms concerts from around the UK, live on Red Button. Excerpts from these four concerts will be available to watch from 7.30pm on Saturday 8 September:
• Hyde Park, London. Presented by Terry Wogan and featuring Kylie Minogue
• Titanic Slipways, Belfast. Featuring the Ulster Orchestra
• Owain Glyndwr Playing Fields, Caerphilly, Wales. Presented by Alex Jones and Tim Rhys-Evans and featuring the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales
• City Halls, Glasgow. Presented by Jamie McDougall and featuring the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Freeview viewers will have one Proms Red Button channel, which will show highlights from all four concerts.
Sky, Virgin and Freesat viewers will have two Proms Red Button channels - which will show highlights from all four concerts.
You can also watch all four concerts in full on BBC iPlayer from Sunday 9th September, for seven days.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sat 8th September, 7:28pm-11:30pm
Freeview:
Sat 8th September, 7:28pm-11:00pm
Countryfile Photographic Competition
Jo Brand, John Craven and Chris Packham
Earlier in the year, Countryfile asked viewers to submit original photographs under the title "Walk on the Wild Side". The theme was open to interpretation but sought images featuring wildlife, wild landscapes or even wild weather.
As selected by the judges, the final 12 photos will appear in the 2013 Countryfile Calendar to be sold in aid of the BBC's Children In Need appeal.
The overall winner, voted for by Countryfile viewers, will be able to choose from a range of the latest photography equipment to the value of £1,000.
The judges will also choose their favourite entry. This photographer will be able to choose equipment to the value of £500. Last year's calendar raised more than £1.2m for Children In Need.
Press the Red Button after Sunday's programme to view the twelve finalists and details on how to vote for your favourite.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sun 9th September, 8:25pm-12:00am
Freeview:
Sun 9th September, 8:25pm-9:45pm
Chris Moyles' Penultimate show
Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles
BBC Radio 1 celebrates the station's longest-standing breakfast DJ, Chris Moyles, with a star studded spectacular show broadcast live from the BBC Radio Theatre in front of a studio audience.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:
Thu 13th September, 6:15am-10:15am
The Chris Moyles Final Breakfast Show
After an incredible eight-and-a-half-year stint as the host of BBC Radio 1's Breakfast Show, Chris bids farewell in his final Breakfast Show on the network. Chris and the team, including Comedy Dave, Dominic Byrne, Tina Daheley, Aled, Freya and Pippa will be looking back at some of the highlights of the years including a number of goodbye messages from showbiz friends
Available on all platforms Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:
Thu 14th September, 6:15am-10:15am
Dragons' Den
(L-R) Duncan Bannatyne, Hilary Devey, Theo Paphitis, Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones
It's a new series and a new raft of keen entrepreneurs are about to enter the Den and make a pitch for an investment that could make their business - and change their lives.
Here on the Red Button we get to peek behind the scenes and get the inside story on the investments made in the Den each week. What attracted the Dragons to the business? What did the other Dragons make of the deals? And why did the entrepreneurs take the deal they did in the Den?
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sun 9th September, 9:55pm-4:00am
Mon 10th September - Fri 14th September, 7:00pm-4:00am
Freeview:
Sun 9th September, 9:55pm-4:00am
Hyde Park
Radio 2 takes the station out of the studio and into Hyde Park in this unique concert. Watch 'The Voice UK' judges Sir Tom Jones and Jessie J, British rockers 'Status Quo', 'Simply Red's' Mick Hucknall, London songstress Paloma Faith, Scottish funksters 'Average White Band', Nashville's 'The Band Perry' and hot new talent Emeli Sandé. Also confirmed to perform are Norwegian band 'Katzenjammer'.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Mon 10th September, 11:10pm - Fri 14th September, 2:00pm
Freeview:
Mon 10th September, 11:10pm-11:45pm
Tue 11th September, 6:25am-7:20pm, 10:10pm - Wed 12th September 5:50pm
Wed 12th September, 11:10pm-6:05am
Thu 13th September, 10:25am-2:50pm, 6:10pm-6:05am
Fri 14th September, 10:25am-1:00pm
BBC Philharmonic presents: A James Bond Special
Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo
Watch Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo on Red Button presenting not one, but two James Bond specials, featuring the greatest Bond film songs with the help of the BBC Philharmonic orchestra and guest vocalists Ren Harvieu, Lance Ellington and Claire Moore.
At 2pm on Friday 14th Sept, join Kermode and Mayo live from the BBC Philharmonic studio for a Film Review: James Bond Special, as they reveal the song you voted as the greatest James Bond theme ever, alongside other 007 classics. And witness their unique banter on this week's film releases.
At 8pm, we return as the BBC Philharmonic orchestra presents a whole Friday Night Is Music Night Bond and Beyond concert, including songs from the classic Bond films and music from well-known spy films such as 'Mission Impossible', 'Where Eagles Dare' and 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'. The Philharmonic will be conducted by Robery Ziegler.
From Monday 17th Sept, watch highlights on Red Button of the best Bond themes performed from the day of the live shows!
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Fri 14th September, 2:00pm-4:00pm. 7:55pm-ongoing
Freeview:
Fri 14th September, 2:00pm-4:00pm, 7:55pm-Saturday 15th September, 11:45am
Fri 14th September - Sun 15th September, 9:20am-12:55am
Secret Fortune - Play Along Quiz
The National Lottery: Secret Fortune - The ultra-tense quiz show with lots of twists returns to BBC One, hosted by Nick Knowles.
Studio contestants compete to win their Secret Fortune, anything from £100 to £100,000. Press the Red Button during the show to play along at home with the contestants. What would your Secret Fortune be? Available on Sky/Freeview:
Sat 8th September, 6:00pm-9:15pm
Sat 15th September, 6:00pm-9:10pm
CBBC Extra
Press red on the CBBC channel this week and join Ben and Dodge T. Dog as they introduce exclusive clips from a wealth of CBBC goodies including Merlin, School for Stars and all new Wolfblood. You really do not want to miss it!!!
You can also read Chris and Dodge's blog, answers to some of your questions, read your horoscopes and see if the jokes that made Chris and Dodge LOL will have the same effect on you.
Go on, press red... You know you want to!
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sat 8th September, 7:00am-10:00am
Mon 10th September - Fri 14th September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Sat 15th September, 7:00am-10:00am
Freeview:
Sat 8th September, 7:00am-10:00am
Mon 10th September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Thu 13th September, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Fri 14th September, 4:10pm-6:-0pm
CBeebies Red Button
BBC Red Button welcomes younger viewers and grown-ups with a sense of adventure to the big, bright and fun world of CBeebies interactive!
Your children's favourite characters are at the heart of the interactive TV experience. Satellite and digital terrestrial viewers will have slightly different offerings
from one another. This has enabled the Red Button team to offer the best games tailored to each system.
CBeebies Red Button is available on the CBeebies channel, and via page 5900 on other channels.
Available on Freeview and Sky only
BBC Sport Multiscreen**
Catch up on all the latest Sport via the BBC Sport multiscreen. Headlines are available around the clock with up to five additional streams available to cover the best that BBC Sport has to offer.
Please note that Red Button sport timings are subject to change at short notice.
For the latest information refer to the BBC Sport website.
Highlights
NFL - Live coverage of Cincinnati Bengals v Baltimore Ravens & San Diego Chargers v Oakland Raiders
Cricket- TMS & Graphics Scorecard from England v South Africa
Rugby Union - Scrum V - Ospreys v Glasgow and Ulster v Munster
**Note all Red Button times are subject to change at short notice
September 6, 2012
Search Engine Optimisation in BBC News
Poster for the London Evening Standard newspaper. The storm was in the United States. Pic by Darren Shrubsole
This is the third and final in a series of posts about Search Engine Optimisation, following Duncan Bloor and Oliver Bartlett writing about optimising Knowledge and Learning websites.
Headline-writing is a journalistic skill that provokes strong feelings – and of course it is meant to.
A sub-editor writes a headline to grab attention, to compel readers.
It’s also considered something of an art form, which will often see clusters of journalists poring over headlines at length, in the knowledge that the eventual choice could spell the difference between people reading the article or not.
Good headlines are passed around newsrooms in admiration, bad ones are held up to ridicule, and the best ones go down in history – think of the Sun headlines “Gotcha” and “Freddy Starr ate my hamster”.
Given that we are talking about such a cherished institution, it’s no surprise that when I as an SEO (search engine optimiser) come along and rewrite the headline rulebook there might be a certain amount of, let’s say, polite demurral among your colleagues.
But that’s often exactly what is needed at news websites which have previously paid no attention to search traffic when composing their sacred texts.
I moved from my role as BBC web journalist specialising in the Middle East to become the BBC’s first specialist SEO journalist in late 2009.
The headline system that I took over had not even been optimised for the web originally, let alone search engines.
Back in the mid-2000s, BBC News had merged the Online and Ceefax teams to write multi-platform stories whose headline length was designed to fit neatly on the old analogue teletext pages. These 31-33 character headlines didn’t allow much room to include search keywords; they barely had enough space to tell the story. But the format has been skilfully incorporated into our web journalism and to this day we should be grateful for how it has given the News website its clean, impactful appearance and pithy, easy-to-read headlines.
Not wanting to throw the baby out with the bathwater, we devised a dual-headline system, which would keep the index headlines unchanged while introducing a longer, search-optimised text that would sit at the top of articles and supply the page title meta-tags, which are what search engines take most account of.
All we had to do then was to make sure that the hundreds upon hundreds of different story headlines written every day by teams scattered across the country and the globe were optimised for search!
It's been a long, hard slog, with few resources, to educate all the News staff and monitor all their output.
Fortunately, other branches of BBC Online have been actively optimising their output and I have learnt much from Duncan Bloor and colleagues over at the Vision user building team - people with an SEO, rather than editorial background such as myself. And it has been worth the effort: between the second half of 2009, pre-SEO, and the first half of 2011 visits to News from search increased by 57%, and overall visits were up by 34%.
I like to think that a lot of that extra non-search traffic came as a result of converting search visitors into our regular users and there is some justification for that, although it's difficult to be sure.
The evidence is that before SEO the traffic trends were absolutely flat, if not actually in decline, and as soon as we began optimisation the graphs started to climb and have continued to climb ever since.
My main SEO pitch to journalists has been to explain that it's not just about increasing traffic to a story by a few percentage points: it's about meeting the essential needs of web users to find the information they are looking for; it's about bringing new users to the site, possibly for the first time in their lives; it's about securing long-term promotion for your journalism that is not contingent on the few short hours of exposure it'll get on a web index.
I have given colleagues a four-point checklist for their headlines as the most effective way of making that happen. (As long as they follow the basic principles of journalistic storytelling, the rest should take care of itself.)
The points are:
use words that people would use in search in order to find the information being provided
avoid words that people would never use in search to find that content
put the most searchable elements at the front
proper names are often used in search, so - following rules 1 and 3 - names should be included in the headline and if appropriate at the front.
It is when I outline these concepts to new inductees that sometimes eyes become fixed, brows start to furrow and hands go up.
Proper names?! Local journalists in particular have learned from cubdom that if you have a headline that proclaims "Burglary in Little Snodbury post office", inhabitants of every other village in the county will barely give the story a second glance. If you say "Village post office burgled" everybody starts reading to find out where.
It's like the newsstand which trumpets "Film star dies": you can be sure that when you buy the paper it's someone you've only vaguely heard of, otherwise they would have said exactly who had died.
How many people are going to search for Little Snodbury anyway?
And as for only using words that people will search for! How can you sell your story properly without the rhetorical flourishes and punchy vocabulary of headline language? What about wit and word play? Truly the era of the creative and memorable headline is over.
My reply to these objections is always that headlines do not obey immutable laws written in tablets of stone; they follow different linguistic rules depending on the context that they occur.
An SEO headline at the top of an article may look like a newspaper headline, but the context is different.
In a paper, it's there to make a reader stop and read as they leaf through the paper. On the web they have already landed on that story, so the headline's job is to make sure they can arrive there via a search engine.
I'm not saying you need to cook up a keyword soup. The text still needs to compel a search engine user enough to click on the story, but if it never appears in a search result then it is wasted effort.
And contrary to what people might think, the inhabitants of Little Snodbury and its surroundings are in fact extremely likely to use that name in search queries, just as schoolmates of a missing teenager will use their actual name in search, or shareholders of a bankrupt Christmas club.
So is it ever possible to write a headline that can turn an eye or raise a smile despite my SEO strictures? I like to think so. The journalists are given 55 characters (including spaces) to express their creativity, a length chosen because it equates to the space allocated for the page title on a Google search results page. A favourite recent example of mine manages to get the best keywords at the front of headline, includes a proper name, and gets a groan-worthy joke in there. Hats off to our Norfolk team for "Bald hedgehog faces pointless existence in Yarmouth".
Martin Asser is Senior Product Manager, News & Knowledge, BBC Future Media
September 4, 2012
Connected Studio 5: CBBC and User Experience and Design
CBeebies Connected Studio in Q5, Quay House, MediaCityUK in Salford
It's been a while since I told you about the Connected Studio project, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. We've been planning an exciting calendar through till next spring starting with a double header of Creative Studios. CBBC on September 20th in Salford and UX&D on October 4th in London. Both briefs are now live and ready for your perusal.
We will be heading back to MediaCityUK on September 20th, with the Build Studio in Salford on October 10-11. The UX&D Creative Studio will take place in London on the 4th October, followed by a build studio in Salford on the 30th and 31st of October. Get these dates in your diary!
Our last event seems like an age ago yet it was only back in July when we held the CBeebies Build studio up at MediaCityUK. Attendance for the Creative Studio was up at over 90 which ultimately led to 30 pitches, our highest to date. The high number of participants and the strength of ideas meant that we took ten teams through to Build, made up of 60 individuals. Thankfully the fantastic Q5 space meant that we could accommodate this number without treading on each other's toes.
I will be releasing details shortly about what we are moving forward from CBeebies, Weather & Travel and also a general Pilot Stage update, but for now, let's tuck in to CBBC and the key challenges that the Brief sets out:
1) How do we make the CBBC site more responsive to an individual's age, gender, mood, and preferences (without the need for sign-in)?
2) How can we encourage children to generate content for the site in a way that avoids the need for costly and slow moderation?
3) What could be the ultimate 'immersive digital experience' in and around CBBC brands?
For UX&D the key challenge we're working on is how to create a consistent experience across the whole of BBC online - so that it feels like one service across our ten products and on four screens.
We have three ways of approaching that challenge:
1) Time - what does it mean to be 'alive' online?; How do we move beyond static website, to pages that feel updated, dynamic and relevant?
2) Linear and digital; how can a digital experience enhance linear output, before during and after it goes live?
3) Connected and inclusive; what is it that makes participating with the BBC different from any other organisation? What is the interaction we should encourage?
As ever, we don't like to make it easy, but we fully expect that those who step up to the mark are fully capable of delivering the standard that both the Product teams and Connected Studio has come to enjoy.
To sign up head to the 'how to get involved' page on the website.
We are also happy to announce a new event schedule:
• September 20: CBBC Creative Studio - MediaCityUK in Salford
• October 4: UX&D Creative Studio - London
• October 10/11: CBBC Build Studio - Salford
• October 30/31: UX&D Build Studio - Salford
• Nov 21: Sport Creative Studio - Salford
• Dec 12/13: Sport Build Studio
• Jan: TV & iPlayer
• Jan- Mar: News, Knowledge & Learning, Radio & Music
As ever, these dates could be subject to change, but should this be the case we will let you know. We are not taking applications for them yet, but to express your interest in attending or order to get further updates and be among the first to know email connectedstudios@bbc.co.uk with the particular creative studio as the subject line.
Adrian Woolard is Project Director, North Lab, BBC Research and Development and is responsible for Phase 1 of the Connected Studio programme
Mobile Downloads for BBC iPlayer
Today BBC iPlayer is launching mobile downloads on smartphones and tablets.
I'd like to talk about the thinking behind this new feature, and the benefits it brings to audiences.
Part of the BBC's strategy for iPlayer in the past year has been to take it beyond the PC, and onto a host of different devices, from smartphones and tablets, to connected TVs and games consoles. BBC iPlayer is now on over 550 devices, ensuring you can enjoy BBC programmes wherever and whenever you want.
It's been something of a watershed year for on-the-go viewing: the Olympics, for example, turned into the "mobile Games" for many. For iPlayer, take-up on portable devices has been particularly impressive, with 30m requests for iPlayer content via mobile or tablet in July alone: this represented more than 20% of all requests for iPlayer programmes across all platforms.
The numbers in pink and white in the circles above represent percentages of the total amount of iPlayer requests for content on tablets and mobile e.g 34% of the requests on tablets was for Children’s content
More and more people are comfortable with watching TV across different devices depending on where they are and what they're doing. For example, our data shows that children's content is particularly popular on tablets, as they are devices kids can sit and play with wherever. BBC Three comedy is popular on smart phones, and is watched by young people while out and about or waiting for a bus or train.
There is, of course, a barrier to you watching your favourite BBC programmes wherever you want: you need to be online to stream video to your phone or tablet, which means you can't use BBC iPlayer on the tube or on a plane.
Today, that barrier is lifted. With the launch of mobile downloads for iPlayer, on-the-go viewing is transformed. For the first time, you can watch BBC programmes on your phone or tablet even if you don't have a Wi-Fi connection or 3G signal. You can download multiple programmes to your device and store them for 30 days. Once you've pressed play you can keep watching for seven more days. Why not take your favourite shows with you when you go on holiday? You could watch them on the plane, on the beach, anywhere you want.
The new mobile downloads feature is initially available on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices running iOS 5.1. We will be bringing this feature to Android phones and tablets soon, and are looking at making downloads available on other devices in the future.
A mock up of how BBC iPlayer programmes look while downloading on an iPhone
Here is how you download your favourite TV show:
• Tap the Download option on the programme you want to save
• The programme will be added to your download queue
• When you next connect to Wi-Fi, open the app and the programme will automatically start downloading to your device
A download of Eastenders on an iPad
For those with kids who love watching Justin's House, a CBeebies favourite, they will now be able to enjoy Justin and his friends on a tablet or phone in the back of the car without the need for a 3G signal. And, people with smartphones can continue to enjoy the new series of Dr Who on the train or tube, without worrying about connections or data allowances - another benefit of downloading shows over Wi-Fi and watching them offline.
Today's launch is another big step towards ensuring BBC iPlayer and BBC programmes are available wherever and whenever you want. Download the app now and let me know in the comments what you've been watching and where.
The team would really welcome your comments and feedback on the downloads feature. When we Tweet about iPlayer we use a #bbciplayer hashtag, so if you would like to use this too that would be great.
I am always keen to know what you think and would love to hear from you.
David Madden is Executive Producer, TV & iPlayer Mobile, BBC Future Media
August 31, 2012
What's On BBC Red Button 1st September - 8th September
Doctor Who
Matt Smith as The Doctor
En route to visit the Ponds the TARDIS' Helmic Regulator malfunctions, leaving the Doctor popping up
everywhere in time and space. Will he ever make it back to Amy and Rory?
This prequel is followed by a new series of Doctor Who which begins tonight at 7:20 on BBC One.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sat 1st September, 6:00am-11:45am, 3:00pm-7:20pm
Freeview:
Sat 1st September, 6:10pm-7:20pm
Last Night of the Proms
The stage at Hyde Park
Watch Last Night of the Proms concerts from around the UK, live on red button.
Excerpts from these four concerts will be available to watch from 7.30pm on Saturday 8th September:
• Hyde Park, London. Presented by Terry Wogan and featuring Kylie Minogue.
• Titanic Slipways, Belfast. Featuring the Ulster Orchestra.
• Owain Glyndwr Playing Fields, Caerphilly, Wales. Presented by Alex Jones and Tim Rhys-Evans and
featuring the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales.
• City Halls, Glasgow. Presented by Jamie McDougall and featuring the BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra.
Freeview viewers will have one Proms red button channel - which will show highlights from all four
concerts.
Sky, Virgin and Freesat viewers will have two Proms red button channels - which will show highlights from
all four concerts.
You can also watch all four concerts in full, online at iPlayer from Sunday 9 September, for
seven days.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sat 8th September, 7:28pm-11:30pm
Freeview:
Sat 8th September, 7:28pm-11:00pm
Summer of Melas
BBC Asian Network embarks on its seventh year of national Mela coverage and showcasing the biggest acts,
key highlights and best performances on the Red Button.
Watch 'A Summer of Melas' by pressing the Red Button from Saturday 1st September to catch highlights from
Manchester, London and Newcastle Melas; with exciting and unique performances recorded this summer, all bought
to you by presenters Tommy Sandhu and Noreen Khan.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sat 1st September, 9:10pm-6:00am
Sun 2nd September, 6:00am-11:40am
Sun 2nd September, 4:00pm-6:00am
Mon 3rd September, 6:00am-6:00am
Tue 4th September, 6:00am-6:00am
Wed 5th September, 6:00am-6:00am
Thu 6th September, 6:00am-6:00am
Fri 7th September, 6:00am-4:00am
Freeview:
Sat 1st September, 9:10pm-5:50am
Mon 3rd September, 12:00am-5:50am
Mon 3rd September, 7:10pm-5:50am
Tue 4th September, 10:10pm-5:50am
Wed 5th September, 9:40pm-5:50am
Thu 6th September, 7:10pm-5:50am
Fri 7th September, 9:10pm-4:00am
Tree Fu Tom Spell Along
Get ready for some red button Big World Magic with the Tree Fu Tom Spell Along! Learn the words to the Tree
Fu Tom rap and theme tune with words bouncing along the screen in our Tree Fu karaoke, then practice your Tree
Fu Spells along with Tom and some CBeebies friends, you can even make your very own Tree Fu Tom magic belt!
ZigZoo has given CBeebies' presenter Alex the magic instructions to make a belt just like Toms, and he will
teach you how to make your own. Don't worry if you don't catch the make the first time round - the Spell
Along video will play in a loop so you can watch it again!
All you need to make the Tree Fu magic belt is: A long tin foil box, 2 mini cereal boxes, a jam tart case, tin
foil, orange tissue paper, brown paint, black tape or a black pen, PVA glue or sticky tape.
The Tree Fu Tom belt make will also be available on the CBeebies website from Monday 3rd September, where you
can also find out more about Tree Fu Tom - bbc.co.uk/cbeebies
The Tree Fu Tom Spell Along will be available on all digital TVs between 1st - 7th September, at the times
below:
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sat 1st September, 6:00am-11:45am
Sun 2nd September, 6:00am-11:40am
Mon 3rd September, 6:00am-7:00pm
Tue 4th September, 6:00am-7:00pm
Wed 5th September, 6:00am-7:00pm
Thu 6th September, 6:00am-7:00pm
Fri 7th September, 6:00am-7:00pm
Freeview:
Sat 1st September, 6:00am-9:45am
Sun 2nd September, 6:00am-9:50am
Mon 3rd September, 6:00am-9:50am
Tue 4th September, 6:00am-2:50pm, 6:10pm-7:00pm
Wed 5th September, 6:00am-1:35pm
Thu 6th September, 6:00am-7:00pm
Fri 7th September, 6:00am-12:00pm, 1:00pm-2:50pm, 6:10pm-6:50pm
Secret Fortune - Play Along Quiz
The National Lottery: Secret Fortune - The ultra-tense quiz show with lots of twists returns to BBC One,
hosted by Nick Knowles.
Studio contestants compete to win their Secret Available on Sky/Freeview:
Fortune, anything from £100 to £100,000. Press the Red Button during the show to
play along at home with the contestants. What would your Secret Fortune be?
Sat 1st September, 8:10pm-9:00pm
Sat 8th September, 8:25pm-9:15pm
Countryfile Photographic Competition
Jo Brand, John Craven and Chris Packham
Earlier in the year, Countryfile asked viewers to submit original photographs under the title "Walk on the
Wild Side". The theme was open to interpretation but sought images featuring wildlife, wild landscapes or even
wild weather.
As selected by the judges, the final twelve photos will appear in the 2013 Countryfile Calendar to be sold
in aid of the BBC's Children In Need appeal.
The overall winner, voted for by Countryfile viewers, will be able to choose from a range of the latest
photography equipment to the value of £1,000.
The judges will also choose their favourite entry. This photographer will be able to choose equipment to
the value of £500. Last year's calendar raised more than £1.2m for Children In Need.
Press the red button after Sunday's programme to view the twelve finalists and details on how to vote for
your favourite.
Available on all platforms
Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sun 2nd September, 8:25pm-4:00am
Freeview:
Sun 2nd September, 8:25pm-11:50pm
CBBC Extra
Press red on the CBBC channel this week and join Chris and Dodge T. Dog as they introduce exclusive clips
from a wealth of CBBC goodies including a 12 Again Summer Special, Stepping Up and a sneak peek at all new
Goodbye Year 6.
You can also read Chris and Dodge's blog, answers to some of your questions, read your horoscopes and see
if the jokes that made Chris and Dodge LOL will have the same effect on you.
Go on, press red... You know you want to!
Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media:
Sat 1st September, 7:00am-10:00am
Mon 3rd September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Tue 4th September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Wed 5th September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Thu 6th September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Fri 7th September, 7:00am-10:00am, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Sat 8th September, 7:00am-10:00am
Freeview:
Tue 4th September, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Fri 7th September, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Sat 8th September, 7:00am-10:00am
CBeebies Red Button
BBC Red Button welcomes younger viewers and grown-ups with a sense of adventure to the big, bright and fun
world of CBeebies interactive!
Your children's favourite characters are at the heart of the interactive TV experience. Satellite and
digital terrestrial viewers will have slightly different offerings
from one another. This has enabled the Red Button team to offer the best games tailored to each system.
CBeebies Red Button is available on the CBeebies channel, and via page 5900 on other channels.
Available on Freeview and Sky only
BBC Sport Multiscreen**
Catch up on all the latest Sport via the BBC Sport multiscreen. Headlines are available around the clock
with up to five additional streams available to cover the best that BBC Sport has
to offer.
Please note that Red Button sport timings are subject to change at short notice.
For the latest information refer to the BBC Sport website.
Highlights
Formula 1 - Live coverage of the Belgian Grand Prix and post race analysis and debate presented by Jake Humphrey.
Cricket - Test Match Special Commentary.
Rugby Union - Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh with alternative commentary options.
**Note all Red Button times are subject to change at short notice
My Year on the BBC Internet Blog
Unique browsers per week on the BBC Internet Blog from July 2011 (beginning of iStats figures, shortly after I joined) to the present
Sadly, like Dave Lee and Paul Murphy before me, it's my turn to move on from the BBC Internet Blog.
After spending fourteen months helping colleagues to blog about the work they do, I wanted to share more about the blog works. So I shall outline where blog posts come from, and try to shed some light on blogger interaction, traffic, and hosting decisions.
Nick Reynolds - who oversees the blog as Public Accountability Executive - suggested I pick a favourite blog post. But I find that hard when the strength of the blog is to be able to offer different perspectives on the same service - by editorial, technical, and design teams; from brief posts introducing new sites to professionals sharing the details of how they do their job.
The life of a Blog Post
Concepts for blog posts come from three places - Nick and I (watching out for upcoming developments and suggesting the authors blog about them), the BBC Digital Communications team, and - my obvious favourite - the authors themselves.
My job here is support the author - helping them draw out the most interesting parts of their story, to add links and explanations to terms that help broaden the reach of the post, and to help the style fit with a blog, and suggesting or finding interesting and different pictures.
For example, I sat down with Patrick Sinclair to talk about the interesting ways artist information gets from the DJ to the Radio 1 website during broadcast, so that more of that "crunch" gets into the post.
Jeremy Tarling and I added a bit more explanation to his BBC Weather technical architecture blog post to make it useful to a wider range of professionals without losing the specialist detail.
My job is to ensure that all blog posts wherever they comes from are interesting and revealing and personal enough to be a good blog post.
When a blog post goes up, I help let people know about it via @BBCcoUK on Twitter and other social media, and support the blogger in answering comments.
Your Conversations with Bloggers
Some of the bloggers - such as Andy Quested - need no encouragement to talk with you. The direct conversation is the great strength and of a blog, and it's my pleasure to host your conversation with the BBC's sitebuilders.
So, of the bloggers (excluding Nick and myself), who replies to comments most?
In the year from July 2011 to June 2012, Andy Quested led comments from bloggers with his in-depth conversations with users of 3DTV - commenting 99 times. The next three members of BBC staff had blogged about major product launches - Chris Kimber (Radio, 22 comments); James Thornett (Homepage, 19 comments); and Cait O'Riordan (Sport, 14 comments).
The graph of site traffic at the top of the post shows, as well as an upward trend, how traffic peaks with major launches like those - presumably because of the chance to communicate with the staff behind them.
Hosting the Conversation
Your comments are what make the blog post, and sometimes they drive new blog posts themselves.
As I've occasionally explained to colleagues, criticism of the BBC and its services are absolutely acceptable here, but I need to keep things polite, and on-topic.
The first line of moderation is outsourced, so obviously offensive comments can be judged by moderators 24/7; but questions of whether something is off-topic and other cases that depend on context are referred to hosts such as me.
I sometimes have to judge where criticism of someone's work shades into a personal attack, and although I'm keen that this is a place where people are free to say they don't like what the BBC does, I've drawn the line at calls for staff - who are still members of the community - to be fired.
When considering how strict or relaxed to be about potentially off-topic comments, I have to bear in mind both those of you who only read and those of you who want to comment as part of a free-wheeling discussion.
The old rule of thumb was that 90% of the audience would read, 9% would share, and 1% would comment. Holly Goodier has since blogged about research that suggests light interaction is actually more common than that; but what are the numbers for the BBC Internet Blog?
This graph shows the number of unique commenters expressed as a percentage of unique browsers in several weeks in late 2011. The numbers are from different sources and not exactly comparable, so this is only an estimate:
Estimated percentage of browsers who commented on the BBC Internet Blog from July through November 2011, by week number. Unique browser numbers are taken from iStats. Numbers of user accounts making comments are from DNA.
You can see that the 1% rule still holds. In fact, the proportion is closer to 0.5%, except when many of you had much to say about a new launch, such as the new BBC Homepage.
So my thinking is that there are probably a hundred of you reading the comments for every one person writing them, and so keeping the comments easy to follow is often more important than letting an interesting discussion run free.
It's a close judgement that Nick and I often discuss. The appeals process does make me explain and discuss my decisions, and I know first-hand that appeals are sometimes upheld.
There have also been times when I've said that a question is off-topic only to discover that the blogger takes a much friendlier view and has already answered it!
As I'm the blogger as well as the host this time, I'll take a more relaxed view.
Evergreen Blog Posts
I started this blog post with a diagram of the traffic during my tenure on the blog. As well as an overall upward trend, you can see that the Olympics were record-breaking for us as well as for the rest of BBC Online.
But when I started to examine stats back in 2011, the top posts were not always what I expected them to be.
Evergreen blog posts, particularly about BBC iPlayer, do very well. This is partially because they stand the test of time, and partially because of some search engine sub-optimisation.
In Q3 2011 (July through September) the third most viewed blog post was Anthony Rose's 2009 blog post about BBC iPlayer on Playstation 3 (PS3), despite a new post on the same subject that talked about a newer better PS3 BBC iPlayer. The fifth most viewed post, also by Anthony Rose, was from 2008. Why?
You can see from the graph that the 2009 post got a sudden burst of traffic when Gideon Summerfield blogged about the new version of BBC iPlayer for PS3.
Unique browsers per week for two blog posts about BBC iPlayer on PS3, from August 2011 to January 2012, starting in the week before the newer blog post, by Gideon Summerfield, is posted.
Some of you heard about the new version of BBC iPlayer and searched for more information about it. Search engines directed people to the old, 2009, blog post - which was well known and trusted by search engines - instead of the new 2011 one.
So to let people know about the new post, I added a note to the top of the old post, directing interested surfers to Gideon Summerfield's new blog post.
But search engines still directed people to the old blog post - so once the initial buzz had died down the old blog post attracted more browsers than the new one.
But by the end of the year, with the help of the link on the old post, the search engines learned, and the new blog post eclipsed the old one.
As a result of the policy of adding links to old posts, and better SEO on new posts, outdated blog posts are now a much smaller proportion of traffic.
Major blog posts about major topics still continue to attract lots of traffic. For example, David Madden's blog post from December last year about the BBC iPlayer on iPhone and via 3G streaming continued to top the page views chart for the quarter from April through June this year. It's a good blog post about a topic of wide interest that's still relevant.
On the other hand, much as Nick and I enjoy writing round-ups, they often don't attract as much traffic. So I haven't posted them as often as I would like.
It's been a privilege to work with all of you, in making BBC Online more transparent and accountable. If you wish to follow what I do next, I'm @DrIanMcDonald on Twitter. (Annoyingly, @IanMcDonald was taken.)
As always, I look forward to reading and answering your comments.
Ian McDonald was the Content Producer, BBC Internet Blog
August 29, 2012
Designing BBC iPlayer for Xbox 360
BBC iPlayer on Xbox 360
Hi, my name is Rae Spencer, and I'm acting Senior UX experience designer at the BBC, working across all versions of BBC iPlayer including connected TVs and consoles.
My collegue Katherine Aherne and I started work on iPlayer for XBox last year, and with today's release of Radio support in iPlayer on Xbox, we thought we'd provide an insight into the process we used to create a consistent and usable design for an innovative new platform.
The design challenge
TV friendly interfaces need to work with 5-point navigation. In simple terms, people watching TV do just about everything by using five buttons: Up, Down, Left, Right and Enter. That's pretty tricky, especially if as a designer, you are used to creating layouts where your audience will be able to access everything on screen using a mouse.
TV is traditionally what we call a 'lean-back experience' - that is, the users are sitting on a sofa with a remote control, rather than sitting up on an office chair in front of a computer. This means we assume they want to spend less time navigating around our systems, and more time leaning back to watch video. Our designs need to be as simple, speedy and non-intrusive as we can manage, whilst still providing all the features they would expect from iPlayer.
Generic V3 BBC iPlayer home page
The aspiration for iPlayer on XBox was to expand on the ever-growing iPlayer V3 portfolio while providing the best user experience for the device. V3 for TV designed by Nick Beese (Senior UX Designer leading the project) and myself is an interface optimised for 5 point navigation, intended to surface relevant content quickly and guide you from one piece of media to another seamlessly using onward navigation from playout.
The interface achieved this aspiration through a collection of rotating carousels referred to internally as a horizontal fruit machine. This proved to be the most optimal way to date of using iPlayer on a TV. The horizontal carousel metaphor however proved to be our biggest hurdle when adapting iPlayer for TV to work on the XBox platform.
First steps
To kick the project off there were various meeting between the BBC UX teams and the UX teams at Microsoft. From this Katherine and I identified the sections of the V3 UI that would need the most adaptation to work consistently with gesture, voice and controller input.
These included:
Channels and categories
Video playback
The barrelling navigation seen in our home page view
Search
We also identified some of the signature experiences that have become synonymous with any iPlayer product and would need to be represented here. Some of these are yet to be released but include favourites, resume and onward discovery from playback.
From this we explored various ways of adapting the already established UI navigation to cater to the multiple input environment before settling on the closed and open pivot mechanism seen today. The closed pivots allowed us to surface relevant content quickly, thus not ending up with a menu driven UI, while maintaining a mechanism familiar to the XBox community. Throughout the process we were careful to maintain a consistent brand experience that our users have come to expect from iPlayer while remaining faithful to the needs and expectations of the XBox community.
Exploration sketches
We also aimed to make this product accessible to new XBox users and Amelia Still (Senior Usability and Accessibility Specialist at the BBC) ensured in all rounds of user testing that we had an even demographic to help us improve the reach of our final product. This also included paired testing in homes where one user owned and used the XBox and the other did not.
Marrying the three inputs
This platform brought unique challenges with the three input mechanisms I have already discussed. Our main aim as a team was to marry the experience of using these as closely as possible to help the user mentally map the interface while toggling between them.
Voice control (VUI) proved to be unsurprisingly the leading influence in other UI decisions. If your user is uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the terminology used in VUI it is probably not natural to use "VUI" as a button title.
VUI screen design
Adapting the two and three tier carousels
Two of the more challenging adaptations of the V3 UI were the channels and categories sections. The XBox swipe gesture, known as the gross swipe, lead us to adapt the categories section to a two paged closed pivot interface, a user journey that is shorter than most of the XBox reference applications when it comes to getting our users to content faster.
When the user selects their chosen category they are taken to the open category carousel and are then able to browse the full catalogue for that category. Content within the open category pivot is grouped by brand, as seen on the Playstation, to optimise browsing time. This was especially important when dealing with the physical exertion of using gesture to interact with the UI.
The channels section provided the added complexity of a third level of navigation; users can navigate within an open channel pivot by the broadcast date. Again a journey we aspired to shorten when comparing iPlayer to the other applications seen on XBox. This was achieved by a day selection navigation being added to the open channel day pivot allowing the user to move between days on an open channel pivot using any of the three input mechanisms.
Exploring differences between the generic design and the design used for Xbox 360
Keep it consistent
As an iPlayer design and development team despite what device or platform we are working on we strive to make the experience of using iPlayer feel familiar. With this platform, as with others, that included the tone of voice, use of language, architecture and signature visual design that users have come to expect from any iPlayer product.
Visual design
Aside from striking the balance between a BBC iPlayer experience and an XBox experience there were interesting challenges when dealing with designing the iPlayer look and feel for an XBox UI. Blend, which is used to produce the graphical user interface for XBox, accepts pure vector graphics for optimal scaling at different resolutions, minimal file size and thus reduced load times. This created difficulties when translating some of the subtle shines and shadows achieved in the HTML release.
Katherine and I worked closely with the development teams and identified the key visual elements we needed, to reproduce a signature experience including the arc shine, 'nightrider' progress bar and programme information page.
Programme information page
The future
This is the first BBC iPlayer release on a device with gestural and voice recognition, we hope to glean from this an even deeper insight into what our users need on this platform and across the iPlayer portfolio. We see this as an opportunity to further test, research, verify and develop our designs.
Katherine and I look forward to your feedback and comments; we consider them truly essential to the relationship we have with you our audience and to deliver quality products that meet your needs.
Rae Spencer is Senior Designer, UX&D, BBC Future Media
BBC's Blog
- BBC's profile
- 28 followers
