BBC Picos

Rethinking the commissioning process at the BBC.

Due to confidentiality this document details only the context of the project and provides a high level description of the main actions taken.
All information in this section is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of the BBC.

The BBC commissions world class content with a distinctly British perspective and we want to work with the best producers and creatives to tell stories which excite, educate and entertain. We are committed to supporting the UK creative sector - actively backing a broad range of producers, offering breaks for brilliant new talent, building partnerships, and baking diversity into everything we do.

Charlotte Moore, Controller, BBC Chief Content Officer - Press Release

BBC Picos

THE VISION
A New Commissioning Experience

Picos is a internal tool used at the BBC.

It is the new pan-BBC Proposal and Commissioning Management system designed to replace many different tools previously used within the company for any commissioning and proposal management purpose.

It's therefore designed to support media agnostic content commissioning through the use of a new, single tool.

The system manages content production metadata from initial brief, to proposal and commissioning.

The new tool provides several benefits:

  • Ease of use for suppliers submitting programme ideas to the BBC
  • Suppliers see a unified view of BBC programme procurement opportunities
  • Improved business information to better inform decision making
  • Media Agnostic workflows
  • Scalable approach
BBC Picos Workshop

Picos manages content production metadata from initial brief, to proposal and commissioning.

MY ROLE
It's All About Choreografy

I worked in a UXD quad with designers, UX writers and researchers.

As an Information Architect I always stress the importance of getting a good choreography when working in a cross functional team.

I took care of the research with users and stakeholders to identify needs, opportunities and pain points.

I defined the whole information architecture for the Admin of Commissioning (Picos Mission 2). I also worked at the prototype of the system and arranged and run the usabilty testing sessions.

My duties therefore included:

  • Problem setting trough in depth user research (Identify pain points and opportunity areas )
  • Human Centred Design informed model for the management of the relationship between contents
  • Detailed workflow design
  • UI design iterations and fully functioning HTML prototype.
  • Usability Testing

ACTION
Let's get started!

A one-day kick-off workshop was set up to define a shared and structured plan and it helped to:

  • Share early research
  • Gain a deeper understanding of current user and business needs
  • Identify pain points and opportunity areas for the business and our users
  • Establish and prioritise areas of focus for the upcoming Sprints
  • Agree next steps

The design process was articulated in eight, four weeks sprints.

The introductory work led to the definition of the objectives and the strategies.

BBC Sounds on Sonos

The introductory work led to the definition of the objectives and the strategies.

ACTION
Problem Setting Through In-depth User research

I ran several in-depth research sessions with the users (both BBC and external suppliers of content).

I defined with the researcher the discussion guide for the sessions.

I interviewed the users trying to assess their mental models and how they were dealing with their daily tasks and the previous commissioning management tool.

I collected all the insights and reported them back to the wider team.

BBC Sounds on Sonos

I ran several in-depth research sessions with the users (both BBC and external suppliers of content)

ACTION
Designing a Detailed Workflow

The insights from the research informed the next step.

I assessed the technical constraints and the business and user needs to design new, fully encompassing user workflows.

I deconstructed and analised the previous system, re-mapping the domain model itself. I redesigned it in order to make it more flexible, scalable and seamless.

I tested the new workflows through several sessions with the product team and the final users.

Please do not hesitate to contact me for further details about the process.

BBC Sounds on Sonos

I assessed the technical constraints and the business and user needs to design new, fully encompassing user workflows.

ACTION
Getting a Prototype to Test

I supervised the entire UI design iterative process providing the designers with wireframes, interaction design patterns and heuristic evaluations.

I made sure the entire prototype was following the BBC GEL guidelines and the accessibility requirements.

I followed in conjunction with the devs the development of a fully functioning HTML prototype.

BBC Sounds on Sonos

The design concept for a dynamic proposal form builder.

ACTION
Usability Testing

I designed and ran with two colleagues a remote user testing study.

The primary objective of the user testing sessions was to evaluating the usability of what designed for Picos Mission2 - Admin of Commissioning.

We tested a prototype designed to replicate the experience in building, editing and managing commissioning briefs and rounds in Picos.

8 users that matched the requirements for testing the tool were recruited.

Users carried out the test using their own devices in their own homes and their screens and audio were recorded.

The results were reported back to the wider team.

BBC Sounds on Sonos

We tested a prototype designed to replicate the experience in building, editing and managing commissioning briefs and rounds in Picos.

IMPACT
Optimal flexibility

A scalable brief-first model has been implemented. It allowed an optimal scaling up and flexibility of the tool.

The model was implemented and tested successfully in the usability sessions with the final users.

The new model showed over 90% completion rate for all the tasks assigned.

Selected Works

BBC
Sounds on Sonos
Designing a full BBC Sounds experience for Sonos users

BBC
Sounds IA Research
Prioritising contents for the Homepage of BBC Sounds

BBC
PICOS                   
Rethinking the commissioning process at the BBC.