BBC Sounds Collections

Designing a new page that showcases editorially curated content around a specific topic to enhance content discovery

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.

This has been a brilliant collaboration across so many different teams and people.

Katie Tully, Head of Curation, BBC Sounds - Internal Communication

BBC Sounds Collections

With the introduction of Collections, BBC Sounds could offer users a better curated and overall improved browsing experience.

THE CONTEXT
We need more flexibility

In BBC Sounds, content is currently (spring 2024) organised relying on specific categories such as comedy or drama.

Our users told us they often wanted to find content on a particular relevant topic or related to a specific event in a timely manner. That is unlikely to be feasible with any taxonomy based on any rigid, pre-defined categories.

As such, in order to meet this user need, the curation team had to spin up new aggregations of content in the form of new temporary shows ( i.e. Entertain the Kids), hacking the system and pushing it to extremes it wasn't designed for. This resulted in several issues such as duplication of episodes or an utterly cluttered content structure.

We had to enable our users to experience such shortlived aggregations of content in a seamless way, without impacting the current metadata structure.

The editorial team needed a feature to create and manage aggregations of content which could be truly flexible, scalable and reusable: collections

BBC Sounds on Sonos

Users often want to find content on a culturally relevant topic or related to a specific event: that is unlikely to be feasible with any rigid, pre-defined categories.

MY ROLE
Leading a UX trio of designers

I led a UX trio of designers sizing and planning the work.
I agreed the specifications with the product, editorial and development teams and designed features and user journeys accordingly.

I managed senior business stakeholders across the units and departments involved in the initiative.

Several challenges associated with implementing this new feature made this project particularly exciting.

ACTION
Collecting needs and aligning teams

The first step was to collect the needs from our users, product and editorial teams.

To achieve that, a secondary research activity based on previous research work was carried on to make sure the initiative was fulfilling the main needs we identified previously, such as providing a better discovery of content and giving a sense of of the breadth of content the BBC has to offer.

Interviews and workshop activities with stakeholders were organised in parallel, focussing in particular on product and editorial needs.

ACTION
Map onward journey

The second step was identifying and consolidating the most effective onward journey for collections.

In order to achieve that I had to carefully keep in mind the current Information Architecture of the product across different platforms and devices, making good use of the knowledge of the backend structure of the product I accrued over the years of working in Sounds.

Onward Jurney Mapping

Consolidating the most effective onward journey for collections

ACTION
Iterating on design

Keeping in mind the branding constraints we had, the team went through several iterations until the perfect visual templates for showcasing collections across different platforms and devices were identified.

BBC Sounds Collections

The team went through several iterations until the perfect visual templates for showcasing collections were identified.

IMPACT
Improved content discoverability and editorial efficiency

The introduction of the collections feature has significantly enhanced the user experience on BBC Sounds.

The following metrics were positively impacted:

The ability to create timely and relevant collections has improved content discoverability. Users can easily find content related to current events or trending topics, enhancing their overall experience.

The new feature has streamlined the workflow for the editorial team, allowing them to create and manage aggregations of content more efficiently. This has led to a more dynamic and responsive content strategy, aligning with user needs and preferences.

BBC Sounds Collections

The introduction of the collections feature has significantly enhanced the user experience on BBC Sounds.