London Live’s bite-sized news offering was designed to suit existing user behaviour around mobile media consumption. Photo credit: Maurizio Pesce, licence
A unique digital platform for London
London Live is a new TV channel for the capital, which launched in March 2014 on Freeview, Sky, Virgin, web, mobile and outdoor media. The service boasts 24-hour broadcasting with an emphasis on news, entertainment and live events, celebrating diversity and participation.
100 Shapes were commissioned to conduct audience research, exploring how London Live’s online service could best meet Londoners’ needs, and to deliver user experience and design, creating a seamless experience across mobile, tablet and desktop web.
A solid research foundation
Before embarking on any design work, we conducted an in-depth face-to-face audience study exploring the target demographic’s daily routine, technology usage and media consumption. I led the research; designing the discussion guide, conducting depth interviews, analysing responses and compiling a detailed report of findings, which I presented to London Live stakeholders.
By understanding participants’ behaviour and what was important to them, I was able to identify strategic opportunities to deliver local news, travel, weather and entertainment to fit into Londoners’ busy lives, even within the crowded marketplace of existing services. To read more about the methodologies used and how user insights informed design, please see my blog post ‘Audience research as a foundation for product design‘.
An iterative, user-centred design process
With a tight deadline and limited opportunity for refinement post-launch, regular usability testing was essential for us in refining the service before go-live. We conducted quick-turnaround testing throughout the design process, starting with early-stage wireframes. I oversaw usability testing, preparing paper prototypes and discussion guides, facilitating sessions and producing recommendations. I also produced much of the interaction design and information architecture for the website, delivering wireframes and other UX documentation.
Extract from the audience research report I prepared for London Live
Extract from the audience research report I prepared for London Live
Mobile navigation concepts
I created paper prototypes for user testing mobile interaction in the early stages of design
Wireframe for responsive news landing page layout
Wireframes for news page modules
Wireframe for news story template
Visual design mock for news story
Site map for londonlive.co.uk