YouView

YouView is a new free-to-air TV service that connects to the internet via a standard broadband connection and offers on-demand content along with regular Freeview channels.

Observing the ‘out of the box’ experience

We conducted research into this service on behalf of the BBC and YouView from the very beginning, assessing early concepts before moving on to the ‘out of the box’ experience. With no equivalent on the market at the time, our biggest challenge was how to give people the opportunity to get acquainted with the service and discover it naturally. We achieved this using our unique Learning Lab methodology, where participants are left alone to explore the service in a natural setting.

Drawing on a deep experience of Catch-Up and On-Demand TV

A major benefit to the BBC during this project was our ability to leverage many years of iPlayer research and development experience. One of the key aspects of the study was to clarify how people would adapt to this forward-looking IPTV service. We were able to shed light on how an added layer of complexity affected the way people navigated around content and used their EPGs (Electronic Programme Guides).

Outcomes: Shaping a new service

Research and development of YouView is ongoing. Our advice to the design team on their early ideas, many of which were extremely forward thinking and radical, has helped shape the service. We helped the team to filter the crucial, ‘must have’ features from those which were still a little advanced or complex for a broad audience that ranges from young children to pensioners. In fact many of the key insights were focused around how the over 65s used, and were delighted by, the service.