The BBC needed to think beyond incremental improvements and consider how its products might evolve over the next five years to stay relevant, particularly with younger audiences.
I was selected to join a focused design team on this high-priority initiative. Through rapid discovery sprints, we explored and tested future opportunities, then shaped them into a clear product direction.
Skills
Strategic thinking · Design craft & prototyping · Stakeholder influence
Outcome
Received positive support and backing from senior stakeholders, including the Director-General, and was prioritised as one of two strategic bets for H2.
Navigating ambiguity
We started with a broad five-year challenge with no clear outcome.
Signal gathering, trend forecasting and talks from industry experts gave us valuable context and pushed our thinking beyond the here and now.
Given the long-term vision, we tested deliberately provocative concepts to see how far audience appetite could be pushed. Similar patterns emerged across territories, building confidence in the directions worth taking forward.
Project timeline
Example concept tested with audiences
Converging on a product direction
We had strong signals from research and testing, but too many potential directions for the product experience.
We focused on the audience moments that mattered most and that the BBC was best placed to serve, then designed journeys around them rather than our existing products and structures.
We also aligned different visual approaches into shared foundations, helping the work feel like one coherent product experience.
The clearer product and design direction helped focus stakeholder feedback, rather than overwhelm them with endless possibilities.
High-fidelity journeys shaped around user moments and strategic priorities
Design crits used to align on shared visual foundations
Making the future tangible
We explored visual directions that felt bold and future-facing, while still recognisably BBC.
We balanced provocation with usability, dialling up new parts of the experience while keeping the overall product credible and convincing.
Adding motion and interaction to the prototypes made the experiences feel real and helped build excitement with stakeholders.
Results
Delivered prototypes for three mobile apps and one TV app to showcase the future product direction.
Shared widely across the BBC, receiving positive feedback from service teams, Strategy and R&D, as well as the Director-General.
Prioritised as one of two strategic bets for H2, directly influencing Product Group strategy. Teams have already started applying the findings and direction to their own product experiences.
Reflection
We worked with fluid ownership rather than rigid roles, picking up each other’s work and leaning on different strengths when needed. Despite different levels of seniority, design crits and ideation always felt very open, with everyone able to challenge ideas and learn from each other.
Regular sharebacks helped build momentum across Product Group, so teams were already familiar with the thinking and direction when it was prioritised.
AI sped up parts of my workflow, like image editing and research synthesis, but was less useful for high-fidelity design and prototyping, where it lacked the control and consistency I needed.
