I’m James Metcalfe and I’ve recently ed BBC News as the Executive Product Manager for News apps and Connected TV.
I have been working with the Apps team analysing the the re-launch has generated, conducting Research and accessibility testing to propose ways we can resolve and make continual improvements to the apps. After 5 years of no real significant changes, the first time the apps changed was always likely to highlight some issues, however I have quickly become aware of the strength of feelings toward some of the design and usability changes.
We have grouped these issues broadly into layout and the number of articles visible on the screen, navigation, offline viewing and performance, and the way we display hints and tips.
My intention is to continually work with our s to resolve these issues and improve the app, whilst also enabling more of the great interactive journalism and new content formats that the new app has begun to enable.
The last version had become difficult to maintain and extend for new content types that are increasingly being produced, such as live pages and interactive graphics. The new apps enabled topic following for the first time, but crucially give us a cloud-based app that can scale and be iterated and better improved over time.
To begin with the transition to new content we have recently added an in-app browser to help us elections content. For the first time we can provide a view to our browser-based poll tracking and results tools for the elections, with an easy way back in to the core of the app. We are also using this for live pages so you get the full experience and all the history of the stream.
At the same time, we have been working on a number of options to improve the layouts. As much on the blogs suggest, the amount of visible stories has caused many of you frustration. Some in depth research sessions with s in the North West and South East highlighted a more compact view as being a preferable view for many, although there was a split, where some either love or hate the larger images.
As the first of these improvements at the end of this week we are introducing a compact mode, providing an optional view of more articles per screen, with some more familiar layouts, rather than reverting to the old version that would leave us stuck for the future.
BBC News app compact layout
Before we make any other significant changes, I want to ensure as many of you can on these improvements via our Beta groups. These groups were engaged during the initial launch of the apps, but I want to ensure more people can get in touch and provide their input on early ideas.
We are re-opening the Android beta group.
We are also looking for for our new iOS beta. We are strictly limited by our Apple as to how many people we can add, but we want to get a mix of s in many areas to ensure all new features are commented on within this group to start with. Get in touch using our email address mailto:news@mediaapptech.com with your name and the email address you use for iTunes, and please tell us a bit about how you use the app, its strengths and weaknesses to you. If we are able to accept you into the beta, we will be in touch with more details.
These groups will be asked for on proposed features, also some demo ideas, so not everything will be committed to the live product, but will be refined based on the we receive. Over time we will be intending on making more regular updates as we look to improve the app gradually
Thanks again for all the , please do continue to send your comments as we release new versions.
