Dan Taylor, head of BBC iPlayer announced a new responsive site for the iPlayer aswell as a new homepage design claiming to be easier to use and more visually attractive. Currently the site plays most importance to featured TV shows and most popular shows but it's generally uninspiring in it's design.
As a user I also found it difficult to navigate to a specific programme which Dan has claimed is now much easier but at the same time they're aiming to show you something new which you hadn't originally set out to watch, "we're helping you quickly and easily find the programmes you know you’re looking for and, crucially, helping you discover something new."
From a leading TV channel and an online app that's been widely available to us for a number of years, I thought a responsive site is something we'd see sooner from the BBC. A trend I've noticed with the BBC's online presence is that they've stuck with the same look and feel for a number of years to suit it's regular audiences who are comfortable with navigating around it now. The introduction of small changes here and there to the page layout have been subtle but equally beneficial to keep the site feeling fresh.
New dedicated channel pages will really help boost some inspiration to watch similar programmes - which may support BBC3 since the decision was made by BBC big bosses to axe from it TV and make it solely available on the iPlayer.
The actual playback page has been designed to show you the necessary information which is crucial when tuning into your favourite show. This is something it's been doing nicely for a while, but with an improved layout it looks really smart. which series & episode is it? When was it aired? What's it about? And how long is it?
The nicest thing about the responsive move and change in design is that it's all based on stats and feedback from users - the BBC have been listening! The 58% of users who use the Find tools or the 42% of people who don't know what they want to watch when they navigate to the site show that the BBC have been hard at work researching on their website stats and user feedback.
The new and improved iPlayer shall be revealed today on 11th March.
Read Dan Taylor's blog post here
Pictures courtesy of the article
