Prior to the launch of the iPad, the BBC had no App Store presence. The objective was to create a one-of-a-kind inaugural app that would set the BBC apart from all other news sources. The stakes were high, as the app had to be live in the App Store the same day the iPad became available worldwide. We had only three months to design a flagship experience for a device that no one had yet held.
Team:
At the time, we knew very little about the iPad beyond its screen resolution and approximate physical size. I focused on a single usability goal: allowing users to access any article with a single tap.
This focus led to the scrolling carousels concept, displaying news in a dynamic mosaic. This grid of cards would allow users to scan a comprehensive overview of global breaking news on a single screen.
We refined the carousel concept by separating news categories into distinct, fluid stacks and integrated core features including a breaking news ticker, live video streaming, customisable categories, and adjustable typography for accessibility.
To bridge the gap between digital design and physical reality, I printed prototypes at the exact scale of the iPad screen. Since the device had yet to be released, these physical models were the only way to manually gauge readability, font sizes, and the ergonomics of touch targets.
One month before the iPad launch, we were invited to BBC headquarters to test the app on hardware for the first time. In a locked room, with a pre-release iPad tethered to a table, we finally experienced the scrolling carousel in motion, making final adjustments to the UI and performance for the touch screen.
Apple debuted the iPad with a flagship app from the BBC, ready for morning reads and live feeds. The result was a stunning, high-performance iPad experience the BBC could be proud of on day one.
The BBC News app became one of the most downloaded apps globally and set a new design language for the industry. The scrolling carousels navigation was subsequently adopted by numerous news platforms, most notably Pulse News, which won an Apple Design Award and was later acquired by LinkedIn for $90M.
