Skynews Arabia

SkyNews Arabia

SkyNews Arabia is an Arabic 24-hour rolling news channel broadcast mainly operated in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a joint venture between UK-based Sky Group and the UAE-based International Media Investments Company.

SkyNews Arabia is viewed by more than 1m users via different media channels, from TV and radio to portal and apps (mobile and tablet).

SkyNews Arabia - wire-high-fed

Achievement highlights (Post launch)

94%

of mobile phone users prefer holding their phones vertically and consuming video in vertical mode.

1.45m

our viewership surged within the initial three months post-launch, signifying a remarkable boost in engagement and interest.

25%

account signups rose within the initial six months, underscoring a substantial increase in user engagement and platform adoption.

43%

reduction, development costs across three digital platforms were significantly lowered, highlighting cost-effectiveness and efficient resource utilization.

67%

increase in user engagement time on the digital solution compared to the previous year showcases significant growth and heightened user interaction.

84%

of users express satisfaction, underscoring the seamless user experience across various channels, whether on mobile, handheld devices or website.

I was invited to create the UX design strategy for their website & apps, to bring them in line with their new business transformation project.

The focus was simply to overhaul the way web portal & apps were structured, and how the news was consumed by redefining the user experience, providing ‘just in time’ information and content when a user needs it.

Rahim Haji - User Experience Practitioner

My role

UX/UI Specialist

Year

Oct 2015

Deadline

6 Months

My tools

My deliverables

  • Facilitate workshops
  • Create UX strategy (NDA)
  • Competitor analysis
  • User journeys
  • Wireframes & prototype
  • Create visual design language
  • Write AngularJS code

Background

For any project I work on, I strive to achieve consensus before we get into the nitty gritty stuff. In this project there are many many unknowns, so due to that I decided to use the “Double Diamond” design process.

So to ensure I have the facts of the case I wanted to ensure everyone within the project team have the same knowledge and understanding:

  • Key business objectives
  • Discuss available data and insights
  • What is the problem we are trying to solve
  • Analise previous attempted solutions
  • Possible desired outcomes

Once we have everything we need we can begin by setting the ground work.

user experience - research
Double Diamond Method for discovery and ideation

The Brief

The brief of project

We started with a mission to disrupt the way the Arabic users consume news. We looked at the global trend for news, what, where & how an article is read. We also looked at the news in this region, how things were reported and also challenged the average user experience standards for news browsing for Arabic portals.

Amid challenges, each feature was evaluated on its merits. No additions were arbitrary; the entire experience was built on a strong foundation of the overarching UX strategy.

Discovery phase

I term this stage the “Diverge” phase, encouraging active participation as team members share their data and knowledge.

During this phase, my primary focus is on comprehending and exploring the problem space. Conduct research, observe, and gather information to uncover insights into the challenges and opportunities we are addressing.

A deep dive into business insights, data analytics, current workflows, technology stacks, and notably, the pain points identified by the SkyNews Arabia (SNA) teams. Additionally, we actively sought user feedback from diverse sources, including the call center, app stores, and various other mediums.

Our objective was to empathise with customers by understanding their emotions, experiences, and actions. This empathetic approach, coupled with insights gathered from user feedback, provided a comprehensive understanding of the user perspective, laying the foundation for our design process.

Skynews briefing

Questions

  • How do your current customers user the mobile application
  • What are their main pain points
  • What are their preferences in terms of content, language, and media format?

Objectives

  • Analyse the conversion funnel from guests to logged in users

  • Map the primary abandonment points.

  • Drive insights among the product and development teams.

Challenges

  • Stakeholder alignment  related to primary and secondary journeys

  • 6 month deadline for app and web launch with a small team is very changeling

My project scope

  • Workshop reports
  • Full omnichannel journeys
  • Wireframes & visual design for mobile, tablet & web
  • Write front-end code for mobile, tablet & web

Competitive Analysis

Competitor analysis informs our strategy, providing insights into market trends and areas for differentiation. Understanding strengths and weaknesses allows us to position ourselves strategically, fostering continual improvement.

Competitive Analysis between SkyNews Arabia and "Al Arabiya," "Khaleej Times," and "Gulf News."

To elevate user experience, engagement, and competitiveness for “SkyNews Arabia” against rivals like “Al Arabiya,” “Khaleej Times,” and “Gulf News,” strategic enhancements and innovative features can be deployed. The table below illustrates the benchmark for required features and enhancements to align with management goals and outperform competitors.

Define phase

I term this stage the “Converge”, I refine insights from Discovery, distilling information, aligning perspectives, and defining clear design goals and user needs. My goal is to frame a problem statement and outline some user stories guiding the design process.

UX problem statement

Problem statement

The current state of news consumption involves navigating through multiple sources and platforms, resulting in a fragmented and time-consuming experience for users. The opportunity lies in developing a news app that streamlines content discovery, simplifies navigation, and enhances user engagement, aiming to create a more efficient and satisfying news consumption experience.

Leveraging the available data, I formulated the following "How might we" statements to aid both design and development teams.

how might we
  • Design a news solution that instills user confidence in staying well-informed, news consumption experience?
  • Restructure and organise news articles to ensure optimal efficiency and accessibility, creating a seamless experience for all users
  • Design a news consumption experience that is both efficient and hassle-free, while delighting customers with personalised content
  • Facilitate seamless news personalization across channels, delivering tailored content that aligns with user preferences

Hypothesis

  • Embracing a mobile-first strategy could increase market reach, boosts user engagement, fostering increased brand loyalty
  • Enriching users with personalised content may heighten engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty, but user verification in this industry is an unknown concept.
  • Enabling user-generated content and citizen journalism fosters community involvement, increasing engagement and diversifying news coverage.
  • Expanding SkyNews Arabic to include more languages may attract a wider international audience, enhancing global reach and engagement.
hypothesis

MoSCoW Method

We implementing the MoSCoW method for our news digital solution streamlined prioritisation, ensuring we focused on must-have features, delivering an impactful and user-centered product within set timelines.

MoSCoW Method used for SkyNews Arabic

Develop phase

In what I term the design phase, I transform specified concepts into user-friendly solutions aligned with personas from research. Collaborating with the dev team to ensure feasibility, I engage in ideation, prototyping, and iterative refinement of designs. Rigorous testing of wireframes is conducted to ensure alignment with research insights and adherence to user-centric criteria.

  • Generate ideas using the Carzy 8 method
  • Mapped out potential user journeys to identify touchpoints
  • Established the information architecture for news consumption.
  • Compiled a list of potential features for the product
  • Iteratively refining and adjusting designs based on ongoing feedback and testing results.
  • Identified potential challenges and risks associated with ideas
Skynews - homepage & menu

Design iterations​ - Wireframes

Design iteration

We engaged in multiple design iterations armed with research findings and user test results to enhance our solution.

This iterative process allowed us to systematically address user feedback, refine functionalities, and optimise the design. By incorporating insights gained from each iteration, we aimed to ensure that the final product not only meets but surpasses user expectations.

These iterations were crucial to align the design with user needs, resulting in a more user-friendly and effective solution.

Final wireframes used for usability testing

User Testing report with RBBi

prototype-report1
prototype-report2
prototype-report3
prototype-report4

Deliver phase

During my Deliver phase, I generate the final design, subjecting them to further usability testing. Subsequently, I collaborate with the development team, guiding them through each modular component, detailing interactions, and instructing on asset gathering.

Final result

SkyNews Arabia showcase

Usability & hypotheses observations

  • Mobile-first proves a good bet, addressing the necessity for an omni-channel perspective, benefiting users and business alike.
  • Further usability testing revealed improved findability compared to the previous round. Users easily located live news and the new Fans zone in the football section within sports.
  • 91% of participants, gave their approval to the newly curated Sports section, crafted with sports fans lens.
  • 84% of participants perceived the new UX to be intuitive and user-friendly gestures adding an element of fun.
  • 67% of participants liked the opportunity to have personalised content, especially in relation to sports and global shares.
  • 89% of participants endorsing the feature, the placement of Live News requires reevaluation.
  • The placement of the TV station new ticker can be incorporated into the digital solution.
  • User-generated news content may lack reliability due to misinformation, bias, and limited editorial control challenges.
what did we learn

What I learned

In navigating the Double Diamond design process, I’ve learned to balance iteration with time efficiency and prioritise stakeholder collaboration.

These lessons highlight the importance of user-centricity in design.

Because of this project, I realised the importance of usability testing and prototype testing for exploring new design concepts.

It made us test new designs to make sure they were viable solutions before putting in development effort.

Post launch data

94%

of mobile phone users prefer holding their phones vertically and consuming video in vertical mode.

1.45m

our viewership surged within the initial three months post-launch, signifying a remarkable boost in engagement and interest.

25%

account signups rose within the initial six months, underscoring a substantial increase in user engagement and platform adoption.

43%

reduction, development costs across three digital platforms were significantly lowered, highlighting cost-effectiveness and efficient resource utilization.

67%

increase in user engagement time on the digital solution compared to the previous year showcases significant growth and heightened user interaction.

84%

of users express satisfaction, underscoring the seamless user experience across various channels, whether on mobile, handheld devices or website.

“

Rahim is an outstanding user experience professional. He appears to effortlessly bridge the gap between consumer expectations. He quickly became a go-to-guy for a wide variety of projects inside the Sky News Arabia.

This makes his humility all the more admirable – his leadership qualities are quickly noticeable to anyone meeting him, but this does not prevent him from being the epitome of a team player.

He is at the very cutting edge of his field, and takes the opportunity to educate peers about his expertise. Highly competent and passionate about his field, Rahim will continue to dominate the UX field for years to come.

Skynews - PankajMatta

Pankaj Matta

Solutions Architect at Sky News Arabia.

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Skynews Arabia - MobileDevice