Radio Time's TV listings
Delivering a key value prop to support subscription growth
The Radio Times app launched without a TV listings feature — a critical gap for a brand whose identity is TV listings. I led the end-to-end design of the TV listings product, shipping the MVP in four weeks.
Problem
Voice of the customer
We made a mistake by not releasing the new Radio Times app with a TV listings feature.
Marketing targeted already-engaged Radio Times magazine and web subscribers before reaching new, younger audiences. The existing audience expected listings as a baseline — and didn't find them.
As a result, customers voiced their disappointment and our app store ratings took a hit within weeks of launch.
"Would like to be able to view a list of what is being broadcast. Useless app."
"Don't download this expecting it to provide a TV Guide – it does not do that fundamental thing"
Research
Competitor analysis
A review of competitors showed grid and list views were standard across similar product features. Interestingly, grid tends to be the default view.
This left me thinking: what's the value of each format, and what problem is each one solving?
Research
Hypothesis
My hypothesis was that grid would be the more useful format. More information, more visibility, more value. Richer metadata, multiple channels and times at once, and the format Radio Times readers and web users have known for many years.
To test the hypothesis, I ran two studies with different jobs.
Study 1
A survey of 100 Radio Times users to understand the missions users come to TV listings for — when they watch, how often, and whether they plan ahead or browse in the moment.
Study 2
An unmoderated concept test with 20 users to test the design solution. Each participant saw both prototypes — a grid layout and a list layout — completed task-based questions on each.
Research
Two distinct use cases, not one
02
Planning ahead across the week
20% of users
"Should I watch this at 8 or that at 9?"
"I look ahead and add shows to my Sky box."
MVP
Feature prioritisation
Both grid and list have value. The question was "which use case do we serve first?" The dominant evening-browsing behaviour pointed to list, which also supports planning ahead, albeit in a less optimised way. Grid was deferred because it would take longer to build and because it served the secondary use case.
Focusing on the primary use case of evening browsing, we delivered a list-based TV listings feature placed within the core app navigation. Users could browse 150+ live channels, filter by day and channel, and see rich programme metadata. Shipped within four weeks.
In collaboration with my product team, we defined the MVP to contain key functionality and reuse existing components, minimising dev overhead to deliver value at speed.
Fast follows
Preferences such as regionality, channels, and providers will be delivered in the second iteration.
Deferred features
Grid layout was deferred to a future iteration. The research justified the sequencing: ship list to serve the dominant use case.
User flows
Navigating key user missions
User flows showing how customer navigate TV Listings to complete the mission they're on.
What's on tonight and tomorrow evening at 6pm on my favourite channels
What's on now or today on my favourite channels.
Delivery
Testing and rollout
Before release, I ran a moderated usability test with 10 users on the final design. The test achieved an 80% task success rate, and issues surfaced were resolved in the final week of build.
To de-risk the launch, we ran a phased rollout to 50% of the audience. Engagement metrics confirmed strong adoption, with concentrated use in evening hours, matching the use case the design was optimised for. We rolled out to the full audience after two weeks.
Results
Most engaged feature
TV listings became the most-used feature in the app, with on average 50% engagement over a 3-month period.
App ratings
Drop in negative reviews; new feedback shifted from complaints to enhancement requests, e.g. regional preferences.
Session length
Significant increase in average session duration.
Market appeal
Strong usage by non-magazine subscribers, proving the value supports audience growth.
