Skip Intro was BBC iPlayer's most-requested feature, and every major rival already had one, but the project had sat on the back burner for years.
I designed the feature and brought together the teams needed to ship it. Research showed people wanted to skip more than intros, so I widened the scope to recaps and previews too.
We shipped it on TV in a few months, in time for Christmas. It's still running today and has been used an estimated 2 billion+ times.
COMPANY
BBC, the world's largest public service broadcaster
MY ROLE
Senior UX Designer
GOALS
Increase satisfaction
TOOLS
Figma, Principle, Proto.io
2 billion +
skip interactions
25%
skip rate when offered
#1
most-requested feature
Problem
iPlayer wanted to improve how people saw it, especially under-35s, who compared it with Netflix and other streaming services. Skip Intro was the feature users asked for most, and highly rated rivals all offered it.
The idea had stalled for years: it needed new data across the whole BBC chain, and no one had pulled the teams together to deliver it. Success meant people using the feature and thinking better of iPlayer.
Process
Understanding. I studied how rivals designed their skip buttons and reviewed past iPlayer research and feature requests. Two scenarios stood out: binge-watching a box set, and familiar shows such as soaps, where people know the opening by heart. I designed for those first.
Product strategy. The brief was to skip the intro. The research showed people also wanted to skip recaps and "coming up" previews, which slow down binge-watching just as much.
I made the case to widen the scope to four types of skip, based on an audit of the iPlayer library, so the feature solved the real problem rather than half of it.
Design system. iPlayer has a mature design system and was being rebranded at the time. I worked with the brand team to create a new button component and a motion spec, and reused a pattern from pre-roll trailers that another designer pointed out.
UI design and prototyping. The design had to work on TV, web and mobile, across every playback mode (full screen, with controls showing, compact and extended), and fit what people see before and after the button appears. I built interactive prototypes and micro-interaction demos to test how it felt, especially with a TV remote.
Interaction concept prototype
Mobile interaction prototype
Delivery. Coordination was the biggest risk. A second designer joined and mapped how skip data flows through the BBC, from the content teams to every player. We used the map with product and stakeholders to agree risks and get teams across the BBC working in parallel.
I also ran the sessions where the business layer team and the three client teams agreed one data model that worked for all of them.
Solution
A button that "just works", so people enjoy the show without noticing they used it:
Four types of skip: introductions, recaps of the last episode, "coming up in this episode" and "coming up in the next episode".
One component, every screen: a new button and motion spec, built into the iPlayer design system, that works across TV, web and mobile and every playback mode.
One data model: a single shared way of marking skippable moments, agreed by the business layer and all three client teams, so the feature could roll out across platforms.
iOS UI design
Android UI design
Results
- Shipped on TV in a few months, in time for Christmas, with web and mobile following soon after
- The button is pressed about 1 in 4 times it's shown
- Used an estimated 2 billion+ times since launch, and still running today
Credits
UX
Tom Killeen
Joanne Urwyler
User Research
Selena Whitehead
Product
Graham Hoyle
Engineering
Sam Bason