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BBC Brief is a mobile-first news app concept designed for Gen Z, developed as part of a collaboration with BBC Scotland. This was my first full-cycle UI/UX project, where I worked independently through the double diamond design process—discovery, definition, development, and delivery. The goal was to reimagine political news for a generation that often feels overwhelmed and disengaged by traditional media.
Ky goal: Make political news accessible, digestible, and engaging for a younger, mobile-first audience.
Tools:
Figma, Miro
Client:
BBC Scotland
Category:
UX/UI
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The BBC stands on a foundation of impartiality and public service. However, Gen Z's trust in traditional news sources has eroded. They often turn to social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram for current events, valuing speed, tone, and relatability. I analyzed BBC’s existing offerings and compared them with competitors like The Guardian, The Week, and Tortoise to assess tone, format, and engagement strategies.
Key Insight: Gen Z finds traditional news unapproachable—not due to lack of interest, but because of format, tone, and delivery gaps.
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To contextualize the BBC’s offering, I conducted a lightweight competitive review of news platforms appealing to younger users—such as The Guardian, Tortoise Media, The Week, and TikTok. Most lacked either trusted sourcing or digestible UX for political news.
This revealed a clear opportunity: develop a credible-yet-accessible platform for political news that mirrors how Gen Z consumes content—short-form, visual, and mobile-first.
With the BBC's goals and Gen Z habits in mind, I defined the core design opportunity
Opportunity Statement: Create a mobile-first news experience that delivers short, personalized, and trustworthy political briefings, tailored to Gen Z’s information habits.
This was informed by market gaps and secondary research into user behaviors (scrolling fatigue, notification burnout, and desire for simplicity).
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I used the PACT framework to understand user context and constraints, paired with Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) to define motivation-driven use cases.
A quick user survey and secondary sources confirmed:
- Gen Z prefers short, mobile content
- Many distrust traditional media
- Podcasts, notifications, and headlines are key formats
Sarah (22, student): Wants to stay informed without doomscrolling.
Alex (25, part-time worker): Prefers curated headlines with audio options.
Using synthesis sessions, HMW prompts, and heuristics, I articulated a clear UX problem:
Problem Statement: Gen Z users struggle to engage with political news due to unclear hierarchy, outdated interaction models, and cognitive overload.
How Might We...Present political information in snackable, low-effort ways?Build trust through design tone and UX clarity?
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To contextualize the BBC’s offering, I conducted a lightweight competitive review of news platforms appealing to younger users—such as The Guardian, Tortoise Media, The Week, and TikTok. Most lacked either trusted sourcing or digestible UX for political news.
This revealed a clear opportunity: develop a credible-yet-accessible platform for political news that mirrors how Gen Z consumes content—short-form, visual, and mobile-first.
The app must:
- Offer personalized, summarized political news.
- Deliver content via text, video, and audio.
- Allow push notifications for breaking stories.
- Include interactive tools like polls and comment threads.
- Integrate with social media platforms for sharing and discovery..
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A user opens the BBC Brief app and sees a personalized news feed. They tap a headline → read a bite-sized article with visuals and optional audio/video → browse related stories → adjust settings or share to social media. Later, they get a push notification and tap it to read a breaking update — all within a smooth, low-effort experience.
With the BBC's goals and Gen Z habits in mind, I defined the core design opportunity
Opportunity Statement: Create a mobile-first news experience that delivers short, personalized, and trustworthy political briefings, tailored to Gen Z’s information habits.
This was informed by market gaps and secondary research into user behaviors (scrolling fatigue, notification burnout, and desire for simplicity).
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The visual language uses a modern sans-serif font for clarity and BBC-inspired colors to maintain trust and consistency. The palette supports accessibility and visual hierarchy.
Early wireframes helped define the structure, content hierarchy, and core navigation. This phase was key for validating user flows before moving into high-fidelity design.
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The final screens reflect a cohesive visual identity—balancing credibility with Gen Z engagement. UI elements were refined to align with BBC’s values while remaining mobile-first and user-centered.
