Portal offers grip on postproduction process

United provides national and international services in the field of television and media productions. Many people know the company from the large director's cars that are used at football matches and music events. United is part of Euro Media Group, consisting of 17 companies operating in 7 countries.

Post production at United consists of a series of processes to transform the raw recordings into a broadcastable television program. The United Anywhere app gives customers insight into that process. For example, a customer can see what his storage consumption is or, for example, the number of hours used in audio post-processing. That means no unpleasant surprises such as extra hours, lead times or ambiguities about invoices afterwards: the app ensures that all agreements remain transparent and insightful. In addition, with the portal United aims to involve its customers and employees more in the (post production) process.

The assignment started with a 5-week service design track, in which we went through the processes that take place between United and its customers together with all those involved (product owners, media center, planners, and format specialists). Coupled with user interviews, this research phase provided full insight into the needs of the stakeholders and we were able to create personas representing the different types of customers.

During the next phase we developed the visual identity (colour and shape language) of the portal. Together with United we determined the most important design principles, for instance 'all devices, mobile first' and 'user-centered'. The design was elaborated in wireframes and then a prototype was made. After presenting the prototype to the management, we received the green light to further shape the app in collaboration with the United development team. After a successful pilot period with 10 test users, who regularly gave feedback, the app is now in production.

United confirms that the new portal offers many advantages. For example, it facilitates better monitoring of planning and budget, better distribution of tasks among team members, and real-time monitoring of the progress of assignments. Our working method, designing according to the needs of the user, yielded many new insights at United. The new portal is not only used by customers, but also by United's own employees. The next step will be to expand the portal for other United business units.