Pan-BBC push notifications strategy

The challenge

After a team restructure, we were a brand new squad with a three-part challenge:

1. set up the squad from nothing, and define how we'd work together and with the wider department
2. design a pan-BBC push notification strategy for Eurovision, in 7 weeks
3. carry out the BBC's first deep study of how it uses push notifications as an organisation, and set the scope for future research

My contribution

I led the squad, from how we worked to what we delivered.

• Building the team: I set up and led our rituals, from daily stand-ups and Monday planning to regular stakeholder checkpoints.
• Understanding the system: I set up stakeholder interviews to understand the processes and people behind push notifications in each of our apps.
• Dividing the work: I split the work into three workstreams and delegated them within the squad:
  • internal user research, to understand and improve internal processes and systems
  • case studies and observation, gathering data from live events including Eurovision and the King's coronation
  • pan-BBC performance, a deep dive into analytics and competitor benchmarking
• Making it visible: we built a large, interactive timeline of BBC and competitor notifications during Eurovision and the coronation, and combined it with our data to share findings with stakeholders.

The outcome

When we shared the work with UX leadership, it was escalated straight to the Chief Product Officer and the executive committee.

The research set out how the BBC could shape a pan-BBC vision for push notifications: better segmentation and personalisation, simpler team processes and fewer tools.

That vision wasn't taken forward in the end. But we took what we learned with us, and the project proved the value of our new squad model at the first attempt, building trust with senior leaders across the BBC.