Are Apps The Future of TV?

As Apple announced the latest iteration of their Apple TV box, they loudly proclaimed "We believe the future of television is apps". With a worldwide user base bought into the concept of apps, there's no doubt that trailblazing TV apps will get a fair few downloads from early adopters and clients will start asking for their brand to have a TV app.

Drawing on my experience of designing and launching apps for the iPhone and the Apple Watch, and on the wider experiences of the Webcredible design team, this presentation covers:

What are the peculiarities of Apple TV as a platform?
What else is there really to do on TV beyond watching video and playing games?
What should you consider when designing apps for a brand new platform?

Presented at the UX Crunch meetup at Webcredible on 12 November 2015.

Transcript

1. Are apps the real future of TV? Alex Baxevanis @futureshape UX Crunch - 12 November 2015
2. 2 1972
3. 3 1983
4. 4 2000
5. 5 2004
6. Why did none of these succeed? 6
7. 2015 interactive TV landscape 7 Dedicated streamers/players
 (Roku, Chromecast) Combined with live TV
 (YouView, Freesat) Smart TVs
 (Samsung, LG etc.)
8. TV today =
9. 1. Apple TV platform 2. App possibilities 3. Design considerations 9
10. 1. Apple TV platform 2. App possibilities 3. Design considerations 10
11. 11 “An iPhone/iPad in a box - with external screen & inputs”
12. 12 App Store
13. 13 Same underlying technologies for building apps
14. 14 iCloud & iTunes
15. 15 Touch remote
16. 16 Siri (via microphone on the remote)
17. 17 Speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!
18. Differences • Inputs & outputs • No web browser • Not (100%) portable • Context of use • No multitasking/notifications • No camera or support for other external peripherals • Limited local storage & initial app download size 18
19. Demo time! 19
20. Will Apple TV succeed where others failed? 20
21. 1. Apple TV platform 2. App possibilities 3. Design considerations 21
22. 22 Obviously
23. 23 Obviously
24. The mix 24 Large, high quality 
 shared display + Living room Meeting room + Network Controllers
25. The next generation of video Annotated with information streams Multiple (synchronised) streams 25
26. Shared decision making Visually driven (e.g. holidays, home decoration) Shortlist, not necessarily book 26
27. Shopping For visually interesting/distinct products 1-click ordering with saved account details 27
28. Food Cooking … … or order takeaway before or during your movie/boxset marathon 28
29. Home automation Lights Temperature Doorbell Home security/CCTV Link with HomeKit? 29
30. Education Video + exams/ quizzes Class participation 30
31. Business Dashboards Connected digital signage Presentations Cheaper & better than most specialised equipment! 31
32. Accessibility Built-in features Apps for people who: • struggle to read on small screens or us other input methods • find TV a more “familiar” interface 32
33. 1. Apple TV platform 2. App possibilities 3. Design considerations 33
34. What should it actually do? 1
 Subset of your customer journey 34 2
 New part of the journey, taking into advantage TV strengths 3
 Entirely new idea enabled by Apple TV 4
 Useless gimmick ✖
35. How will people discover it? Currently, with a lot of difficulty :( App Store has featured, top lists, categories & search No way to link to it from somewhere else 35
36. Designing for TV screens 36 Fixed resolution & aspect ratio, no “responsive design” Think about the viewing distance - don’t cram too much in!
37. Designing for TV screens 37 “Content-safe” areas TV colour reproduction
38. Navigating through focus 38 Obvious focused item Predictable behaviour when swiping
39. Parallax icons 39
40. Authentication 40 ✖ ✔
41. Catering for multiple users 41
42. Lots of resources already! • Apple TV Human Interface Guidelines • Summary of guidelines (Medium) • Apple TV UI Kit for Sketch • Designing Apple TV Apps (iMore) • tvOS SDK: An iOS Developer’s Initial Impressions 42
43. Wishlist for next version • Notifications • Some sort of meaningful multitasking • User profile switching • Install & manage apps via your iPhone/iPad/Web • Web browser? 43
44. In summary … 1. Better than anything else out there 2. Lots of app possibilities 3. Not that hard to design for 44
45. Creating people-centred, efficient and delightful digital experiences since 2003 020 7423 6320 133 Park Street London SE1 9ED webcredible.com