HBO is known for their massive library of addicting original TV content. In February 2010 the premium cable network launched HBO GO, a TV Everywhere platform that allows you to watch their content on multiple devices as long as you have a login. The platform has grown so popular that a movement was started by Jake Caputo to “take my money HBO” for a standalone version of Go that isn’t tied down to an MSO subscription. In late May we went to uncover the developers and creative minds who built this platform that has changed the way HBO content is consumed. Meet the team that built Go with the smart executives at HBO who green lit this project.
When we found out that Huge, a creative agency based in Brooklyn had worked with HBO to design the muli-device platform we reached out immediately to find out that “no one’s written this story yet.” Huge has released a new mini-documentary video with many of the folks that made the sleek and user-friendly tool possible. We interviewed Gene Liebel Huge’s Chief Strategy Officer about the process that went into creating HBO GO.
Lost Remote: What does Huge do? How do you work with TV companies?
Gene Liebel: Huge creates successful user experiences for our clients. With TV companies, the first step is usually about making their shows more accessible and discoverable. We help companies take advantage of all the shifts in behavior and adoption of new devices to build their audiences and make their viewers more loyal. But more recently, which is really exciting, we’re starting to help the shows themselves better by complementing them with second screen experiences, or building interactivity right into the show, which is a big part of the future of TV.
Whether we’re making a TV Everywhere App, a Co-viewing app or creating social tools around shows, the business goal is always to drive viewership and build ad revenue or subscriptions. To us, the most exciting way to do this is to work directly with the show creators and showrunners to find ways to make the product itself even better. Ultimately, certain shows will be conceived with the new distribution models in mind.
LR: How did you develop the HBO GO App? What was the thinking behind the design and user experience?
Liebel: In a word: iteratively. We always like to start designing and prototyping early, but HBO was probably an extreme example of that. Some key parts of the experience, particularly the opening screens, were prototyped over more than 10 distinct ways.
In terms of helping to enhance the watching experience, a lot of the best ideas we had were unique to specific shows. That’s where you need to start looking for great ideas, instead of thinking too broadly.
Another big thing we thought about was how to leverage the strength of each platform. HBO GO is available as an application on many platforms, from iPad and Android to Xbox. The branding and the quality are amazingly high on every platform, of course, but the experience is also slightly different on each one. That’s intentional. For instance, the iPad is particularly amazing for discovery, especially compared to the TV remote. That understanding led us to design the opening mosaic experience you see when you launch the iPad app. You instantly get a visceral feel for the staggering breadth and depth of HBO’s programming, in a way that would be hard to pull off on some other devices. It’s fine to have some variation across platforms. You don’t want to limit yourself to the lower common denominator. Aiming for the exact same UI on each platform is a fool’s errand.
LR: How do you think a product like HBO GO will help make TV more social?
Liebel: Sharing is still the biggest potential driver of viewing and ratings. Anytime we can build sharing tools directly into content, we see users immediately take advantage of that convenience to share more, which brings their friends into the show.
LR: Does Huge work with any other TV brands? If so, who are they and what work do you do for them?
Liebel: Huge also works with Viacom and MTV on social and co-viewing experiences. We’ve previously worked with Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, on their TV everywhere and mobile platform, and we’ve done work for FX on some of their wonderful shows, including the Flipadelphia application for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
LR:I noticed the interactive features while catching up on GOT. How did you design them? Who develops and implements the content? Besides the Facebook and Twitter share buttons are there plans to make it more social? Will it be across all HBO content?
Liebel: Without going into detail about our client’s plans for various shows, we can say this is definitely just the beginning. The next few years will be full of breakthroughs and it’s just an amazing time to be working with forward-thinking clients like HBO.
For Game of Thrones, we started by looking closely at people’s viewing behavior. People tend to use another device open while they watch TV today. The challenge was figuring out how to add something special to HBO’s celebrated shows without being obtrusive. But you can’t be invisible! Remember, people don’t necessarily expect interactive features yet. If you don’t execute them correctly, people may have no idea what they just saw or just dismiss the feature reflexively. So one of our design challenges was enabling users to discover the new features, but without interrupting or obscuring the core HBO viewing experience. You have to respect HBO’s content, first and foremost. It’s special. Again, we did countless iterations of the experience with HBO, looking for that magic touch that would give it just the right balance.
As it turns out – not a big surprise here – people are very capable of watching a show and engaging with supporting content as well. Multitasking is basically the default context of use these days and there’s a real hunger for complementary content and tools.