One Direction – App

Product Design

Challenge

HarperCollins and One Direction teamed up to write and release a biography of the band. To accompany the book there was an opportunity to release an app to help promote the book but also continuously add value to the experience of reading ‘Who We Are’.

Research

A considerable amount of audience research was conducted by a third party agency. The research highlighted that the target demographic are incredibly protective of their favourite band and are distrusting of any product that appears to be ‘exploiting’ One Direction. Also knowledge of the band is used as ‘playground currency’; the more facts a person knows about the band, the better fan they are.

Because of this careful attention had to be made to be authentic in the approach, to be personal and to offer fans something they can’t get anywhere else.

Sketches

Part of the proposed app was an AR experience, sketches helped to explain the concept to stakeholders in a quick and effective way.

Interface

One Direction is a strong brand with a bold palette. The resulting interface had to live up to that boldness, appear official (but not exploitative) while focussing on personalised content.