We spoke to Producer, Libby Miller, about Tellybox and the 5-2-1 app.
Can you sum up the Tellybox 5-2-1 app?
This is a two-person mini-game. The first person picks five programmes from a random selection, the second picks two from those five, and the first person picks one of those two, which you then watch together.
TellyBox involves lots of prototypes, why did you develop this one?
As with all the TellyBox prototypes, they have come out of in-depth research. When conducting interviews, two quotes really stood out. Firstly we know that people like to watch TV together:
"I don’t spend a lot of time with my family anymore, so it’s quite nice to all be together even if you aren’t really talking."
But, deciding what to watch together can be tough:
"We’ll be watching TV and the kids will independently be watching stuff on their devices in the same room, just because it’s really really difficult to get agreement from everyone on what to watch."
So, this is a way to make that decision process easier, and also, we hope, fun.
Can you tell us more about the Tellybox project?
It began by us asking a sample of people why they watched TV. Often their response was not about a particular TV programme itself. Instead it was about wanting to hang out with their friends and family, or just to relax. What stood out for us was that TV applications actually make it difficult to have a relaxing, happy time, especially with others, because they make choosing really difficult!
When we asked people why they watched TV, people told us it wasn’t about the content itself. It was about hanging out with friends and family or just to relax.
Choosing between many TV programme options is hard. Choosing when you are also taking into account what others want as well is even harder. If you get thrown loads of difficult-to-compare options all at once, then it makes it more difficult still.
So with the TellyBox 5-2-1 app, we wanted to see if we could make it easier and more fun to choose TV, whether you are alone or with others. You may even discover programmes you might not have found otherwise.
So try it, rate it and let us know what you think!