Commuting - once a major time suck in the lives of many has vanished from countless daily routines due to COVID-19. But when the world goes back to work and commutes go from a walk to the kitchen table to hours in a car or on a train, the stresses of commuting will return full force.

Studies have shown those with longer commutes are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression. However, people who enjoy their commutes are people that are able to see it as an opportunity to get things done, prepare for their day, or use the time to shift their mindset (HBR).

News apps are losing viewers to aggregators such as apple news, that pull from multiple sources.

The BBC alone has a number of different apps, one for each of their various sectors of news and content. Alternatively, aggregators like Apple News have nearly all aspects of BBC news represented in one location.

Why would users download several news apps when they can use an aggregator to get it all in one place?

Help commuters see their increasing time in transit as more than something to suffer through, but as "me" time, by aggregating their commuting content into one place.

BBC Digest is a content aggregator that brings together content from across BBCs platforms,and packages it into personalized collections timed to fit into any schedule.

Create a Stack

Customizing a Stack

The length of the stack is determined by a preferred time limit, distance from your destination, or unlimited time.

The user can choose which kind of content they want in the stack. For example someone driving to work might not want written or video content.

Adding Content

Content Viewer

• The bar at the top of the viewer shows how far along in the stack you are. A swipe down reveals the entire queue for the stack where you can see what kind of content and how long the content is. You can also rearrange the content or delete it.
• The user can download the stack ahead of time when there is limited service or wifi. This is useful for those commuting via subway or road trips.
• The bottom of the view has controls to like or dislike content, which indicates whether the user want more or less content like what is currently being viewed.
• A save button adds the content into "My Library" so the user can come back to it later.

Commutes are getting longer and longer, especially for young adults who commute the equivalent of 3 days longer per year than their parents. Long commutes lead to decreased happiness and life satisfaction. BBC Digest allows commuters to make the most of their commute and reframe their daily journey as time for themselves. The primary target is the Gen Z commuter, as they are the most likely to consume content on their phone during their commute, however the platform is intended to work for anyone.

We talked to some passionate puplic transport users about how long their commutes are and asked them what they are doing during their commute.

We came up with a few territories to dive into and then did a bunch of brainstorming using the “Crazy 8s” exercise.

This project was created for a brief for the D&AD Young Bloods Competition. This was challenging to work with a client brief but it was a fun project to take on.

Due to COVID our team went from working face to face, to figuring out how to meet virtually, however, the biggest impact COVID had on this project was to our core idea - our idea is centered around commuting which people are not currently doing. Rather than pivot, we know that people will eventually have to return to commuting in some way, even if it is less, and they will be even more in need of a way to take advantage of their commute time.