ZDF tivi

“Logo!”, “pur” and “Siebenstein”: since December 2009, kids have been able to watch these popular German shows online. The online video library of ZDF’s youth format “tivi” is making it all possible. Aperto developed and designed a new world of moving images for kids aged 7 to 12.

The Task

Based on the ZDFmediathek developed by Aperto, a web TV service for the kids’ channel “tivi” was to be created. ZDF required creative ideas for child-friendly user navigation and the adaptation of its ZDFmediathek to the tivi programme. Aperto was contracted with the conceptual design of the new online service, the development of its visual design and the implementation of a Flash prototype.

The Solution

Children perceive online contents differently than adults. This is why the appearance of the tivi video library is characterised by child-friendly images and intuitive navigation and control elements.

At the centre of the main page is a matrix wall on which all of the shows and contents can be displayed with a simple, horizontal navigation. This also offers sufficient room for trending topics and the creative presentation of shows.

The shows can be accessed via the playful bubble-like navigation, which displays popular characters like Tabaluga, Wiki and Bibi Blocksberg. Video elements and playback functions can be intuitively and very easily operated.

An independent institute conducted acceptance and usability tests with the target group. Based on the results, Aperto continued its work on the development of the Flash prototype.

The project was implemented with Flash (front-end) and CoreMedia (back-end, CMS).

The public broadcasting station ZDF is one of the largest broadcasting organisations in Europe. Around 3,600 salaried employees work at the station’s headquarters in Mainz, its studio in the German capital, and 16 national and 19 international studios. ZDF tivi is the children's and youth television station of ZDF.