Keywords

1 Introduction

This paper describes what are “Designing Lines” and their uses for development and production of audiovisual content. Designing Lines are a part of Audiovisual Design (AD), a theoretical-methodological model to assess the creation and analysis of audiovisual systems, converging elements from Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Media Studies. As the audiovisual industry continuously presents more integration with software development, the AD model becomes necessary due to its capability of addressing the converging chain of creation, production and consumption [1]. Content, under such perspective, is defined as the textual, aural and visual components, aligned with the graphical interfaces that allow interactions. A complex audiovisual system is a configuration that includes the content, the hardware and software that support the interfaces, as well as the infrastructure for storage, recovery and transmission.

There are four Designing Lines: Line of Content, Line of Identity, Line of Motivation and Line of Experience. These lines hold general orientations, serving as foci for creators and producers when conceiving the different elements of an audiovisual system. The AD also indicates that there are four main roles to be performed by people in contact with the audiovisual system, each one representing a level of activity, from passive fruition to creation of derivative pieces: 1) Audience, 2) Synthesizer, 3) Modifier and 4) Producer. People in each role may reach an elevated level when they explore advanced or hidden features of the content: they are called ‘Players’. The Lines, thus, shall help creators and developers to consider the diverse expectations, uses and competences of individuals who have access to the content, considering that these elements may vary according to each different role.

Two sets of knowledges are presented as tools to analyze how the roles are performed and the application of Designing Lines in content development: from a consumption perspective, it is called Configuration of Fruition; and from the perspective of creation and development of workpieces, it is called Configuration of Design. Although the first approach will be briefly mentioned, this paper will focus mainly in the second one. In summary, the Configuration of Design starts from the strategies of the Producer, i.e., the individual or group responsible for designing the content and configuring the audiovisual system. From the analysis of data about audience, behavior and market, the Producer defines the work’s scopes. Regarding the Audience, the focus resides on the individuality and on private fruition; for the Synthesizer, the creation of identity is fundamental; and for the Modifier and the elevated role Player, the experience resulting from the interaction is the most important aspect. Each focus has correspondence with a different Line of Design. Therefore, the Producer’s connections with Audience occurs primarily through the Line of Identity; Synthesizer, through the Line of Motivation; Modifier, through the Line of Experience. The connections, however, are not exclusive, and most times there occur a combination of strategies to guide the design of the content.

To illustrate the use of Designing Lines in the development of an audiovisual system, it will be presented and analyzed the case of the ‘JPB1’ mobile application. JBP1 is a TV newscast, and the app must engage viewership and promote the program, preferably through the change of roles between Audience, Synthesizer and Producer. The Designing Lines help to conceive elements to the application, so to provide experiences with ‘catch-up’ and exclusive in-app content besides the live broadcast of the newscast.

2 The Audiovisual Design Model

The Audiovisual Design is a theoretical-methodological model that covers the entire ecology from the development to the fruition of complex audiovisual systems, comprising the content, the expectations and strategies for its fruition, the relationship of individuals with the workpieces, and the different software platforms used for production, distribution and interaction. The Model’s premise is that software and interaction interfaces play an important part in the production, distribution and fruition of audiovisual works.

Fruition is understood as the entire process, or relationship, involving audiovisual content, beginning with the selection of content and continuing with the use or interaction, the consumption or enjoyment, appropriation, modification, and evaluation. Also, fruition is mediated by interaction interfaces. Software is more and more determinant of the availability of media products, their distribution models and the decisions regarding their consumption. The curation is divided between humans and machine [2], with possible predominance of algorithms in some contexts. On the one hand, software provides a better adjustment of content to individuals. On the other hand, there is a risk of limiting access due to filters placed between the delivery mechanisms and the point of access [3, 4].

A similar perspective may be applied to the development of software for video repositories, social media or any other application that uses audiovisual content. Software like these have a straight connection to audiovisual elements. Films, music concerts, TV shows, texts and memes can motivate the audience to seek and learn how to use software, hence the interfaces mediate one’s good experience. Good interfaces make it easy for individuals to interact and engage, while bad graphical designs with deficient implementations can compromise the enjoyment of the workpieces. For that reason, Audiovisual Design sustains that an audiovisual system is more than simply the audio or video content, it must include the hardware and software that supports interfaces, storage, recovery and transmission networks.

The AD model indicates that individuals can perform four different roles when they engage with complex audiovisual systems. A first-level role is called Audience, i.e., all people who watch and interact with the content in a non-sophisticated way, that is, the traditional fruition when someone passively watches or listens to audiovisual works, mainly receiving the content. From the moment the individuals identify with the content or part of it, and start to comment and share data online about it – mainly in social media, they are acting as the second-level role Synthesizers. These are individuals with more activity, whose interactions are basically commentary and simple online sharing of information. As the engagement increases, then emerges the motivation to interfere with the work, modifying and appropriating part of it. This third-level role is called Modifier, and requires some competences related to software usage such as programming and sound and video editing. People in this level alter the original content, by means of participation, changes or recreation of narrative elements. The most complex level of fruition of audiovisual systems is occupied by the role of Producer. Further then possessing competences required to perform the other roles, Producers – acting alone or in teams – are responsible for the creation, production and distribution of the workpieces, including the design of content, development of strategies for the act of fruition undertaken by the other roles, and the provision of all tools required to viewing and interaction. In summary, the Producer configures the audiovisual system, choosing the storage, recovery and transmission infrastructures that better corresponds to the content’s purpose. Finally, there can be non-predicted uses and interactions undertaken by individuals in any role, in many cases subverting the original intentions placed on of a workpiece: these activities are performed by people acting as the elevated role Player.

Figure 1 shows how Audiovisual Design converges two knowledge areas for a complete comprehension of production and fruition of audiovisual content. The first one is called Configuration of Fruition and contemplates theories and concepts of media studies to understand the relationship of individuals with the workpieces. From an analysis of how individuals perceive value in the content and the manner they interact with it, it is possible to detail how they alternate between roles. The individual configures the best way to enjoy the content and the interfaces, using the tools and affordances available from the audiovisual system. The Configuration of Fruition allows analyzing, during the act of fruition, how individuals receive the content, physically and psychologically, how they interpret the information, how they are affected in short and long term by it, and how they insert information to feedback the audiovisual system. This Configuration algo includes analyses of behavior and of the development of abilities and competences that stimulate the complete fruition of audiovisual workpieces.

Fig. 1.
figure 1

Source: Audiovisual Design Research Group.

Audiovisual design framework.

Full size image

The second knowledge set, named Configuration of Design, is based on theories and methods of HCI, aiming at the appropriate design of content. This configuration aims at the individuals’ good fruition experience, thus taking as central elements the processes of creation, development, production, transmission and implementation of audiovisual elements and interaction artefacts. The Configuration of Design also includes the processes of and methods for creation of audiovisual works, especially scripting, production and output technics for different media and platforms.

The relation between the two Configurations is analyzable from the perspective of utility and quality of the product. Utility comes mainly from the perception of value regarding the content, and can be divided in two approaches, referring to intrinsic and extrinsic values of the works. The intrinsic value is expressed by the truly audiovisual elements of the workpieces, including the script, the narrative, environment, soundtrack, artists, among others. In summary, all audiovisual components of the workpiece. The extrinsic value, on its turn, is related to elements external to the work, such as the underlying characteristics of the product, e.g., whether it is meant for TV, cinema, digital, online, sound media etc. For instance, the value of TV as background and Cinema as arts: in this case, value is found in how the product is presented instead of in its content.

In contrast, quality derives from the capacity of people to use interfaces and perceive their affordances. Usability represents a crucial point in quality, one that may be expressed as the capacity of use adapted to different audience profiles. Utility and quality together lead to a satisfying experience of fruition. The Producer, who, according to Audiovisual Design, has the competences of software development, holds the obligation to ensure that utility and quality are correctly perceived by individuals.

Therefore, the creation and development of products start from the Configuration of Design. Conversely, the analysis of concluded workpieces departs from the Configuration of Fruition. As a response to the first Configuration, the Audiovisual Design model seeks to provide essential tools for the development of audiovisual systems that meets the specificities of each role performed by individuals. These tools include the Designing Lines, media affordances and triggers. To examine concluded works, AD provides resources to investigate identity, motivation and experience from the individuals’ point of view.

3 The Concept of Designing Lines

The Designing Lines are general orientations for creators, producers and developers to conceive the different elements of an audiovisual system, considering the different roles performed by individuals, as well as the competences required in each level to alternate between roles. Thus, each Line is composed by theoretical and conceptual sets, oriented to the four roles and their elevated instances, being useful to structure the entire experience of fruition that may be expected by the individuals: a concern under the Configuration of Design.

The Designing Lines help the producer or developer of content to draw up strategies to comply with Configurations of Fruition, focusing on specific results that varies in accordance to the individuals’ behaviors, expectations and demands. Different uses, interactions, markets and available technologies must be considered on the side of fruition, and so they must be incorporated in the designing process.

Once, according to the AD model, interaction is mediated by interfaces, media affordances become a key concept [5]. Affordances are perceived through indicative elements, present both in traditional media and audiovisual systems, that direct to meanings and means of fruition. When the producer desires that individuals change roles during the fruition, then it is required a correct perception of affordances, associated with the environment designed for fruition.

Authors [5] summarized the sources of media affordances as: a) Physical, affordances materialized in elements that can be actively manipulated, with clear potential uses, composed by technologies used for fruition of content; b) Graphical, affordances present in interactional graphical interfaces implemented by software, in part responsible for the mediation between content and individuals; c) Symbolic, affordances originated in the storytelling or inserted amid the audiovisual elements, mainly when physical affordances are more subtle; the resulting cognitive and sensory perceptions depend upon social, cultural, aesthetic and narrative elements besides the technology and the available interface.

Media affordances are hence connected to Interaction Triggers, i.e., elements planned by the Producer that, during the fruition, invite the individuals to perform an action (to view, to spread, to participate, to pay attention etc.). From the moment an individual perceives value in an element and identify the available affordances, this trigger leads to an action. For instance, a ‘share’ button inserted in the content indicates to the individual [using the audiovisual system] that a new interaction mode is available (a new affordance). This button, then, is an Interaction Trigger, since it influences a given behavior that leads to greater engagement of the individual with the audiovisual system.

Interaction Triggers take the form of sound and visual elements, interface and interaction features, or even a ‘call for action’ inserted in the narrative (e.g., an invitation hidden in a conversation between two characters during a movie). The AD model presents two types of triggers: Trigger of Action and Trigger of Inertia. The first one stimulates the perception of value or of utility regarding the audiovisual system, to increase engagement. For example, a person can leave the Audience level while watching a TV show to become a Synthesizer that share impressions about the content on the internet. Put differently, this is a movement of the individual that, encouraged by the trigger, change roles from the right to the left in the AD framework (Fig. 1).

The Trigger of Inertia, instead, stimulates the individual to receive the content by means of greater attention, analysis or interpretation. This trigger stimulates inertia or a relaxation during interaction, securing more passivity during fruition. Considering the AD model (Fig. 1), Triggers of Inertia enables changing roles from the left to the right. As example, a sudden audio vignette during the same TV show may call the attention of the individual, who momentaneous leaves the role of Synthesizer to act as Audience watching the program.

3.1 The Line of Content

Before continuing, it is worth remembering that, according to the Audiovisual Design (AD), content are the audiovisual elements (visual and sound elements combined) plus interfaces responsible for interaction in the proposed audiovisual system. As a result, the Line of Content is inscribed in the entire flux of activities envisaged by the AD model, substantiating the scheme of sets represented by Fig. 1. Interaction occurs by means of interfaces after the perception of utility and quality.

Initially, the Line of Content corresponds to the producer’s intention to communicate something. This Line defines the components of the workpiece that allow the perceptions of utility and quality. Since content comprises the interfaces, it is a qualitative aspect whether the possibilities of action (affordances) are evident to individuals as triggers. The utility of the workpiece is perceived through interpretation and analysis of static elements, such as texts and pictures, and dynamic ones, such as sounds and moving images.

Following the Line of Content, the Producer shall create and produce elements to every portion of an audiovisual system, considering the roles performed by individuals and the competences required to alternate between them. To people performing the role of Audience, the content must provide personal connection and substantiate the creation of identity; in return, it shall be possible to generate behavior analyses, which shall help the Producer to evolve the system. Regarding the Synthesizer, the conception of the content must incorporate strategies to promote the engagement of individuals, thus generating commentaries and evaluations of the workpieces. For the Modifier level, the Line of Content supports strategies to allow the appropriation of the content and attribution of new meanings through modifications and recreation. As example, the Producer makes available part of the content in a free access format, to allow manipulation through pre-defined software tools, perhaps allowing adjustments in the story.

The Producer, once responsible for the creation of the workpiece, closes the cycle of fruition by evaluating data about behaviors related to each piece of the audiovisual system. The analysis might present four core elements: the technical operation of interaction artefacts; the alternance of roles and the corresponding knowledge of triggers; the perception of value and utility; and the development of strategies to evolve the work (including new audiovisual elements or the incorporation of interaction resources). The Producer may, then, identify demands originated during the fruition and solve them by planning new affordances and implementing Interaction Triggers. The nature of each demand corresponds to each role performed by individuals and the related Configuration of Fruition. Regarding the development of media affordances and Interaction Triggers, the Producer must have sufficient knowledge about the technologies to support the content, especially the available interaction artefacts and the audiovisual language (narrative, interactive and fruition) that will be part of the system.

3.2 The Line of Identity

The Line of Identity was described by Becker, Gambaro and Ramos [6] as responsible for generating identification of individuals with audiovisual workpieces. It is a core element to the audience recognition and, consequently, to the commercial success of the products, irrespective of whether it is entertainment, journalistic, instructional or technical.

The definition originated from the observation of how the audiovisual language endorses ties with spectators, establishing a medium as a mediator of reality both through factual journalistic coverage and the reconstruction of reality as perceived through drama productions [7]. Narrative aspects such as characters, situations, locations or even the whole story universe enable individuals to perceive value in the content and to feel they belong to, or are represented by, the workpiece. In the case of instructional products, further then these elements, the content contextualization, the use of visual assets and resources for learning, and the availability of information are also elements that may stimulate the identification with the workpiece.

Although this approach is more common when TV is observed because the medium creates affective ties with viewers through its show formats, we may extend it to cinema and video productions, which represent a significant part of all audiovisual content available today. Throughout history, social changes were incorporated in fictional narratives [8], proposing a synthesis of the reality. Taking the Brazilian TV as an example, drama scripts have been elaborated so the audience assimilate the narrative, developing a psychological and emotional involvement [9]. Viewers recognize themselves (their realities, even if romanticized) on what they are watching, and that endorses the legitimacy of the audiovisual drama. As part of the same movement, the current audiovisual fiction also reflects the weakening of shared identities and the strengthening of individualities, sustaining the idea of an emancipated subject [10] whose identity reflects the fragmentation of all aspects of the quotidian life [11]. The contemporary subject come up with consumption strategies to try creating a coherent self and the sensation of a historically conquered autonomy [12, 13]. The audiovisual productions become, then, an important element to support and promote an idealized identity.

The process of identification relates to two facts regarding the use of audiovisual information and communication technologies: the expansion of communication possibilities and the expression of the self. First, technologies increase the communication reach with ubiquitous systems of information transmission, storage and recovery. If access was constrained by physical aspects of time and space, now it is independent from locality and from the specific moment when content was made available. Second, technologies allow people to self-expression, potentialized through a renewed visibility [14] on an online universe, sometimes acting as sources of information. Media unidirectionality, when a few producing companies generated material for a dispersed audience, gave space for environments dominated by collaboration, customization and decentralized production, as described in the AD model. From the moment the individuals recognize themselves as potential creators and value generators, they construct selves as a source of communication. Sundar [15] points that self as a source is central for the success of computer-mediated communication forms. When the system allows the self to serve as the source of messages, the communication becomes truly interpersonal.

In summary, as a result of the process, people identify with the audiovisual workpieces that come to represent their construed selves. This performance that are effective from the screens confirms an affective relationship with the content, first generating the engagement to uphold and propagate the work, and later the appropriation of parts of it (or even of the entire work) under illimited possibilities for modifications. Sundar named this process ‘agency’, or the sensation of being relevant to online interactions [15].

3.3 The Line of Motivation

From the process of identification there is a natural change in the relationship of individuals with the content. The mediation of reality, which generates a first step for identification, gradually rises a purpose, or a desire, to be closer to some elements of the workpiece. This perception of value derived from the Line of Content leads to engagement. This process is based on motivation, described here as the activator or awakener of behaviors, in general oriented to satisfy a necessity or to fulfil a desire. Thus, we are referring to an inner state of the individual, resulting from varied perceptions about the content that are responses to identity and to some related demands.

The origins of motivation, or motivational factors, can be internal or external [16]. In the first case it is called intrinsic motivation, described as the human inclination to assimilation, domination, spontaneous curiosity and exploration, all of which are essential to social and cognitive development. It also contemplates values and pleasures associated to personal and individual activities.

External factors are extrinsic motivations. In this case, the focus is an external objective that carries some type of gratification. That is, the individual tries to reach an external goal. Motivations of this type may vary with relative autonomy, implicating in personal efforts when the individual faces possible alternatives and the fulfilment of regulations and social practices to achieve the goal. In this case, the Line of Motivation also embraces the notion of community among individuals, encouraging relationships to allow exchange of information about the work.

In summary, the perceptions of utility and quality carried out through the Line of Content generate intrinsic motivations. Especially the perception of value about the content, notwithstanding whether informative or entertainment, generate mental states important for personal satisfaction. The consciousness and comprehension of the world represented in the audiovisual content can be considered a state of mind, leading to some action.

Thus, following the Line of Motivation, it is possible to predict an increase in the individuals’ activity level, derived from the promptness in using the original product to communicate something about themselves, for example, through social media. Engagement is increased when one associates with elements from the workpiece, bringing pleasure in any kind of participation. The engagement becomes an extrinsic motivation, then, when the individuals identified with the content develop emotional commitment to the action afforded by the content. Subsequently, a kind of complicity arises, through which individuals agree to experience the same meanings in terms of content and, in exchange, receive an infinitude of new possibilities of action and emotion.

The relationship, both with the content and with the Producer, also includes trust, power and status of the individual who assume any of the other roles. Their networked activities with other people or with/directed to the Producer feeds a reputation level [17] that, at the same time, also becomes one among other factors that motivate sharing. So, Producers must understand the individuals’ participation as important and desirable. From this moment on, the Line of Motivation mix with the Line of Identity, because the actions depend upon representation of the selves projected by the individuals, as well as their intentions of agency. Both Identity and Motivation Lines sustain a complementary relationship that allows individuals to alternate roles between Synthesizers and Modifiers.

3.4 The Line of Experience

The Line of Experience condenses the characteristics of the other Lines (identity, engagement, motivation) and sums up elements for creation, appropriation, revision, remediation and participation. By incorporating complex activities in the circuit of production, it enables individuals as Modifiers, coproducers or autonomous producers. Motivation and engagement reach the highest levels in this Line, allowing the individuals a stronger and deeper emotional and psychological relationship with the content. The construction of the self is consolidated, and agency becomes a core feature to lend credibility to new productions or modified ones.

It is important to highlight that Experience may be analyzed according to time, considering short-term and long-term fruition. While in short-term fruition a sense of well-being and satisfaction with the process are essential, in long-term fruition consolidation of competences is preponderant to the immersion of individuals in the processes of creation and production.

The described characteristics can be found in every activity performed by individuals in any role affected by the Line of Experience, regardless whether it is professional or amateur, for- or non-profit. To summarize this description, this text will now focus on professional for-profit productions, being the amateur non-profit productions a suggestion for future works to continue the current investigation.

The Line of Experience presupposes contributions to an existing work. Some modification made by the public can add value, thus serving to improve the perceived utility of the audiovisual system, even when directed to a niche of public. Whilst for the roles of Audience and Synthesizer utility is intrinsically perceived in the content and is related to the formation of identity and motivations, Modifiers and Producers combine commercial and/or eudaimonic elements to perceive value.

In the specific case of professional activities, the Line of Experience conducts the individuals to a mental immersion on the creation, or recreation, of workpieces. During production or modification of works, the creative and technical process requires understanding and analysis of demands, desires and needs from the other roles performed by individuals, including full knowledge of abilities and competences required and available for a complete fruition. Besides, motivation and identification with works during production or modification are directly related to professional activities. It doesn’t matter whether the workpiece has or doesn’t have a commercial purpose, motivation relies on financial aspects and potential monetary gains. The identity will, later, reinforce the consumer’s credibility regarding how the content was generated.

On the other hand, on amateur production or modification, satisfaction and personal well-being are more relevant than eventual monetary gain. On the simplest examples of amateur production, when the distribution occurs inside restricted, private circuits of known people, normally the focus is not on the workpiece, but on the process of production or modification. For example, a person mashes up personal photos with scenes of a favorite movie and a preferred song to pay a tribute to a family member; the symbology and the event are more important than the nature of the song or movie. In this example, the personal satisfaction and the sensation of relevance overcomes any other motivation.

4 Analysis of the Use of Designing Lines in the Development of ‘JPB1’ Mobile Application

To validate the theory of Designing Lines, the concepts were applied in the development of a mobile app for a TV News program, Jornal da Paraíba First Edition (JPB1), broadcast by TV Cabo Branco, a regional station that tops the audience ranking in the Paraíba Estate, Northeast Region of Brazil. The app became necessary when the newscast production team wanted to obtain more information about its audience. Data provided by Kantar IBOPE, the company responsible for audience research in Brazil, are collected through notes made by the viewers themselves, then they are registered and made available only twice a year. Moreover, data are restricted to quantitative information about the viewership of the newscast, showing only the basic composition of the audience: gender, age and social class.

Since it is a regional newscast, the main demand is for local news and current affairs that matters to people living in the area. Furthermore, being a live transmission, it is important to know in real time whether the audience is enjoying the programming. The agenda definition and duration of segments may vary according to the reaction of the audience during the newscast.

Given this background, the AD research team started to format the Line of Content. From the premise that individuals shall perceive utility and quality to interact with the app, it was decided that it should be interesting during the show’s broadcast as well as throughout the day. So, the live broadcast is vital. An individual may watch the newscast on free-to-air TV or via mobile app, with options to ‘like’ or discuss each news, segment or reportage. Every broadcast news is available for latter visualization.

To comply with the requirements for localization and more details on information, an initial subscription was created: name, gender, age, neighborhood and social class (Fig. 2a), to start to know the newscast audience’s characteristics and their georeferencing data.

Fig. 2.
figure 2

Source: screen capture of prototype of JPB1 app, made on Aug 15, 2019.

(a) Page of access to JPB1 App; (b) Main page of JPB1 App.

Full size image

The acquired data were used to start the formatting of the Line of Identity. Journalism, more specifically TV journalism, usually generates automatic identification of individuals through news coverage. The concept of noticeability criteria [18], commonly used for selection of facts to become news, considers elements regarding identification of the public with the reported matter, mainly for value attribution and geographical proximity. A news should be released if the facts are considered interesting, meaningful and relevant enough for the public.

Therefore, the content that is shown in the newscast already generates identity. However, it was noticed that this form of identification, present on television, may not be immediately transferred to the app users. At this point, it became clear a demand for an additional motivation for using the application. This additional demand is fulfilled with backstage videos and teasers of novelties to be introduced in the JPB1. The backstage videos show how people act in the newsroom, pranks with reporters, presenters and other team members, and behind-the-scenes of news coverage and feature series. It also includes material such as unpublished interviews or entire investigations that didn’t make to the TV program due to time constraints. The app also makes available all reportages presented on JPB1 (Fig. 3a).

Fig. 3.
figure 3

Source: screen capture of prototype of JPB1 app, made on Aug 15, 2019.

(a) The audience can watch again the reportages exhibited in segments of JPB; (b) Channels the JPB1’s audience can use to participate in the program during all day; (c) Suggestions can be sent directly to segments of JPB1.

Full size image

This example of expansion of content in the app still? corresponds to the Line of Identity, leaving the realms of representation through identification with the news to another type of identification: a personal bound with the team that generates the information. This increasing connection between audience and the audiovisual system, formed by the mobile application and the newscast, generates an intersection with the Line of Motivation (which, in this example, derives from the Line of Identity).

Following the Line of Motivation, the app promotes sending comments about any content related to JPB1 during the transmission. The message may or may not be displayed during the newscast, a decision to be taken by the production team. When it is displayed, it increases the identification of the individual with the program and boosts engagement and motivation to expression of the self, leading to agency. The sensation of being praised, listened to and respected (eudaimonic) is crucial for a long-lasting engagement with the show.

The maximum expression of this engagement with JPB First Edition is the possibility to send suggestions of topics and material produced by the public to segments of the show. These items compose the Line of Experience. In the first case, people are invited (Trigger of Action) to send general suggestions of topics (through video, text and audio), or specific themes for a chosen segment. The individual can record details about the suggested topic, narrate a fact, take pictures of something interesting and send them to the production team. Moreover, they can send messages to family members, friends, public people etc., which are read or displayed on air (Fig. 3a and b). As well, the segment Chef JPB once a week presents recipes of typical dishes from the region, and then invites the audience to make the dish at home, record a video with the result and send it to the producers.

A relevant factor in the formatting of the Designing Lines is the perception of quality in the app, or the capacity of the individual to fully use its resources. The newscast’s audience profile varies in terms of age, social condition and education. To conform with such profile, the graphic design and the information architecture favor the simplicity and functionality of the interfaces. After login, if the newscast is on air, the user is directed to the Live page (Fig. 2b); if not, then the individual will see a page with the ‘last edition’ videos (Fig. 2b).

The bottom of the app show four icons to make the navigation easer. The first one is the ‘Live’ section, which is also the main page (Fig. 2b). The second one is the Segments (Fig. 3a), giving access to content displayed on segments of JPB1 (Chef JPB, Qual é a Boa?, É da Família, Calendário JPB and Saúde), besides videos informing about the backstage, what’s new and factual information. The third icon shows the Take Part (Fig. 3a and b), encouraging the individuals to produce content. The fourth icon shows exclusive material in the app, being called Extra.

There is a web-based portal where the production team can access statistic data about the profile of JPB1’s audience, generating daily, weekly and monthly reports (Fig. 4). Besides the total amount of interactions, this monitoring can provide more detailed data, concerning specific segments of the newscast (Fig. 5a and b). These continued observations help to define content and even more, e.g. to assess if a segment must be discontinued or highlighted.

Fig. 4.
figure 4

Source: screen capture of computer desktop made on Sep. 20, 2019.

Screen showing statistic data about JPB1’s audience.

Full size image
Fig. 5.
figure 5

Source: screen capture of prototype of JPB1 app, made on Aug 15, 2019.

(a) Detailed information about JPB1’s audience participation; (b) Detailed information about JPB1’s audience interaction activities.

Full size image

To analyze the mobile application’s functionalities and usability, two tests were conducted with users. The first test, with the audience, selected 47 viewers to participate in a usability test followed by a feedback form about quality and perception of value. Since the objective of our group is to stimulate, facilitate and increase the engagement of JPB1’s audience with the newscast, participants were chosen among people who watches the show, frequently or not. Everyone answered that the app is interesting, bring novelties, is easy to use and stimulate the participation in the TV program. 19 users suggested improvements, such as allow to download material and individual feedback to each commentary or suggestion of topic sent to the production team.

For the second test, five members of the newscast team, among management, edition and production, were chosen to experiment with the portal. They confirmed the relevance of the information, the simple usage and an improvement in the knowledge about the audience.

5 Conclusion

This paper detailed the theory of Designing Lines, described as general orientations for creator, producers and developers to conceive different elements in an audiovisual system, considering roles assumed by individuals during the fruition of content and the required competences for them to alternate between roles. It is a key concept inside the framework of the Audiovisual Design model, integrating elements from Human-Computer Interaction and Media Studies to develop complex audiovisual systems.

From a theoretical and conceptual analysis of Roles and Lines, the Audiovisual Design was fully applied in the development of a mobile application for the TV newscast JPB1. The objective is to engage the public who watches the newscast, thus providing detailed information about its composition and behavior. The app allows the viewer to perform any of the four roles described in the AD model: Audience, Synthesizer, Modifier and Producer. The most expressive role – also the focus of JPB1’s journalism team – is the Synthesizer, who can compile, classify, comment, recommend and share the pieces of content they enjoy, thus bounding to, and creating identity with, the newscast.

The relationship of the program’s production team with the roles rely on the four Designing Lines: Content, Identity, Motivation and Experience. The Line of Content focus on the audiovisual system, that is, the journalistic content of JPB1, exclusive behind-the-scenes videos and other content present in the app, interfaces for interaction and participation, and the software and hardware connecting all these parts. The content available through the app is used by individuals to alternate between roles.

Taking as example a video posted on the application from the segment Chef JPB, which provides culinary recipes, a viewer may only view the content (Audience). But, if through the Line of Identity (e.g., the exhibition of the recipe may bring memories of the childhood, or it can strength the bounds with the sense of belonging to a place) she is motivated to “like” the recipe, comment on the post about this connection, or share it with friends, this individual becomes a Synthesizer.

Moreover, if the recipe motivates the viewer to make her on version of the dish, she may record it and send the video to JPB1’s newsroom via the app’s social media (this tool, although foreseen as a proposal for future developments of the app, is not yet implemented), or even post it on her own social media profile tagging the program. In every case, the individual will be performing an action implemented through the Line of Motivation.

And nothing prevents the individuals to take the Line of Experience and, using their knowledge of interactive resources and other required software, modify a content originally published in JPB1’s app, so they can republish it on the same tool or in any other available, following the communication model described by Jenkins, Green and Ford [19] as spreadable. JPB1’s app case study proves that the alternance between roles is a pertinent feature, and that Designing Lines are an important tool for content production.

Some limitations were identified during this research. First, the Line of Motivation was treated only as a concept, without the required theoretical exploration. It is of utmost importance to incorporate theories and analyze a real process that indicates how the content can generate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, beyond the persuasion needed for engagement. Second, during the description of the Line of Experience to make this text clearer, it was decided to focus on the analysis of professional for-profit activities, being amateur non-profit activities a suggestion for future research, together with the development of the Line of Motivation.

Finally, as a third point to be further investigated, arises the question whether a given Line always derives from another. In the given example of JPB1’s mobile app, the Line of Motivation derives from the Identity, since it is a strengthening of bounds through additional content on the app that incites engagement and the change of role from Audience to Synthesizer. However, there is a possibility this is an exclusive case, and the three lines more easily only intersect with each other instead of being derivatives. Further investigations are required to determine how frequent occurs intersections or derivations of processes as evolutions of the Lines.