NOS websites and apps

The NOS (Dutch Broadcast Foundation) is like the Dutch BBC News. It has a special statutory obligation to make news and sports programs for Dutch public television and radio. The NOS also publishes news on its website nos.nl and related platforms.

In 2008, modern interactive websites looked like this. It was a time without responsive design and a lot of blocks.

When I started at the NOS in the spring of 2008, I worked on the Olympics event website code. At that time, I was graduating for my bachelor’s degree in interaction design, and at the NOS I got the opportunity to help the team design the website.

From that point on, I was the UX designer of the New Media development team, and together with the visual designers, we redesigned and reconceptualized all the NOS websites in the span of three years. Everything from the news bulletin for kids Jeugdjournaal to the late-night news show Nieuwsuur and event websites like the national elections, the soccer World Cup, and the yearly Tour de France.

I also got the opportunity to design the first iPhone and Android app for the NOS in 2012. That app got featured two years in a row by Apple as an ‘app jewel’ during their winter holiday highlights (Dutch: NOS beste nieuws-app 2013). At that time, it was the only Dutch app featured as an app jewel.

During my time at the NOS, I transitioned from a coder who could design to a full-time designer and usability consultant. I got the opportunity to experiment with apps for TV, different audiences, and modular design within an ever-changing organization with a high impact on society.

As you can imagine, I had the time of my life.