I wanted to share how excited we are about the new 4oD service launched today on Channel4.com. I wanted to use this post to selfishly reflect on what is means from my perspective as the product manager for Channel4.com. And introduce you briefly to a few of the new features.

If you want to understand where this new product launch sits within the bigger picture for Channel 4 then look out for a separate post with links to some of the press coverage generated so far, which includes comments from our Head of VOD, Sarah Milton.

For me, with this launch we are not only creating a new home for 4oD on Channel4.com but taking the first few steps in the product’s evolution from an online player to a destination service.

With My 4oD we’ve created a reason for you to sign in each time you visit 4oD and the foundation for
an increasingly personalised 4oD experience.  By signing in to use My 4oD you can:

-   easily keep track of episodes you’ve recently watched or started watching (My 4oD History)

-  create a Playlist of episodes and schedule an evening’s viewing, or simply create a list of shows you don’t want to forget to watch (My 4oD Playlist)-   save your favourite shows in a single place and get in-page reminders whenever a new 4oD episodes is available  for you to watch (My 4oD Favourite Shows)

Simply browsing the site and clicking on the add to Favourite Shows and Playlist buttons allows you to quickly create and manage your My 4oD experience, helping ensure you never miss a thing.

A large proportion of 4oD users on Channel4.com prefer to ‘go large’ and watch 4oD in full-screen mode, so we decided to create what I believe is a market leading, immersive and elegant full-screen experience.

As you watch, our full screen cross-navigation panel allows you to explore previous series and  episodes, discover similar shows that users have been watching as well as the most popular  shows in that category being watched right now. Plus you can access and manage My 4oD and   even switch the show you’re watching… all without ever having to leave your full-screen view. 

We wanted this product redesign to highlight the fact that 4od on Channel4.com is more than just catch-up. So the new 4oD service not only makes it easier for you to plan and watch more of your favourite 4oD shows but also works harder to inspire your discovery of new shows, both current and classic.

We’ve brought over 5000 hours of 4oD programming to your fingertips with a fast and efficient predictive  search that gets you straight to play, a redesigned 4oD Homepage showcasing the best of what’s on offer on any given day, and a redesigned 4oD Player page optimised for in-page viewing and the discovery of related episodes and series.

We’ve created a Catch-up homepage dedicated to presenting what’s new to view, by day and by channel, and  a Browse All homepage that makes it easier than ever to explore the entire archive.

We also wanted to create a product that features more visible recommendations, refleting not only our take on the must-watch catch-up and archive shows, but also the shows which as 4oD viewers you are mostly watching or have discovered yourselves.

 On the new 4oD Homepage, we’ve plugged the Most Popular feature into our analytics  engine so you can see the most watched shows over the last 48 hours.

 On our redesigned 4oD Player page there are two further viewer-driven recommendations features.

 People Also Watched highlights shows watched by 4oD viewers who’ve also watched the show you’re on. I wanted to call the feature “Bruce recommends” after the clever chap who developed the algorithm that powers it, but right now we’ve opted for something more informative [but maybe less fun]. We think this recommendation feature is neat because, by contrast to the Most Popular feature, People Also Watched recognises the % overlap between views of one show and another, as distinct from the sheer volume of views for each. This makes the resulting recommendation a nice companion to those based strictly on popularity.

Alongside People Also Watched, you can quickly flip over and see another analytics powered feature offering you a view of the most popular shows by related category. So fans of a comedy show, by example, can instantly see the most popular comedy shows on 4oD at that particular moment.

 And finally of course, you can recommend, with Facebook and Twitter sharing functionality enabling to tell your friends and followers about the shows you love.

Despite the vastness of our unique on demand archive offer, 4oD on Channel4.com still feels to me more like a boutique experience rather than a warehouse, infused with the personality you’ve come to expect from the channel. We offer not just quick routes into the shows you’ve come to watch, but the option of a curated visit. The carousel on our new 4oD Homepage continues to epitomise this, but these days you’ll find the guiding hand of our editorial team in evidence across the whole of 4oD.

So if you don’t know what you’re looking for, allow yourself to be charmed – or challenged - and try something we think is a must-see.

Welcome to 4oD on Channel4.com: all new and now all yours.