Media · Digital transformation · Web + apps
Engaged through IBM to lead the digital rebuild of the Middle East's leading news network, from brand system to native apps.
Languages
Arabic · English · Farsi
Audience
Millions daily
Engagement
Via IBM
The challenge
The network's digital estate was ageing: slow performance, fragmented experiences across desktop, mobile and apps, and a brand identity that did not adapt across three language markets, including right-to-left layouts.
Editorial teams were constrained by inefficient publishing workflows, exactly where a breaking-news operation can least afford friction.
Our approach
An embedded team, with a UX director and creative director on site alongside designers, app engineers and the client's own people, ran discovery and user research across all three language markets.
We delivered a complete identity and design system covering every editorial format: breaking news, live video, journalist profiles, crisis coverage and personalised content, designed to hold in three scripts.
The platform was rebuilt on a React front end with native iOS and Android apps, real-time caching for traffic spikes, and CI/CD pipelines that sped up every release.
Outcomes
- One coherent experience across web and apps in three languages
- Faster publishing workflows for a 24-hour newsroom
- Measurable lifts in engagement and retention after launch