tv2oj.dk — A mobile-first redesign for regional news
Single-column feed, icon navigation, CMS-aware design. A structural rethink, not a visual refresh.
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Approach
I built the prototype before running the research.
The assumption going in: the format was the problem, not the content. Danish regional news sites are built for how editors publish — not how readers scroll. That wasn't a research finding. It was a conviction. The prototype came first — built in code rather than Figma, because scroll feel and navigation responsiveness can't be answered in a static tool. Two rounds of usability testing came after, to pressure-test what was already taking shape. Three things came back: users navigated by interest, not recency; the news grid felt wrong on mobile; streaming platforms had set the standard. Not a surprise. A confirmation.
Design decisions
I broke from the classic news grid entirely.
The new tv2oj.dk is a single-column feed across all breakpoints, mobile-first, with icon navigation borrowed from streaming platform UX. A feed reduces editorial control over desktop hierarchy — solved with configurable lead story treatments and a data-driven right column. Icon navigation was the most contested decision internally. I built a high-fidelity interactive prototype and took it to leadership — including the CEO — so stakeholders could explore it directly rather than judge from static screens. Both decisions were tested. Both landed: scroll depth up 6–7 percentage points after launch.
In parallel, I built a design system the brief hadn't asked for — token layer, Figma component library, documented spacing and typographic scale — because a feed-based site doesn't stay coherent across months of editorial use without one.
Where design met code
The 9:16 crop problem.
In the first mobile prototypes, we displayed short-form 9:16 media in its full vertical ratio inside the feed. It worked visually, but each story took up too much screen height, reducing the number of items users could scan before scrolling. After several iterations, we changed the front page treatment — a CSS crop that reduced the vertical edge content while preserving the mobile-first feel.
The crop decision had consequences beyond CSS. It required an editorial agreement: graphics, text, and important action should not sit close to the top or bottom edges of 9:16 material. The design changed the implementation. The implementation changed the editorial guidance. That is where the project became more than a visual redesign: it became a system for how stories should be produced, published, and displayed.
Outcome
The platform that outlasted the project.
The site launched on 12 June 2025. Five months later it carried the station's Kommunalvalg coverage — the Danish municipal elections, which happen once every four years and are the single most important event in a regional broadcaster's calendar. We had three months to build it. The team delivered on time.
Within weeks of Kommunalvalget, Syddansk Universitet — Center for Journalistik — asked to build on the same platform. The result was medietorvet.dk: a live news site operated by 600+ journalism students.
"Vi er enormt taknemmelige for, at vi må hoppe med på TV 2 Regionernes digitale univers og give vores studerende endnu bedre forudsætninger for at tænke og udkomme professionelt."
— Peter Bro, Leader of Center for Journalistik, Syddansk Universitet
A major Danish university chose our platform to train the people who will go on to work in Danish media. Not a metrics claim. A durability claim.
Reflection
What I'd do differently.
The token structure went in midway through the first iteration cycle. That cost two weeks when component patterns began diverging. Next time, it goes first — and the analytics infrastructure goes in before launch, not after.
The SDU adoption was the test I hadn't designed for. A university either builds on what you made, or they don't. They did.
