Sir David Attenborough’s mission is to inspire us all to embrace and protect our natural world. His pioneering vision originated the first natural history documentaries, and the passion he shows has been a powerful force in sharing his message. Our idea was to carry that message into the digital world, to reach new audiences and inspire the next generation to love and care for our rich natural heritage.

Doing is a far deeper and more affecting process than passive consumption. We crafted a journey for users to participate in the same actions that Sir David takes when he creates landmark series. First users explore species, behaviours and habitats to encounter ideas that resonate, then they discover and watch outstanding moments inside that theme. Finally, users gather these clips together into their own stories of life, to share with the world.

Designed specifically for four platforms, iOS and Android, Tablet and Phone, The Story of Life continues Attenborough’s mission to inspire a love for the natural world in every generation.

Spanning more than 60 years, we assembled the largest ever digital collection of his most informative and breathtaking moments, into a pinnacle app.

Three generations of camera operators have helped Sir David to bring viewers Life through the Lens. Our key interactions centre on the use of circular shapes and gestures to literally bring the natural world into focus. By tracing the lens, users physically connect with the tools of documentary making. As they sweep around the circle, they dial in their thematic focus for creating their own stories of life. Focus also plays out visually, with elements outside the ‘lens’ blurring. We harness the same pattern for navigating videos, transforming a linear timeline into a circular control reminiscent of an editor’s jog wheel.

The outstanding content demanded minimalism in our design, so we made sure that every stroke worked to give information. From the split of the lens showing the relative durations of clips, to the succinct names given to clips and collections, every decision in what to leave out and what to hero was grounded in purpose.

We rapidly prototyped the interactions with a cross-functional team that brought tech, design and UX together in close collaboration. Each novel interaction was tested and honed within days of imagining. The data model was developed along side, both serving the interface and improving it, generating 30,000 data points in total. Creating the strands collaboratively brought great cohesion to the experience and a solidity to the end product.

After 2 months of pre-production, we developed and tested the app in 4 months, releasing it globally during the UK broadcast of Planet Earth II.

Wired,  FastCo., NYT and NatGeo Kids were among over 200 sites to give enthusiastic recommendations.

An iOS Editors’ Choice and confirmed Featured App on Play Store, Story of Life has a 4.9 rating from 2600 reviews on Google and 4.6 on App Store.

“flippin' awesome my daughter and i love the hell out of this. if you and yours love nature docs, this will dial your number.”

“Absolutely breathtaking The interface is mind blowing, the stories are great and personal.”

“I'm blown away. This is the first time ever that I've written a review for an app on the Play Store. I'm usually a silent lurker, downloading apps based off of the helpful review of others. But this, this wonderful app has prompted me to type this out. IT IS AMAZING! 10/10 for everything from the clips to it's ease of use, to the design. I LOVE IT”