We created a second screen app that encouraged users to vote in the moment with all their heart. And we mean that literally as well as figuratively. Users voted for their favourite act by pressing the heart symbol whenever they felt inspired to throughout a performance. To differentiate from every other staged, reality-TV show out there, we introduced the ability to ‘heart’ multiple acts more than once, and see the feedback immediately on-screen. An on-screen intensity metre showed how many people were 'hearting' an act, showing how votes were being cast across Sweden. And the heart symbol itself is already in use in social networks (in place of the passive ‘like’) so it felt like a natural fit for a more meaningful method for giving feedback. By moving away from produced reality and towards real-time, genuine interaction with the show, our second-screen app boosted viewer engagement and enthusiasm for Melodifestivalen.

Our second screen app was designed to maintain user interaction before, during and after each Melodifestivalen show. Considered interaction design connected the audience at home with the emotions in the arena instantaneously.

Voting with the app was modeled on the idea that a good performance should be decided on impulse. Users were encouraged to ‘vote with your heart’, disrupting the typical voting behaviour based on a 5 min recap. Instead, users could cast votes per artist, whenever they felt inspired to do so.

Making predictions with the app maintained interest in the downtime between shows. By ranking the artists in order, you could compare your guesses with the actual results, giving the audience an easy way to compare their viewpoint.

Both voting and prediction functions connected you with friends. This knowledge encouraged users to offset friends votes, or even support an artist they may have been unsure about before.

The total number of votes increased with 33 438 227 votes (from 3 273 285 votes 2014 before the app came to 36 711 512 votes 2016)

We had 974.656 unique app users 2016 (30% of the viewers)

We created a second screen app that asked viewers to “vote with their hearts.” The change in viewer engagement is striking. The total number of votes was increased by 1021%. The app became a national phenomenon; with viewers taking to 'heart-voting' naturally.