Project Overview

r8Dio is a Danish media company known for blending satire and reality. It began as a fictional podcast, Undskyld vi roder, but later became a real business with a growing catalogue. Their identity is built on humour, fiction, and a loyal community.

In 2023, r8Dio began producing more serious, reality-based programmes. This brand extension created a challenge: how to grow without alienating loyal fans who expect satire. The project aimed to address this tension and propose a digital solution to support the expansion while preserving r8Dio’s identity.

Research Objectives

The central question was:
How can an interactive digital solution support r8Dio’s brand extension without diluting the original brand?

To answer this, we set out to:

• Understand r8Dio’s brand identity and how fiction/reality shaped it.

• Explore audience perceptions of the new serious programmes.

• Identify user needs across loyal and new listeners.

• Design a solution to clarify and support r8Dio’s evolving brand.

Methodology

We combined pragmatism and hermeneutics as our theoretical foundation. Pragmatism guided us to develop practical, actionable outcomes. Hermeneutics ensured we interpreted our findings in context, allowing meaning to emerge from users’ lived experiences and cultural references.

This dual lens allowed us to remain adaptable, iterative, and insight-driven throughout. Our work was grounded in Design Thinking and executed using Research through Design, meaning insights were generated by prototyping, testing, and redesigning in cycles.

Research Activities

Quantitative Content Coding

We analysed 125 user posts from the ‘r8Dios Venner’ Facebook group. Each post was tagged for thematic content: mentions of fictional characters, references to the satirical universe, or feedback on real programmes.

This involved creating a structured codebook and applying deductive codes based on themes emerging from early desk research. The coding process helped us map out dominant topics and understand what users associate most strongly with r8Dio.

Findings:

• 50% of posts referenced the fictional universe.

• 41% included specific fictional characters.

• Satirical identity dominated user discourse.

Digital Ethnography

We used light digital ethnography to observe the group’s tone, humour, and shared references. We treated this community as a cultural space and explored how users constructed meaning around r8Dio.

One example: users often used insider terms like “gulvhøjde” without explanation, which revealed a strong internal culture that newcomers might struggle to navigate.

Semi-Structured Interviews

We conducted six semi-structured interviews: three with long-time paying fans, and three with newer or casual listeners. Interviews lasted 30–45 minutes and were conducted remotely.

Our guide covered:

• How users discovered r8Dio.

• Their understanding of the fictional universe.

• Reactions to new, serious programmes.

• Feedback on early design prototypes.

We applied:

• Meaning condensation: Summarising long responses into key points while retaining nuance.

• Interpretive coding: Identifying underlying themes such as confusion, loyalty, or tonal expectations.

• Iterative comparison: Surfacing patterns across segments.

This gave us rich data on user mental models and brand expectations.

Design Ideation and Testing

After synthesising early insights, we moved into concept development using the “How Might We” (HMW) method. Each HMW question reframed a user or business need uncovered during research. For example:

• How might we clarify r8Dio’s content offering for new users without losing its satire identity?

• How might we make serious programmes feel like a natural part of the r8Dio universe?

These reframings helped guide divergent idea generation. From this, we developed four mid-fidelity interactive concepts in Figma, each tackling the fiction/reality tension from a different angle. All four were grounded in our understanding of r8Dio’s culture and audience behaviours.

Programhuset

A visual metaphor inspired by r8Dio’s own insider lingo about “floor levels” (gulvhøjde vs. parketgulvhøjde). This interface split the programme catalogue into two “floors” within a digital house: one for satirical content, the other for serious programming.

💡 Goal: Make it easier to understand the expanding programme landscape without enforcing rigid genre labels.
🔍 Insight tie-in: Users want clarity without the satire being over-explained or toned down. This used r8Dio’s language and style to do exactly that.

Vejskiltet

A directional metaphor: a stylized “signpost” navigation system pointing users toward different content paths (e.g., “satirical”, “serious”, “in-universe”).

💡 Goal: Help users choose a content mode without making them feel they’re switching platforms.
🔍 Insight tie-in: New listeners felt confused about what kind of content they were consuming. This design offered guidance while reinforcing the narrative metaphor of r8Dio as a place you travel through.

Homepage Redesign

A layout-focused concept that gave equal visual weight to both types of content. Satirical branding was dialed back slightly to give new users a clearer sense of what’s available. The current website design can be seen on the left, and the conceptual redesign can be seen on the right.

💡 Goal: Improve first impressions and support discovery across user segments.
🔍 Insight tie-in: Superfans appreciated the satire, but newer users found the homepage overwhelming or “in-jokey”. This redesign kept r8Dio’s tone but reduced the barrier to entry.

Klavs’ Kontor

An “About Us” feature wrapped in fiction. Users could explore the fictional character Klavs’ digital office, clicking objects to learn more about r8Dio’s real and fictional background.

💡 Goal: Make the brand’s blurred identity more transparent in an engaging, playful way.
🔍 Insight tie-in: Some users were unsure what about r8Dio was real. This addressed transparency while staying inside the satire universe.

Each concept was tested during user interviews. Participants were shown interactive walkthroughs and asked to think aloud. We followed with open-ended questions: “What works?”, “What’s confusing?”, “Would this help you understand the platform better?”

Feedback was recorded, transcribed, and coded. Programhuset and the Homepage Redesign resonated most. They were seen as intuitive and on-brand, with the conceptual redesign of the homepage seemed like a fitting middle-ground for accompanying a broader selection of programmes. The Road Sign metaphor lacked clarity, and Klavs’ Kontor, while entertaining, was considered secondary in priority.

We then merged the strongest elements into a single coherent solution for iteration two.

Synthesis

We used affinity diagramming to organise data across all sources: content analysis, ethnographic observation, interviews, and concept testing. This helped identify recurring themes, group related insights, and prioritise needs across user segments.

By triangulating findings, we were able to validate patterns and ensure consistency across methods:

• Content analysis revealed dominant themes in user perception, particularly the centrality of satire and character references.

• Ethnographic observations helped us grasp tone and language, informing how we framed both interface text and design metaphors.

• User interviews shaped the design direction by surfacing key mental models, emotional reactions, and concerns around brand coherence.

• Concept testing confirmed which design ideas supported user understanding and which ones created friction.

This synthesis directly informed what features were advanced to the final prototype and which were deprioritised.

Key Findings

• Fiction is core: r8Dio’s brand thrives on the satire-universe. Users expect humour and characters. Removing that would risk alienation.

• Satire dominates perception: The majority of interactions and listens revolve around satirical content.

• New content brings risk: Some fans felt serious programmes were “off-brand” or boring. Without clear integration, there’s risk of brand dilution.

• There’s openness; if done right: Users welcomed serious shows if they kept some of r8Dio’s tone and were clearly framed.

• Different audience types: We identified four segments: super fans, engaged users, sporadic listeners, and newcomers. Each has different needs. The design had to balance clarity for newcomers and playfulness for insiders.

Outcome and Impact

The final concept included:

• Homepage Redesign: A neutral front page that doesn’t lean too heavily into satire. Makes the content offering clearer for new users.

• Programhuset: An interface dividing content into two “floors”: satirical and serious. Labels use r8Dio’s own terms (e.g. “gulvhøjde”) with subtle guidance for clarity.

Impact:

• Improves navigation and user understanding.

• Makes the platform more accessible to new listeners.

• Helps preserve the satire identity while integrating new content.

• Supports brand cohesiveness, fiction and reality now coexist more clearly.

The concepts were well received. Users appreciated the clearer structure, and stakeholders saw the potential to grow their audience without losing their base, using the conceptual ideas for their future visual identity. None of the prototypes were developed further into high fidelity mock-ups, as this was not in the scope of the project (*cough cough* hire graphic designers for this). The project also delivered a framework for how brands can expand without breaking character - an insight relevant to other hybrid or narrative-driven companies.