Power to the People
Design Goals
The following goals are based upon my interpretation of the information provided by the BBC within this blog as well as referenced articles, and my proposal will then offer a solution that addresses these goals. (Note these goals are not a listing of features, but rather a guiding light which will be used to direct the design.)
1. Create community; to be Britain's digital campfire.
Instead of simply presenting the news or a few TV/radio shows, provide an environment where people from all over the world can discuss topics, even contributing their own images, movies, thoughts, and other content for sharing with others.
2. Make archives/content available.
The BBC has well over 500,000 radio and television programs spanning 70+ years. The wealth of information is phenomenal and needs to be easily accessible by all, and as initiatives such as the 'digital campfire' come to fruition, there will be that much more data that will need to be made readily available.
3. Industry leadership.
Over the years the BBC has taken a position of leadership in the industry, leading the way in areas such as data collection and distribution. The BBC would like to continue this role and create a revolutionary, innovative solution that is unlike anything in use today.
4. Make the BBC site personal and relevant.
Maximize the usefulness of the BBC site by making sure visitors are presented with the information that matters to them most. Not only is it important to give consumers the information they want, but it keeps them coming back for more.
5. Maintain the BBC's core competencies: Inform, Educate, and Entertain.
While creating this new, "web 2.0" environment, the BBC does not wish to lose sight of what it does best: to inform, educate, and entertain.
Proposal
This proposal looks at two key areas. First, instead of placing an emphasis on -searching- data, I propose a shift to the -exploration- of data. To find information on most websites, the user types one or more keywords and the system returns a list of links, end of story. Unfortunately, with this style of navigation the big picture of a topic can often remain unclear. For example, as I'm writing this, the BBC's top news story is "Main parties sign Darfur accord." Clicking this link displays a page that describes that particular moment in time. But what if the user had the ability to -explore- the story, such as viewing a timeline that describes the events that have lead up to this event; when exactly did the violence begin? When and why were the rebel groups formed? When did the African Union become involved? Have any other treaties been signed? While looking at the timeline the user may see something that piques her interest and decide to view either a new or branched timel!
ine on, say, the African Union; when did it start? What other projects has it been involved with, and involving whom? Were they successful? The second aspect this proposal will focus on is community, and the ability to share and discuss ideas with friends and strangers.
This proposal will also look at how media such as television and radio content can be explored and how visitors might interact with that information. Please note that my proposal looks at the 'big picture' and should be looked at as a high-level concept and not necessarily as a feature-complete solution. Thank you.
- 23 May 2006 12:25
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Very clean and tight. Gets me to what I want to see very intuitively. Exploration as opposed to Search is a great idea except I might be spending waaaay to much time on the site now ;-)
Very Nice, I like this design as it is easy to get around and is very well organized.
Kudo's to Mr. Pease
Whow, very nice.
I like the idea of locating news on the Map. Makes it much easier to relate news.
Very well thought out and innovative. If your willing to put in that kind of creativity for a Macbook Pro, I could use your help in the development of my new web site I plan on starting this Autumn. If your interested in doing this kind of work on the side I can be contacted at wiethaupt@hotmail.com. Best of luck in your BBC contest.
I like it! I'm always reading something, which triggers me to think of something else, which then requires me to leave the site I'm reading to go look up something related to my tangental thought. It's like this site would read my mind :) Or, let me put it this way -- when I'm reading about a suicide bombing in Israel, if I could also read more about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, that would pretty much make my day.
I’m stunned. Mr. Pease has crafted an amazing proposal for a tool that will allow users to deftly navigate through not just the events of today but the annuals of history as well.
This proposal provides new and nearly invisible methods for navigating through vast amounts of data. The techniques presented include geographic, temporal, and traditional linking all skillfully intertwined to present a cohesive environment for exploring information. Mr. Pease leverages color, placement, and emphasis to maximum effect without being overpowering or awkward.
Breaking news is perfect. Finally, a design that will draw the viewer’s attention when important events take place. The updating time line at the bottom of the page is inspired and offers a unique mechanism for exploring current events and history.
On the world news page Mr. Pease shows us some of his GIS expertise by essentially ‘geo-coding’ the news. This makes an extremely compelling navigation tool as it allows the user to geographically constrain the context of the information she’s being presented. Not only does this help define context but it again relies on visual cues (rather than simple text) to guide the reader to related information. Continuing this theme of providing easily consumable data on a global level, Mr. Pease has presented poll results that maintain a visual relation to their relevant geography.
Bravo Mr. Pease – I hope the BBC follows through with your proposal as many people would be happy to have a tool like this at their disposal.