Your BBC Update
I have named my entry title very specifically. I believe the future redesign of the bbc.co.uk website must be an update, rather than an entirely new website with sweeping changes. If the changes are too grand and different, then it risks turning away millions of already loyal homepage users, as well as possibly those on the fringes (a very new 2.0 website will only bring in a small amount of tech-savvy people who probably use 2.0 websites better elsewhere). As such, there is much in my entry that is similar to the current bbc website. For example, the promo and footer are similar to before, and similarly positioned. The layout of the content of the panels is also very similar to before, again to provide a recognisable transition from the old website. This may also make the changes easier on the tech-side.
I've also named this YOUR bbc update, and this is simply on the basis of a personal bugbear of mine! When I visit websites there is an externality to them; I did not design this website, somebody else did. As such, the website is delivering content to me. Talking to the visitor, the content reads: here is the information you require, your to-do list, the last 5 pages YOU visitied. It also engages the reader in a pseudo-conversation and assures them that the content is relevant.
A final general point. If the BBC is serious about making all its media content available on-demand (which I think it is, and should be), then the i-Player needs to be almost entirely seperate from the BBC homepage. This is for a number of reasons. (1) No streaming/broadband content on the homepage. Accessibility is always an issue, it gets on some people's nerves, and you learnt from 7/7 that bandwidth is essential and expensive.
(2) It's difficult enough to navigate through millions of pages of static content without having to present a way for visitors to select millions of pages of i-player content too. (3) The i-player content will need a very clever, simple design and layout of its information - a style that necessarily must be different from the bbc homepage. Having the i-player on a seperate popup/site means that it can be exactly that. (4) The i-player icon (i've used thhe one from the bbc news homepage, although I imagine you will make a new logo) can be used throughout the entire website, in order to make an easy and recognisable jump to media content. Here's a news story... click this button for a clip.
OK onto specifics.
The footer is relatively self-explanatory. Users can SIGN IN at the top-right, and this would present a small drop-down login box. This could be changed to Register, depending on if this the user's first visit to the site. Actually the words 'sign in' would have to replaced with 'register' throughout the homepage if they were a unique new visitor.
The search bar and i-player are clearly linked, and there is the new addition of 'popular searches near you,' which is based on people who have signed in and located themselves near your postcode. I've subtitled the i-player 'BBC tv, radio & podcasts,' although I'm sure the i-player's brief will be larger than that - video-nation isn't BBC tv, for example.
Unlike other entries (and the current homepage), there is no attempt at the top to provide 5-8 tabs that claim to categorise the entire bbc content. If the BBC is serious about using search, this should not be necessary. Perhaps this means the search bar needs to be more prominent, but either way, these tabs are purposely absent. The search bar is repeated again underneath the panels, and complemented with the A-Z directory, and a browse-the-bbc subject headings further down. I'm concerned that I've lost the functionality of the current browse-directory, which offers a number of sub-categories too. In order to counteract that, the A-Z could provide the sub-categories on mouseover of a letter, or perhaps it is a changing image that shows some of the subcategories on offer for a random letter.
The panels (currently promo/news/sport/share/children/where you live), are the next thing to explain. Although the content is customisable, it is not movable through space like many of the modular personalised homepages out there (microsoft live, pageflakes etc). This is to keep it simple for the user, but also because the BBC cannot enter into the entirely personalised homepage genre - it has necessary content like promos and a directory.
The panel sidebar is an important addition. Panels can be minimised to free up space and make the space less cluttered. They can be changed, so if sci-tech and health were more important than sport and kids, you can do exactly that (and remembered on future visits/once signed-in). The content of the panels could also be external RSS feeds, such as your friend's blog, or your work's news page. As well as a share panel, I think there should be a 'popular' panel too.
The discussion button takes you to a relevant forum, perhaps one near you too.
Finally, there's the "bookmark for later" bit. This does not put it into your browser favourites. Rather, it puts it in the Your Bookmarks section on the Your Internet tab. This is explained below.
I've made the Where You Live panel wider than the others - this is for 2 reasons (1) it gets the importance it deserves on a personalised homepage (2) if you change it, you have the space for a larger RSS feed, or an external photo-feed; or you could even have a calendar imported from ical / google calendar / outlook etc.
Now Onto the personalised sidebar. This is pretty self-explanatory.
"Your New Items" includes podcasts you've subscribed to on the i-player, messages from other users on the forums, or threads that have a new post. This section could also include your chronologically nearest calendar item, or an email from the Your Internet section.
"Most Recent" includes 2 tabs, one for the last 5 pages/videos/threads you've visited/watched (including links to i-player), and one for the top 5 popular pages/videos/threads etc.
"Your Info" includes local weather and traffic, and some links to other local info (such as photos, forums, or the action network) "Your Schedule" again is pretty obvious, with the option of importing calendar info from outside.
"Your Internet" includes email taken from Gmail/Hotmail/Yahoo etc, and hopefully the option of other webmail services (in particular, University Students' email, and Work email). The bookmarks section is all those pages/videos/etc that you have bookmarked using the 'bookmark for later' star, something which will be visible on all pages, feeds, topics etc. It provides users with the option of going 'yes i'd like to read that sometime, but later.' Optionally it could include a user's actual browser favourites too.
Each of the sidebar panels can be minimised; and further edited. For example, you could choose whether to have 3 or 10 emails shown on Your Internet. You can add a To-Do Note, or import calendar information. You can choose whether you want to see the min and max temperature, or the Sun Index. And you can edit which email account to show.
So that's about it! Any questions, please pop them in a comment. Thank you BBC for the chance to do this. I hope you generate lots of ideas for a great new website.
- 23 May 2006 12:10
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