Project Overview:
This project involved designing and developing the website for the BBC’s prestigious 500 Words Children’s Writing Competition. The goal was to create a website that would not only be informative and engaging but also evolve throughout the competition stages – pre-launch, launch, and post-winner announcement.
Target Audience:
The website catered to a diverse audience:
- Children (5-11 years old): The primary users, encouraged to participate in the competition and explore their creativity through writing.
- Parents and Guardians: Playing a supportive role, helping children register, navigate the website, and understand the competition rules.
- Teachers and Librarians: Promoting the competition within schools and potentially using the resources for writing activities.
Research Process:
- Stakeholder Meetings: Extensive meetings with BBC representatives were held to understand their goals, target audience needs, and desired functionalities for the website.
- User Persona Development: Based on the target audience, we developed user personas to guide design decisions. These personas considered the age groups, technical skills, and motivations of potential users.
Design and Implementation:
- Information Architecture: We planned a clear and user-friendly information architecture, ensuring easy access to competition details, resources, and entry guidelines.
- Wireframing and Prototyping: Low-fidelity wireframes were initially created to map out the website’s structure and user flows. These were iterated upon to develop high-fidelity prototypes that simulated the user experience across different stages (pre-launch, launch, post-winners).
- Visual Design Collaboration: We worked closely with design team to translate wireframes into a visually appealing and age-appropriate design. This included incorporating engaging graphics, clear fonts, and an intuitive layout.
- Content Management System: The website was built on a user-friendly content management system (CMS) allowing BBC editors to easily update information and resources throughout the competition stages.
Outlining the various stages of the competition
User flow and information required at different stages in the competition
Wireframe of Homepage design
Final design for the competition