Home > BBC Sport Academy > Design
The age range presented us with a big problem in terms of look and feel.
We had to capture the imagination of not only very young users, but also those who were more aspirational. All things to everyone then.
The design also had to be able to grow with the site - we couldn't design ourselves into a box as it were.
On top of this we had to design something that would work within the limitations of the publishing system that BBC Sport interactive used to produce its core output on the website.
As well as the technical considerations, we had to consider download speed more than usual as, from our research, we discovered that children have only limited access to the internet at school or in the home.
Their connections are not neccessarily the T1/LANs that office workers (one of the core audiences of BBC Sport Interactive) are used to.
Children may also have to share any alloted time online with other siblings or fellow pupils.
With all these things in mind, we came up with concept after concept, and then we would take them to schools around the area to judge opinion from our target audience.
Designs that we thought would be liked were rejected, and those we thought wouldn't, were loved. Previous assumptions had to be thrown out of the window.
This research proved invaluable, and towards the end of the process we were going into schools every other day.
Whilst we were doing this we were also liasing closely with the technical team to ensure that we achieved a streamline site in terms of download.
Finally we arrived at a solution that seemed to work as well for girls as it did for boys, and that is the look you see on the site today.
