CASE STUDY – CURRANTBUN.COM (1999)

Background

• The Sun and News of the World websites were only accessible to subscribers to the LineOne ISP

• Only a tiny percentage of Sun readers were “online” –but a good percentage had expressed the desire to go online in 12 months time

• Both brands were looking for an internet presence that would substantially raise their profile online and recruit Sun and News of the World readers to the Internet

My project scope

• To create the user-centric elements of an ISP that represented The Sun brand and which would recruit large numbers of Sun readers as “internet newbies”• To manage the content, design and development of the CD, booklet and packaging , the website portal and the supporting newspaper websites to launch and provide a platform for ongoing development

Project constraints

• Development timeframe – 6 weeks to launch due to the impending launch of IC24 (Daily Mirror’s ISP)• Project team size and expertise• Secrecy – codenamed “Operation Barbara”

Key challenges

• To enable readers to sign up for the ISP and install the relevant software with the minimum technical fuss• The creation of a suitable user experience portal once people got online• Redesign and develop The Sun’s website• Redesign and develop the News of the World website post the launch of the ISP

Additional challenges

• The development, build and purchase of the website infrastructure• Set up and testing of the telecoms infrastructure at the ISP • Integration and training of existing website team

Solution

To issue a CD package that would fully explain the steps required to go online and distribute these via newspaper advertising

Key Challenge: To enable readers to sign up for the ISP and install the relevant software with the minimum technical fuss

Part of the package provided an instructions booklet which was easy to read – and hence made it easy to use.

Slogans like: “If you don’t look at these pages – it’ll end up taking you ages” kept things light

The main USP for using CurrantBun.com over other ISPs was that it had all the software you ever needed for online use – without all the technical jargon!

Installing the software on the CD was explained through clear, concise visual steps

Even the daunting prospect of registering online for the ongoing ISP services was made easy with a simple registration form that captured just enough data to make the experience quick and non-threatening

Once you signed up and got into the CurrantBun.com portal page, the booklet then showed you how to configure your email account and suggested a number of things to try out – entitled “Your first 10 minutes online”.

The feedback from users, even from some internet diehards who had switched to the new ISP, was that CurrantBun.com had successfully taken the nonsense out of going online.

Solution• Made things visual – such as the navigation buttons and kept layout and structure simple and logical• Used clear signposts and “step” processes to explain things and get people actually doing things• Worked closely with Sun journalists to use language that was non-technical and non-threatening• Had an “Anoraks” cupboard (slightly techy area) for those who wanted to know more

Key Challenge: To create a suitable user experience portal that the vast majority of Sun readers (who were not au faux with the Internet) would understand once they got online.

Solution• Ensured branding and sections were consistent with the offline product – e.g. Bizarre (entertainment) page• Kept layout and structure simple and logical • Made things visual – such as the navigation buttons and calls to user interaction

Key Challenge: The redesign and development of The Sun’s website

Solution• Ensured branding and sections are consistent with the offline product – e.g. Captain Cash, Dear Jane, etc• Gave the website its own identity while maintaining a consistency of design with The Sun website and CurrantBun.com• Made things visual – such as the use of front page scans and calls to user interaction

Key Challenge: The redesign and development of the News of the World’s website post launch of the ISP

Conclusion• The CDs packages, website portal and newspaper websites launched on time

• The user experience proved to be very popular with registrations reaching 50,000 within three months following launch, approximately a ratio of 1:3 of disks requested

• The design (by James Law) and branding mirrored the offline products and provided a platform for both websites to develop into the recognisable propositions that they are now

Sub-branded versions appeared due to the popularity of the service:

CurrantBun.com baked @ Asda

AND CurrantBun.comtoasted @ Comet