Overview

Over the previous 6 years we have produced a variety of online solutions for Times Online. In August 2008 after a competitive pitch we were asked to concept, design and build. This was launched in conjunction with The Times National Spelling Bee Championship, aimed at improving spelling for school children around the UK.

Brief

As part of their education initiative, Times Online required a website to complement their offline National Spelling Bee Championship, which is an event based on the spelling competition in the US.

The following objectives were identified:

• 500 school registrations for the live events

• Circulation uplift for The Times.

• Contribute to establishing The Times as a market leader in education

• Give added value PR to The Times

• Support teachers and to inspire children

Approach

We decided that a key component to this project would be to introduce an online gaming element and profile area. The rationale was to provide an engaging and highly interactive user experience, which would make spelling a fun activity. Furthermore, the inclusion of a scoring mechanism adds a competitive element between users and will naturally become a “pass around” amongst peer groups.

Solution

The website offers a number of Flash-based games offering different spelling challenges across a variety of difficulty levels. The key features of the games lie in the interface design, ease of use and playability.

Teachers are able to access, demonstrate and use the games with their students in a classroom situation outside the framework of the site.

Users are able to log in and practise their skills, with their performances plotted over time, thereby introducing an incentive for returning to the site.

Results

Each of the project objectives as stipulated by the client were achieved, making this one of the most successful projects we have delivered. The games have a completion rate of over 90%, the number of registrations has exceeded expectations and the site continues to experience high volumes of traffic with over 50,000 unique user views since launch.