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The BBCs 15 Web Principles

Tom Loosemore
BBC Future Media & Technology

13th March 2007

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/essjay/
The purpose of the BBC
is to make great
programmes
The purpose of the BBC
is to make great
programmes
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/essjay/
The Public Purposes of the BBC
(a) sustaining citizenship and civil society
(b) promoting education and learning
(c) stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
(d) representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities
(e) bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK
(f) in promoting its other purposes, helping to deliver to the
public the benefit of emerging communications
technologies and services and, in addition, taking a leading role
in the switchover to digital television.
How the BBC delivers its Public
Purposes

(1) The BBCs main activities should be the

promotion of its Public Purposes through the
provision of output which consists of
information, education and entertainment,
supplied by means of

(a) television, radio and online services;

</vellum>
The BBCs Fifteen
Web Principles
Principle #1

Build web products that meet user

needs: anticipate needs not yet fully
articulated by users, then meet them
with products that set new standards.
Principle #2

The very best websites do one

thing really, really well: do less, but
execute perfectly.
Principle #3

Do not attempt to do everything

yourselves: link to other high-quality
sites instead. Your users will thank you.
Use other people's content and tools to
enhance your site, and vice versa.
Participation: John Peel Day
Principle #4

Fall forward, fast: make many small

bets, iterate wildly, back successes, kill
failures, fast.
open.bbc.co.uk/catalogu
e
Principle #5

Treat the entire web as a creative

canvas: don't restrict your creativity to
your own site.
Principle #6

The web is a conversation. Join in:

Adopt a relaxed, conversational tone.
Admit your mistakes.
Principle #7

Any website is only as good as its

worst page: Ensure best practice
editorial processes are adopted and
adhered to.
The BBCs worst page?
Principle #8

Make sure all your content can be

linked to, forever.
Principle #9

Remember your granny won't ever

use Second Life: She may come
online soon, with very different needs
from early-adopters.
Principle #10

Maximise routes to content: Develop

as many aggregations of content about
people, places, topics, channels,
networks & time as possible. Optimise
your site to rank high in Google.
Principle #11

Consistent design and navigation

needn't mean one-size-fits-all: Users
should always know they're on one of
your websites, even if they all look very
different. Most importantly of all, they
know they won't ever get lost.
Principle #12

Accessibility is not an optional extra:

Sites designed that way from the ground
up work better for all users.
TrainTimes.org.uk
Principle #13

Let people paste your content on the

walls of their virtual homes:
Encourage users to take nuggets of
content away with them, with links back
to your site
Principle #14

Link to discussions on the web, don't

host them: Only host web-based
discussions where there is a clear
rationale
Principle #15

Personalisation should be
unobtrusive, elegant and transparent:
After all, it's your users' data. Best
respect it.
And if Fifteen is too many

heres Five:
Gregarious
(sociable, participatory)
Straightforward
(simple, uncomplicated)
Open
(exposed, unguarded)
Functional
(usable, useful)
Evolving
(emergent, growing)
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Thank
style You

tom.loosemore@bbc.co.uk