Suggest a space on Ready for Ten

We’re very excited here at Made by Many to announce the second release of Ready for Ten. It’s got a new look and plenty of exciting new features!

Ready for Ten, a parent-powered website for mums and dads of 6-9 year olds, was created in January 2010. It started as a blogging platform stacked with tips, conversation and support for parents. In the past few weeks we worked on growing the platform, developing new features and evolving the look.

The Skillscape campaign is the most exciting feature of all. The aim of this campaign is to create a map of the UK’s best spaces for kids to play and practise their skills, from parks and playgrounds to sports clubs.

Skillscape homepage

This page gives users detailed information about the campaign. It shows how many places have already been submitted to the Skillscape and encourages users to suggest a new space.

While designing this page I wanted to make it look friendly and inviting. It is important that users feel welcomed and that they immediately get the sense of what they can do there and what they can achieve by taking part.

I’ll go through the design process here:I’ll go through the design process here:

1. When I started designing the first draft I didn’t have the actual copy. I divided the content into panels. The idea was to have an intro panel with an image at the top and three panels below that explain the campaign in detail: 1) more information; 2) submit a place form; 3) win a summer break competition.

It was a good exercise that helped me see how the content could be positioned and also helped me realize how much copy this page requires.

2. After the previous exercise, the copy-writer got involved and provided me with the real copy. This gave me a better idea of how the content should be laid out.

Design changes:

• I made the ‘Suggest a place’ area bigger because I wanted to give it more prominence. I also highlighted it in bright green to help it stand out.

• I moved the panel ‘Win a summer break’ to the bottom and created a small promo for it in the top panel.

• I created a place counting widget, to show people the number of places that have already been added.

3. In the next version I decided to combine two middle panels into one, because in the previous design it felt like they were too disconnected from each other. I also removed the intro copy from the top panel and included it in the middle panel. This change helped the header to stand out more and made the page look less busy.

4. During the design process, we felt like the campaign lacked an identity. We had a brainstorm and came up with a name and logo for the campaign. We decided to call it the Skillscape. After that, I replaced the long header in the top panel with the new logo and a strapline. It immediately gave the page an identity and recognizable look.

‘Suggest a space’ process flow

When creating the process for suggesting a new space to the Skillscape, our aim was to make it as simple and as easy to use as possible. We wanted to limit the number of steps to the minimum, and make the instructions very clear.

We tried out the process in Keynote and tested it with some people who didn’t know the site (mums). With their feedback, we refined it and then started designing.

I’ve mapped the whole process here:

Step 1: Map page

As soon as users enter the location/postcode, they start the recommendation process.  They are taken to the map page which displays the location.

There are two different routes they could be taken through depending on the location they entered.

Route 1. If someone has already suggested a similar space in that location, the map will display them and the users will be asked to check if their suggestion is already there. Then the users have the choice either to leave a comment on the existing space, or to create a new space.

Route 2. If there aren’t any similar spaces already entered in that location, then the location will be marked with a pin on the map. Users can drag the pin on the map to the precise spot. If they are happy with the result, they can go to the next step by clicking the ‘Next’ button.

Step 2: ‘Add details’ page

Here users are asked to fill in more information about the space. It is very important that users include as much information about the space as they can. This will make the entry more valuable and legitimate.

Step 3: ‘Select skills’ page

Here, users can select skills that the space they are suggesting is good for. Using photos instead of just using labels for each skill makes the page more engaging and fun to use.

‘Thank you’ page

At the end of the process, users are taken back to the Skillscape home page.  A ‘thank you’ message appears at the top of the page. It also informs them about what will happen next, i.e. when the Skillscape map is going to be released.

We can’t wait to launch the Skillscape map with all the UK’s best spaces for kids that parents have been suggesting. We hope to gather around 1000 spaces. There are three more weeks to go, so hurry up!