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ETAG Technology Conference 2015 Aligning Strategic Business Vision to User Centred Design

Talks from National Trust for Scotland and Storm ID




This video on ‘Aligning Strategic Business Vision to User-centred Design’ was filmed at the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group (ETAG) event - Technology Solutions For Tourism Conference 2015.

The event which is now its fifth year brings technology and tourism businesses together to identify opportunities to use technology to ensure they meet the changing expectations of Scotland’s digital tourist.

Speakers include Colan Mehaffey, Head of Digital Media at the National Trust for Scotland NTS and Stewart Cruickshank, Client Services Director Storm ID.

Colan Mehaffey explains how they worked with Storm ID to deliver the Battle of Bannockburn Experience online.

Colan explains that NTS has a singular approach to digital strategy which can be applied to a single Facebook page or to a multi-channel global project:

  • Identify challenge and define objective

  • Establish core principles

  • Create coherent actions

Colan went on to explain how they applied this strategy to the Battle of Bannockburn Experience.

Challenges:

  • New experience replacing old one

  • Limited capacity & timed entry - National Trust members expect to turn up and walk in

  • Education remit

Objective:

  • Deliver quality message and monetary conversion through digital channels

Establish core principles:

  • Put the website user first


Define coherent actions:

  • Visitor experience web resource
  • Online and front of house ticketing solution
  • Online learning resource

Colan explains that they used a variety of online tools to help define their activities and actions including:

  • Forrester – free online resources for project prioritisation and profiling
  • Google Analytics – free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic
  • Gartner – have a tool called a ‘hype cycle’ which trends what technology is being used in industries across a given timescale – helps you work out what your customers might use and when
  • WolframAlpha – Facebook profiling tool
  • YouGov – profile companies – might not have your own company but may have a company which is similar

Stewart Cruickshank from Storm ID which developed the Bannockburn Experience are an Edinburgh based user experience and digital technology consultancy. Stewart explains the three key principles used to develop the Bannockburn experience which he says can be used for any project:

Start with user needs

  • Prioritise audiences in line with business goals
  • Speak to your audiences
  • Identify the user needs

Content

  • User needs define the content and then the content should define the design 
  • Utilise your best assets – i.e. for Bannockburn 3D imagery

Adopt an agile approach

  • Test often with users – not just at the end but at the beginning and all the way through  

The overall results of the Battle of Bannockburn Experience online project were:

  • 66k visitors in 2014

  • Triple the volume of the previous centre

  • 43% pre-booking visit

  • 6,635 students from primary, secondary and further education

  • Battlepedia averages nine pages per visit

Ancestral Tourism takes people on a truly personal journey, which is memorable, emotional and creates lasting, bonding relationships. Check out the TIS Ancestral Tourism resource to find out more about how your business can make the most of this market.