Building The Sun\'s ISP

1. 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

2. 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

3. Key Challenge: To enable readers to sign up for the ISP and install the
relevant software with the minimum technical fuss
Solution
To issue a CD package that would fully explain the steps required
to go online and distribute these via newspaper advertising

4. 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!

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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
• 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

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

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

10. Sub-branded versions
appeared due to the
popularity of the service:
CurrantBun.com
baked @ Asda
AND CurrantBun.com
toasted @ Comet
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