Lab UK is an exciting BBC website that lets the public at large take part in groundbreaking science experiments. Pancentric Digital have been commissioned by the BBC to roll out a series of experiments over the course of six months that build on the legacy of Lab UK.
Strategy
What does Class mean in Britain today? Do the labels ‘working’ ‘middle’ and ‘upper’ even exist or have any relevance in modern-day’s society?
The Great British Class survey used a web application to get hundreds of thousands of respondents from all tiers of society to take part in the largest ever interactive survey of its kind, the outcome of which was to challenge the way we think about and define the society we live in. Results will help create an interactive map that will depict the UK’s Class system.
Execution
To encourage such mass participation on a nationwide scale was the challenge. The solution was to reward users’ participation with a meaningful take-away. To add real-value for the user the BBC created the ‘Crest of Arms’ concept, an elegant and sophisticated solution to the data reporting element of this project using data visualisation. Each person’s individual responses to the survey generates a highly personalised and tailored ‘Crest of Arms’ depicting their score on the 3 measures of the survey – economic, social and cultural. This makes it possible for participants to wrap their head around a large volume of data in a way that is meaningful, memorable and descriptive.
When the full results of the survey are revealed in 2011 it will be as an interactive visualisation that allows the public to explore the findings from every angle.
The survey was featured on The One Show and two BBC documentaries on Class ‘Posh and Posher’ and ‘Who gets the best jobs’ as well as on BBC Radio 5 and to local radio listeners.
Results
In the first 24 hours of its launch more than 60,000 people took part survey, this figure continues to grow. In addition to overwhelming public response the experiments created a huge online buzz as well as high-profile press and TV coverage.