Analysis: How BBC used interactivity in a web content

This is an analysis of the dimensions and levels of interactivity on “Coronavirus: how exposed is your job?”, a digital content published in May by the BBC.

Although it is text-based content, we can notice a range of multimodal elements, such as hyperlinks, an image and an interactive box along the page.

The content was published inside the news section of the BBC website, and it’s both informative and explanatory. But it does not fit the standards of a news article with an inverted pyramid.

Therefore, we can assume that this content was created with the aim of being an interactive tool, which complements the special coronavirus coverage runned by the BBC.

As there are some news articles where the interactive tool is a complement to the news, in this case the news is “peripheral”, and the interactive tool is the great highlight.

The content starts presenting a database released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics, and it flows to an interactive box related to the data.

I personally believe that the creation of this interactive box was an editorial choice, since the extension of this database prevents all details and information from being presented properly in a brief text, image or video.

Moreover, as the producers were dealing with an extensive database, we can also consider the interactive box part of a data visualisation.

In terms of interactive structure, the content follows the Martini-glass format. It means that the author has total control of the story in the beginning, introducing the readers into a specific context. Only after this introduction the reader becomes more independent and can explore the content openly.

In this content, the producers used personalisation as the main interactive genre. Since the title (“How exposed is YOUR job?”), readers are invited to join in a personalised experience.

To access the information, the readers need to input personal data (their profession), and only after this step the details are displayed.

In this sense, based on Jensen´s 4 types of interactivity definition, this content can be classified as registrational, because the user input partially shapes the content displayed.

Going further and considering the six dimensions of interactivity presented by Downes and McMillan (2020), we can say the direction of the communication occurs for sure between the storyteller and the readers (two ways).

Being an online content, the readers have flexible time to consume the information and engage with it, and the website, as the medium of communication between senders and receivers, creates a sense of place (where both readers and storytellers belong to).

Considering the participant dimensions, the content requires a level of responsiveness (mainly when the users need to input their personal data), and perception of the communication´s purpose.

Curiously, although the author has/detains the information, he does not control the reader’s final perception about the information. It occurs because each reader can create a different perception based on his personal interaction with the content.

Levels of user control

The main output tools are the hyperlinks and the search box on the top of the page. Both give to the readers a kind of autonomy and control to navigate through the medium.

In terms of input tools, such as reporter contact details, comments form or forum, the content is scarce. However, the interactive tool in the middle of the page is the most important input tool and can be considered the central part of the whole content.

As the BBC website is a mobile-optimised web page, this characteristic gives the user control on where and how (space) accessing the content, as well as when (time).

Conclusion

In this particular case, I consider the use of interactivity an important source to illustrate the content. As the producers were working with a dataset that basically shows a list of professions and the risks for exposure to COVID-19, a good way to present this information is turning into a personal story.

The interactive tool was able to transmit the information (which is the main purpose of a news content) to all types of professionals, which were the target audience.