Formula One is a international motorsport which season spans from March through to December and covers 20 different countries and five different continents. Although the sport has been around for decades, its social presence has always been restricted due to ex-owner Bernie Ecclestone and organisation the FIA not wanting to cause rule breaking and to keep it as a high end sport. But in the last twelve months, the sport has been purchased by Liberty Media. Liberty Media is a company with innovative ideas who understand the importance of fan contribution and because of their changes both online using their website and social media and out there on track and the days building up before race day, the sport is now the fastest growing sport in the motorsport community.
So, what is the main purpose of the website?
First and foremost, the website aims to prolong the experience of a race weekend and to continue to deliver entertainment and news that is directly related to the sport and the events that took place throughout the season. The secondary aim of the website is to then inform the user about the sport, what is going on within the sport and what might happen in relation to current events and the future of the sport. It also aims to provide news stories for those who wish to be further involved in the sport.
Who is the intended audience?
The issue with having a website based entirely around one sport is that the only audience you will be able to bring in to view it, is spectators or fans of the sport who wish to have an increased experience. This can be altered by providing information about each team involved in the sport, possible information abut lower league formats which feed into the sport and even sports of a similar nature. One other possibility to attract further viewing is to give the sponsors of the sport and the teams an increased portion of the site to then inform viewers about their services and create a revenue stream.
What is interesting to note is that the website does not provide any information or details on who is writing the content for the website. This makes it very hard to ensure the sources are credible and the writers of the material are well informed. On the other hand this is counteracted by the fact that the sport has a very high reputation and this is their official website, ensuring they would only higher people with an informed opinion.
What kind of subject coverage does the website provide?
The website at first glance provides a fun, light hearted summary of the sport. Allowing a casual reader to grasp the major headlines and what is going on in the world of Formula 1. Delve a little deeper and you’ll find intense discussion on rules, how these decisions were arrived at and what they do for the sport. These also have direct reference to the FIA rule book which is the organisation that creates and shapes the sport today.
The information provided on the website has not been factually checked by any academics or peers but it will have been put though to a senior editor which will have meticulously checked each article and ensured that the information provided was accurate and suitable. After reading through many pages and articles on the website I could only find one spelling error and that was on an individual’s name. This shows that the attention to detail is high. The information provided is incredibly up to date and comes in on an hour by hour frequency. This means it is incredibly current is at the front end of providing relevant information to its audience.
So how easy is it to use?
The site is incredibly clear and very easy to navigate. Headers show a very easy path to what you might want to look at, the colours are exciting but not off putting. Whether a casual or first time viewer, or a regular veteran of the sport, it is very easy to understand what is going on.
“There is still a lack of an engineering approach for building Web systems, and the field of measuring the Web is not yet mature. In particular, there is an uncertainty in the selection of evaluation methods, and there are risks of standardizing inadequate evaluation practices.” (Rutter M, 2014). This shows that the evaluation of a site is still something that is very subjective and is open for interpretation. I feel that personally, the site is a very strong site in comparison to others in the same field. It is very clear and there is a wide range of entertaining and informative articles which appeals to all levels of viewership on the subject. A suggestion on how to improve the website would be to further increase fan input and allow the fans to have a section of the site themselves to discuss and debate articles, this I feel would increase the return rate of viewers and an increased traffic on the site.
References:
Rutter, M. (2014). A comparative approach to web evaluation and website evaluation methods.. Available: http://www.napier.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/research-search/outputs/a-comparative-approach-to-web-evaluation-and-website-evaluation-methods. Last accessed 24th Oct 2017.