Bloody. Brutal. Bannockburn.
Let battle commence
A decisive victory
The Challenge
The Battle of Bannockburn marked a turning point in Scotland’s history. In 2014, to mark its 700th anniversary, a new visitor centre opened near Stirling.
The centre harnesses impressive 3D technology to bring The Battle of Bannockburn to life, encouraging people of all ages to witness and understand the battle for themselves.
The centre’s digital presence had to reflect and complement the physical building, catering for diverse audience groups and enabling people of all ages to learn more about this seminal event.
The Objectives
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Bring the Battle to life
Enthrall users with this great, bloody moment in Scottish history and its legacy. -
Convert users into visitors
Encourage people to visit The Battle of Bannockburn visitor centre — and tell the story of its conception. -
Make booking tickets easy
Allow users to choose time slots and book visitor centre tickets from any device. -
Support learning for students
Expand on the centre's educational offering, with materials that could support the Curriculum for Excellence in Scottish History.
The Insight
It’s time to bring The Battle of Bannockburn to life. The new visitor centre was conceived as an exciting, immersive experience. The latest 3D technology would mean visitors could experience the Battle themselves. The Battle’s digital presence needed to extend this immersive experience beyond the walls of the visitor centre. It should allow people to continue exploring the Battle and its consequences before and after their visit in a natural, unforced way.
Winner: Scottish Digital Business Awards 2014Education and training category
Key Features
This project followed an agile approach. We developed our ideas into prototypes fast, tested with representative users, and refined our approach according to their feedback.
Key people from the National Trust for Scotland were involved throughout.
During this phase, we delivered:
- Functional prototypes
- A complex online booking system showing real-time availability
- Battlepedia - a digital encyclopaedia packed with information and 3D imagery
- Quizzes
- Teaching guides and resources
Workshops with stakeholders in the early weeks of the project brought forward the top user journeys we had to support.
We then tested those journeys with real users to find out what worked for them - and what didn't. The ticketing system in particular was rigorously tested to make it as easy as possible to book a visit.
"Bloody. Brutal. Bannockburn."
Engaging, immersive content was central to the project’s success. We began planning content early, in order to guide our design decisions.
Ultimately, our newly designed content ranged from Battlepedia text, rotatable 3D images and videos to quizzes and downloadable worksheets.
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