O2 i-mode mobile site

‘i-mode presents us with a new way of reaching young people who may not have heard about need2know and the kind of information it offers. Our hope is that some important messages, particularly about topics such as health, will be beneficial to these new audiences,’ Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) project manager for need2know.co.uk

The DCSF sponsored youth portal need2know.co.uk was chosen by O2 to provide free content to its i-mode customers for its UK launch on 27th September.

Developed and maintained by Cimex, need2know offers value added information for free, to young people about issues such as health, careers, relationships and many other areas that impact on their lives.

O2’s i-mode marks a departure from the closed ‘walled-garden’ approach to content provision to an open environment, encouraging community building and innovative content services. It is easier for content partners to develop commercially viable customer-focused services with a low incremental cost model: i-mode sites can be built for less than £10K, reducing the immediate pressure for subscription revenues, and encouraging a diverse range of original services and content.

David Hockin, corporate director at Cimex explained, ‘Building an i-mode site was not just a matter of transferring the website to another platform. The team has had to completely rethink the user experience of a small screen. This has involved an entirely different editorial, design and development approach, and naturally navigation and functionality is key to its success.’

View a simulator of the need2know i-mode service

Visit the need2know.co.uk website