Developing Nucleus for Awards Entry and Judging
Product: Nucleus
Client: British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
Delivery Timeframe: 2012- 2013
Technology Stack: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL
Project Tools: Google Docs
Approach: Agile Development
Through leading the Nucleus rebuild, I delivered a platform now processing 430,000+ entries annually across BAFTA and 15+ external clients, generating ongoing revenue whilst reducing support queries by 50%. This transformation began when I joined BAFTA’s awards team in 2011 to manage their entry systems and quickly discovered the platform was creating expensive operational problems. The system was clunky and lacked basic functionality: you couldn’t delete entries, payments were locked to per-entry basis, only one category could be selected per form, and videos took weeks to transcode.
When the supplier announced they wouldn’t renew the contract after 10 months, I saw this as an opportunity rather than a crisis. Having documented needed improvements throughout the awards season, I realised the root problem wasn’t just bugs – it was inflexibility. The system couldn’t adapt to BAFTA’s seven different ceremonies, each with their own rules and workflows. Rather than trying to fix the broken system BAFTA owned, I decided we needed to rebuild with configurability as the foundation.
I wrote a comprehensive brief outlining what we actually needed: dynamic form building that could handle complex award rules, shopping cart payment workflows rather than per-entry billing, and separate video management to prevent costly duplicate uploads. I built the business case demonstrating how these changes would reduce costs and improve user experience, convinced senior management to fund the project, and led the tendering process to select our development partner. Through this project, I transitioned into the Product Manager role.
The configurable foundation I established has enabled continuous evolution without requiring architectural rebuilds, becoming the core for BAFTA’s entire technology suite including bursaries, ticket sales, jury voting, and VOD delivery.
BAFTA’s legacy awards system was creating operational problems across seven annual ceremonies, each with unique entry requirements and workflows. The platform’s fundamental limitations were frustrating users: entrants couldn’t delete mistaken entries, forcing them to contact support; the per-entry payment structure meant organisations submitting multiple entries faced repeated billing processes instead of consolidated payments; rigid forms allowed only one category selection, requiring separate submissions for multi-category entries; and video transcoding took weeks, creating bottlenecks during peak submission periods.
Working in the awards team, I experienced these problems daily through high support query volumes and user complaints. The system couldn’t adapt to different ceremony requirements – Film Awards needed different eligibility rules than Games Awards, but the platform treated them identically. There was no self-service account management, meaning password resets, organisation changes, and user permissions all required administrative intervention. Most critically, entrants had to upload the same video file multiple times for different entries, driving up transcoding and storage requirements.
When the supplier announced they wouldn’t renew the contract, I saw this as validation of my growing conviction that the platform needed fundamental reimagining rather than incremental fixes. Even though BAFTA owned the code, I recognised that the architectural problems ran too deep for effective repair. I built the business case around measurable operational inefficiencies: support query volumes, user abandonment during submission, and the developer time required for simple configuration changes. The brief I compiled in 2012 outlined a strategic approach focused on configurability that would solve immediate problems whilst creating commercial opportunities.
Eliminate Costly Video Upload Inefficiencies
Reduce Administrative Support Burden
Enable Scalable Multi-Award Management
Streamline Payment and Billing Efficiency
Eliminate Developer Dependencies for Configuration
Establish Commercial Revenue Foundation
Balancing Diverse User Needs Without Compromising Experience
- BAFTA needed to serve both large organisations with multi-user teams managing complex workflows and individual entrants making simple, one-off submissions. The challenge was creating flexibility that didn’t overcomplicate the experience for either user type. My solution was configurable, user-specific workflows enabling organisation-level account management and multi-user control alongside simple self-service tools for individuals. This flexibility allowed each user type to engage with the system on their own terms, dramatically improving usability whilst reducing administrative support requirements.
Creating Dynamic Forms That Handle Complex Award Rules
- BAFTA’s categories and submission rules vary significantly across seven ceremonies, with some awards allowing multi-category entries, complex eligibility dependencies, and multi-performer submissions. The legacy system forced separate submissions for each scenario, creating administrative and user frustration. I introduced a dynamic form system using eligibility rules, question dependencies, and multi-category selection on single forms. This innovation streamlined the submission process, reduced invalid entries, and gave BAFTA administrators far greater control over data collection without requiring custom development.
Solving Video Upload Inefficiencies and Processing Delays
- The legacy system forced entrants to upload the same video multiple times for different entries, whilst the encoding process was inefficient, sometimes taking up to four weeks for videos to be processed and made available. This created costly bottlenecks, delayed workflows, and generated frequent support requests. I redesigned the video workflow to allow single uploads linked to multiple entries, reducing redundancy significantly. Working with the development team, I also introduced visual process indicators enabling both entrants and administrators to track real-time upload and encoding status, reducing confusion whilst improving transparency.
The Nucleus development demonstrates how thoughtful product architecture can address immediate operational needs while creating opportunities for long-term growth. By focusing on configurability rather than fixed solutions, we delivered a platform that improved BAFTA’s award management while establishing the foundation for commercial expansion and additional product development.
The Nucleus project demonstrates how understanding operational problems and making strategic product decisions can transform challenges into commercial opportunities. By focusing on configurability, eliminating video duplication, and enabling comprehensive self-service, we delivered a platform that solved immediate operational challenges whilst establishing the foundation for commercial success.
The strategic decisions I made weren’t just technical features but business enablers. Working with stakeholders and the vendor, we addressed operational limitations whilst building for future possibilities. The platform that emerged from understanding BAFTA’s award management challenges became the foundation for an entire suite of products and a sustainable commercial offering.
Through this project, I transitioned into the Product Manager role and established my approach to product strategy: understand operational problems deeply, make strategic architectural decisions that solve real user needs, and build for adaptability. The platform’s continued success – now serving 15+ commercial clients whilst processing over 430,000 entries annually – proves the value of this collaborative approach to product development.
“When it comes to awards software, ease of use — both from an admin and entrant perspective — is key. The functionality available within the platform has provided us with a more controlled and flexible way to run our awards. For a small team like ours, it’s been an opportunity to improve the process for everyone. The team behind the platform have been a pleasure to work with and have been extremely reactive and helpful in solving any problems we’ve encountered and supporting us throughout.”
– Nucleus Client Feedback