The recent relaunch of the BBC’s Doctor Who website — as well as the decades-old science-fiction show itself — is interesting for many reasons. The BBC team in Wales was aware that the entire franchise was going through something of a regeneration. The new Doctor, companion, and creative team meant that changes to the tone of the brand were coming that had to be reflected on the website as well.

BBC’s brief was a simple: “Make the site the No. 1 destination to experience the world of “Doctor Who,” past, present, and future.” In web-design terms, this translated into extending the reality of a show with such a rich, subject matter. The website was then built in a way that became a platform to distribute originated content associated with “Doctor Who”. The goal was to ensure that “Doctor Who” would be more than just a Saturday night TV program, and the site transformed into a 24/7 experience for which the online element is the key component.

From a technology point of view, the team utilized the new BBC Platform. The use of this new platform opened a new suite of development tools. It enhanced the speed of the site, allows to produce more dynamic, customizable content. The new Global Visual Language enables to think big (literally) with designs, using the metaphors of time and depth within the site. Together with R&D , the web design team realized a powerful way of engaging with narratives online, which helps to explore how to tell stories that don’t fit into single “Doctor Who” episodes.

For content, the BBC accrued feedback from its audience from its “red site.” The feedback included:

• The audience loves monsters. For this reason, a brand-new section in the site helps viewers to explore and learn more about them. Iconic foes like Daleks and Cybermen have had repeated encounters with the Doctor, which is reflected within the site’s designs.

• The “Doctor Who” site is the destination for fans, and the news section is important for two reasons: to deliver level-production news (which is a key request from users) and break important “Doctor Who” news stories.

• The Fun & Games section of the site is a major priority; it’s also extremely popular with the younger audience. A new look and feel was introduced to this section to keep it visually engaging and entertaining. The BBC is also working on the development of its own Adventure Games.

• Past series have been unlocked from archives, and content has been moved to the new site.

The first phase is completed, and the new site is available online now.

Google (GOOG) is revamping its search tool to speed things up for users. Website load-time is a new factor in search-engine rankings, meaning that websites could have a hard time loading due to their site’s structure. Google has confirmed that site speed will be a factor (albeit not a major one). Here are some ways to speed up a website:

1. Images. The website should not be image-heavy. Try to reduce the number of images as well as their resolutions. In most cases, a reduced PNG or JPG will work just fine. The higher the quality of the image, the longer the load time of the website will be. The same applies to flash introductions. An example of an image-rich website that loads quickly is www.ice.com.
2. Code. Make sure the website’s code is clean. Sometimes websites are built with much more code than they really need, which can slow them down. Many scripts and actions make a website slow, so focus on using more-straightforward HTML. A good example is the John Deere website.
3. Widgets. These devices can be fun, but they can slow website-loading time. If a company wants to increase site speed, it has to tone down its use of widgets. It is enticing to fill the website sidebar with nice widgets to keep people on the website. However, too many can harm — rather than help — the experience.

User-experience is very important for websites, so the search engines want websites to be as streamlined as possible. Keep this in mind when doing any sort of website upgrades.

Facebook applications are all the social-media rage these days. Ten minutes cannot go by without users seeing feed-updates on Farmville, snowball fights, mafia wars, pirates, vampires, sororities, and other addicting applications. Obviously, these simple games are extremely popular and likely generate significant advertising revenue for both their developers and Facebook itself.

If you want to get a piece of the digital action, here are some steps to develop your own Facebook application and profit from the application.

1. Do your own research and generate a specific plan. What exactly do you want to create, and what skill sets, programming languages, and site architectures will you need? Imagine approaching a web developer only this statement: “I want to build a Facebook application in which unicorns battle stallions for control of Saturn.” He will look at you like you’re nuts. But more significantly, it will take the developer hours — if not days or weeks — to determine which languages, platforms, and architectures will be necessary to create the program. And remember — you’re most likely paying him by the hour. So why not figure out what you need beforehand? If you’re not a programming genius yourself, try brainstorming with a friend who knows the field. Map the entire work-flow process before you start paying someone else so neither time nor money is wasted.

2. Decide on a budget, and interview candidates. Once you know what you need, you will have to how much it will cost. Once you have a list of the needed skills, technical needs, programming languages, site architectures, and related items, you can search the Internet — sites like Guru, oDesk and Elance are good for research and recruiting — to get an idea of the hourly price-range for each of the required skills. Contact a few potential developers (assuming that you do not have in-house staff) both in the West and in popular outsourcing countries like India to get estimates on how the project will take. But keep in mind: high-tech projects always run over budget and take longer than expected. Murphy seems to have a special affection for computers. In addition, balance your need to save money with the need to communicate effectively. Foreign outsourcers on sites like oDesk and Elance can save you money, but it might be hard to work together. A friend-of-a-friend who’s an out-of-work programmer might charge a little more, but he can come to your living room.

3. Check out Facebook itself. Obviously, the social-media giant has an interested in hosting new, addicting programs. So, why not work with them? Facebook has a developer-marketplace application — together with forums and other sections — that is a terrific help.

This is just a brief introduction to hiring Facebook developers, but the major point remains clear: Know exactly what you want and what it will take — in as detailed terms as possible — even before you begin talking to prospective hires. This will save you a lot of time, money, and heartache.