Transforming the judging process for the Telstra Business Awards

This tool has streamlined the extensive judging process and eliminated significant business risks associated with the previous paper-based system. It has dramatically improved the judging process for both TBA and TBWA and is widely praised by the judges for being simple, flexible and efficient.

The extensive judging process for each program was previously administered by a small, dedicated team, armed with just a photocopier and a telephone. It was expensive and inefficient.

In order to streamline the process, we designed and built AwardIt, an online judging system that makes administering the two programs simpler and smarter. Our bespoke system application enables the Telstra Business Awards team to coordinate the assessment of hundreds of entries as they advance through five stages throughout the year.

Over 300 judges from across the country are each given a personalised account that allows them to thoroughly review and compare every detail of the entrants according to the strict Awards criteria. The Judging Manager’s Dashboard provides live updates, helping to resolve any issues on the spot and keeping the program moving smoothly along until the eventual winners are selected.

The initial challenge for the Telstra Business Awards project was to understand the existing paper-based processes which were largely undocumented. Our objective was to bring the entire judging process online, allowing judges to work remotely whilst maintaining security, efficiency and flexibility. A number of workshops and interviews with the Awards team and existing judges helped identify the core needs, and a working prototype was quickly developed to test our ideas and extract more feedback and insights. A collaborative, agile approach throughout design and development continued this iterative process and helped us complete the system ahead of schedule. This allowed us to conduct further testing, training and optimisation well before judging started.

AwardIt is a comprehensive system featuring unique features and workflows to support both judges and the judging manager. It is fast, reliable and optimised for all the latest browsers, tablets and smartphones.