The London 2012 Olympic ticketing website is ‘75% good for 75% of applicants’ reveals user experience agency Foolproof in an extensive review conducted on the first day of tickets being made available.
Tom Wood, Foolproof Partner and co-author of the report, summarises the experience of the London 2012 ticketing website as a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly.
“The ballot system was a very sensible move given the predicted traffic levels and looks to have had the desired effect in terms of withstanding the initial barrage of applications”, commented Tom Wood. “However the separation into two sites has diluted the user experience and made the application process more complicated and less intuitive than it needed to be. Visa’s exclusivity – especially the way it is communicated – seems to us to be a major mis-step.”
“The ballot system is also good because it creates a six week window for thinking, planning and applying. But what the site doesn’t provide is rich information resources to allow you to make the most of this. Also, the messages on the site don’t draw attention to the fact that you’ve got the ability to chop and change your application right up until the 26th April.”
Foolproof has come up with 5 handy tips to help people when booking their London 2012 tickets:
1. Use the main london2012.com site to plan your sports, venues and dates before going to the ticketing site – particularly if you need to know about access issues for older people or children.
2. Pick some less popular sports that are great to watch live – like Handball, Judo and Weightlifting. You are more likely to get tickets in the ballot. There are blogs and fansites out there that can give you an idea of what’s fun to watch.
3. Think about how much you are prepared to risk to get the tickets you want. Set an upper limit to the total cost of all the tickets you will apply for – and stick to it.
4. Have your Visa card ready. The ticket site is ‘proud to accept only Visa’!
5. If you change your mind after you have gone through checkout, up until 26th April you can ‘withdraw’ your application. This puts your application back in your basket so you can add or remove sessions – or start all over again if you want.
www.foolproof.co.uk