I know, I know. An Olympics post during the Olympics. How cliché.
When researching for this edition of the Ampersand Weekly, I came across a very well written article from Usability Hell that illustrates step-by-step how and why the Olympics ticketing website is a complete usability failure, in addition the server crashes and other headaches users experienced while trying to purchase tickets. It got me thinking. We are so hard on ourselves, and yes, some events surrounding the Olympics have let the public down. But, will the technology fails surrounding the Olympics really overshadow the long-term outcomes of the technology development for these London games?
Let’s start with the mishaps:
Well first and foremost, it was nearly impossible to get tickets,
The Usability Hell of London2012 Olympics Ticketing
Usability Hell
(Rio, best pass this usability lesson on to your web design and development teams.)
Then, coverage of the cycling was interrupted due to too much tweeting…
Olympics 2012: Comms crunch hits cycling, tweeting get the blame
TechRepublic
Oh, and let’s not forget the American NBC commentator who didn’t know who Sir Thomas Bernars-Lee was…
Who the hell is that bloke with the computer?
The Guardian
“If you haven’t heard of him, we haven’t either,” said NBC Olympic anchor Meredith Vieira and then proceeded to tell the viewers to Google him.
Then football fans went hungry when Wembley stadium fails to process payments using official card sponsor, Visa…
Olympics: Anger As Visa Cards Crash At Wembley
Sky News
But let’s not forget the good:
It’s the first ‘social’ Olympic games…
London 2012: London Tweety12 – the first social media Olympics
BBC News
It’s the first games to use Super Hi-Vision, 3Dtv games, chunked streaming and mobile…
Olympic Games coverage: HD, robotic cameras and 3D
BBC News
London’s Digital Olympics
The Telegraph
Legal European feed coverage!
Free Olympic video feeds from 40 European broadcasters draw millions
The Guardian
And, a strong, fast-growing digital future…
Olympics set to deliver vital legacy for UK tech sector’s future
V3.co.uk
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