Leeds 2023

We were chosen as the agency of record for UX/UI and software development for the UK's city of culture.

In collaboration with the Leeds 2023 team, we designed and developed a seamless and accessible online platform that successfully hosted over 1,100 events, attracted 643,064 unique website visitors from 54 countries, and featured a robust content management system utilised by a team of over 15 organisers and content admins.

Beyond the platform's core features, we also conducted thorough accessibility audits, built a volunteering platform for 1,008 volunteers, integrated product analytics and CRM, developed a search experience and API for external partners, and finally, built a legacy website to ensure a lasting impact beyond the festival.

Throughout the project's duration, we maintained an impeccable record of 100% site uptime, passed all accessibility audits with flying colours, and played a small but significant part in putting Leeds on the global stage for 2023.

Our initial discovery workshop we outlined core requirements of the project such as a volunteering platform and user authentication system to store tickets. An events gallery, and an interactive user raffle for the opening ceremony.

Then we started to create wireframes to outline key flows within the platform.

From there we took the brand identity guidelines and started to flesh out various style tiles for the user interface.

Once we settled on a design language, we checked out designs against WCAG accessibility standards and started to combine the visual style tiles with the wireframes into a functional prototype of the MVP.

With the high-profile nature of the opening ceremony and key headline events throughout the year, featuring major artists, we knew that the website would need to be able to handle massive traffic spikes.

To ensure a seamless user experience during ticket launches, we employed a serverless architecture that enabled the website and events platform to dynamically scale up and down as needed, ensuring that it could handle capacity demands without breaking a sweat.

One of the primary challenges for the LEEDS 2023 events platform was catering to a diverse range of user personas across various event types. To address this, we developed a sophisticated dynamic filtering and recommendation system using Algolia Instant Search, allowing users to effortlessly discover events that perfectly matched their unique preferences.

Furthermore, we integrated a convenient wallet system for seamless ticket storage and management, enhancing the overall user experience.

Our user research revealed that most attendees purchased tickets on their mobile devices and stored them in their mobile wallets. With this in mind, we designed a mobile-first, responsive ticketing system that prioritised fast performance on mobile devices and low-connectivity broadband.

We streamlined the checkout process with one-click payments via Apple Pay and Google Pay, making it easy for users to buy and store tickets on their phones. This seamless, accessible experience allowed attendees to focus on what mattered most - enjoying the event.