Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park improve UX with new Drupal website

Continuing the spirit of the London 2012 Olympics, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a dynamic new heart for East London. The promised legacy will support innovation and growth and create opportunities for local people. The aim is to transform and integrate the whole area into an unparalleled sustainable and thriving community.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park attracts thousands of visitors each year from around the world. They come to eat, explore and enjoy the exciting atmosphere and a wide range of events and activities. Venues range from the Copper Box Arena for sport and entertainment to the ArcelorMittal Orbit with its stunning views of the capital’s skyline. The centrepiece London Stadium continues to host world-class events for global audiences.

With so much on offer, the organisation behind the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) needed to update the website regularly to showcase all its amenities, public, ticketed and featured events. It was also crucial to provide an exceptional online experience for various audiences. To meet Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s goals, a flexible and scalable content management system (CMS) was required. Following a tender process, LLDC partnered with Un.titled and our sister agency, Williams Commerce to undertake this project.

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+0% +24%% engagement time

The Challenge

The project’s goal was to help as many people as possible discover and enjoy everything that Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has to offer.

One of the project’s biggest challenges and great opportunity was to meet the needs of many different online audiences, including B2B and consumer ones. Streamlining content management was therefore a top priority to provide world-class, engaging user journeys.

Each of these audiences are interested in many different activities at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, some of which are unique while others are ongoing. A key challenge was to update the site on a regular basis. Events range from the whole football, rugby and athletics seasons to single events and performances running for days or weeks. The addition of the semi-permanent ABBA Voyage experience has increased the need to ensure content remains fresh and relevant.

Other challenges were to maintain Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s powerful branding consistently across the website alongside appealing and effective visual presentation.

The previous website no longer fit the brand, and any changes were incredibly time consuming. The area is in constant development and content was often several layers deep with information difficult to find by the users of the website. The new Drupal site has given Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park the scalability and flexibility they needed while elevating the online journey.
Amanda Matthews, Project Manager, Un.titled

The Solution

Working closely with the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s design and branding team at Spy Studios, we created firm foundations for the site’s content management system (CMS).

The first step was to understand the key objectives. Working collaboratively throughout the discovery workshops and research,we built strong relationships with key stakeholders. This highlighted the need for easy-to-use solutions with flexibility for creative storytelling and engaging digital journeys.

Once agreed, the roadmap for the project provided clear objectives for the site’s development and launch.

Our dedicated team of user experience design and website development experts then recommended Drupal as the CMS of choice.

Drupal is a free, open-source content management system renowned for its scalability, flexibility, and security. Designed for customisation, almost every detail can change to create carefully considered bespoke content. It’s an adaptable solution without the need to reprogram modules so the site can grow as Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s requirements change.

Another vital part of the solution was detailed user experience (UX) design to deliver exceptional content for multiple personas across the site. Ease of use and flexibility were key requirements. Enjoyable journeys around the site now lead visitors seamlessly to further information and bookings with multiple vendors. This experience not only meets the needs of the many and varied audiences, but seamless user experiences also help increase participation.

Person holding a mobile phone device viewing What's on page of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park website

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The result

Thanks to our extensive Drupal experience, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park now has a flexible and dynamic website.

The measures of success are audience engagement and site visits, both of which continue to rise steadily:

engagement rate increased by 13%
engagement time risen by 24%

The new Drupal site provides a scalable and flexible future-proofed solution and easy to use content management tools. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s team can now successfully develop the website to reflect its unique and rapidly evolving role.

Next steps

With the foundations in place, the next step was to develop a digital marketing strategy to reach new audiences. To further increase engagement and exposure we are already carrying out proactive search engine optimisation (SEO)work.

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Un.titled played a pivotal role in our website launch, and this was most evident in how seamlessly they led us through the process to launch. Their in-depth discovery process not only helped us pinpoint our target audience but also guided us in crafting a website that truly resonates with our users, leading to a measurable improvement in engagement. The team’s transparent and collaborative approach has built a foundation of trust and partnership. We’re excited to continue this journey with them for many years to come.
Richard Berry, Digital Marketing Manager at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park