These days the city I live in- London- is on the global stage. The Olympics are finally here, the Sponsors are everywhere, and being 2012, being the age of Socialmedia and Mobile, you’d expect amazing and futuristic experiences. Under this aspect it’s been a disappointment.
(Well, this and the fact that most Londoner have fled the city, so it is much less buzzy than you’d expect)
Here are the only digital solutions that I personally find successful:
1) The BBC live streaming- wherever you are, whenever, with any device, you can always watch what it’s going on. My ipad is becoming my always-on TV.
Oh, and it’s Live.. NBC take notice!
2)Transport of London Olympics journey planner.
I know it is not common here not to complain about transports- and actually praise something about it. But in all honesty they’ve done a good job in alerting people of disruptions and helping us find alternatives. And apps like Tube Map and Kabbee help not being left wandering where to go.
3) Spotify Olympics playlist. Danny Boyle’s 86 songs immediately recreated by users. Here’s one example. Great for theme parties and for feeling part of it even if you are simply on a bus ride to work.
That’s it. Nothing fancy, as you can see. No wowing factor, no ‘delightful’ user experiences.
But what I’d like to see in the next Olympics:
1) A better version of the athletes’ hub. I like the ability to follow my favourite athletes. But I wish I was able to get updates about when they are on, track their performances, cheer publicly for them.
2) Digital Tickets pools. Enough with those empty areas that upset and infuriate people! Sponsors should give their tickets to whomever they want, but they should also track them digitally, and if the ticket owners don’t show up before a certain time these places are made immediately available to schools and under-privileged children.
3) An Olympics food delivery service. Ok, it’s a bit of a stretch, and mostly due to my frustration for lack of decent food delivery service in London, but it’s true that these days you meet friends at home to watch the games, so a connected service would be great.
Open to suggestions.