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World Master Games 2017, a experience for all ages
Project Overview
In 2017, Auckland hosted the World Masters Games, the largest multi-sport event in the world, bringing together 28,000 participants from across the globe. The Games were more than just competition, they celebrated the joy of sport, inclusivity, and the dedication of athletes of all ages.
Working within the creative agency Ogilvys part of the digital team, I was tasked with designing a functional, accessible, and easy-to-navigate website that provided real-time event information while also showcasing New Zealand’s tourism offerings. With a creative campaign led by Danny and Nathan, our challenge was to turn their vision into a seamless digital experience that could cater to a diverse and older audience, at a time when accessibility and usability for this demographic were rarely discussed in digital design.
Deliverable
- Strategy & UX Planning: Defining the user journey and information structure
- UX/UI Design: Creating a clean, intuitive experience for all participants
- Website Branding: Aligning visual identity with the event’s energy and values
- Digital Guidelines: Ensuring consistency across web and mobile platforms
The Challenge
One of the biggest challenges was ensuring accessibility and simplicity for an older audience. Since many participants were from an older generation, the website needed to meet AA accessibility standards while maintaining a clear and effortless navigation experience. We focused on creating legible typography, strong contrast, and a structured layout that allowed users to find information quickly. To ensure accessibility, we tested the site with real users to validate readability, ease of interaction, and navigation clarity. Since the platform had no login functionality, it had to be designed in a way that participants could immediately locate their schedules and relevant event details without any barriers.
Another major challenge was delivering live event information without API automation. The backend system was unable to support real-time updates, meaning we had to rely on daily PDF uploads to provide participants with essential match details, schedules, and venues. This required designing a streamlined and structured approach to make PDFs easy to find and access. However, one of the key hurdles remained educating users—particularly those less tech-savvy—on how to open and navigate PDF files. Despite this limitation, we ensured that all event details were easy to locate through clear categorisation and a simplified user flow.
My Approach
Beyond event logistics, the site also needed to integrate New Zealand tourism as a core part of the experience. Since the Games were a significant driver of international tourism, the website had to comply with New Zealand’s tourism branding and guidelines while ensuring that the focus remained on the event itself. The challenge was to balance both aspects seamlessly—giving participants all the information they needed while subtly integrating local experiences, travel recommendations, and cultural highlights. This was achieved through a dual-focus content strategy, structured layouts that guided users between event and travel content, and collaboration with tourism teams to ensure a cohesive experience.
From a production standpoint, the project required tight collaboration across multiple teams. My role involved leading strategy workshops with the client, developing wireframes and prototypes to map out the user journey, and working closely with developers to ensure that the designs pushed creative boundaries while remaining functional within the technical constraints. The content and creative teams also played a major role, providing assets and updates daily, which we integrated into the site in real time. The constant back-and-forth between design, development, and content management made this project highly dynamic and required agile problem-solving throughout the process.
Outcome
The final website successfully delivered a seamless experience that balanced event functionality with tourism engagement. Participants could quickly and intuitively navigate the platform, finding game schedules, match details, and location information with minimal friction. Despite the limitations of relying on PDFs, the structured navigation and clear content categorisation made it as easy as possible for users to find the information they needed.
The accessibility-first approach ensured that the site remained highly usable across a diverse audience, particularly for older participants who were less familiar with digital platforms. User testing confirmed that legibility, color contrast, and interaction design were optimised, leading to minimal usability complaints.
The integration of New Zealand tourism content was also a success, helping to promote local experiences and cultural attractions while ensuring that the focus remained on the Games. The final designs adhered to New Zealand’s tourism branding, creating a visually engaging, intuitive, and highly functional website that aligned with both the sporting event and the broader tourism strategy.
At the end of the project, the client was highly satisfied with the execution, and the limited volume of feedback from users indicated that the site had effectively met its objectives. While the challenge of educating users on PDFs remained, the overall design, usability, and execution were highly praised, making this a standout project in balancing accessibility, user experience, and real-time event logistics.
