Role
Lead Product Designer
Company
Telegraph Special Projects
Timeline
March – July 2024
Introduction
2024 was the Summer of Sports, with the Olympics being the pinnacle of talent and entertainment. I lead the product design efforts alongside assisting graphics and marketing to establish the Paris Olympics' visual identity for the Telegraph - with a focus on digital - and tie it together with a comprehensive suite of Particles (editorial tools) that enable readers to enjoy the Olympics without missing a second of action.
Project challenges
Provide tools and experiences for users to enjoy the Olympics, following their favourite events, regardless of where they are — at home or in Paris.
Celebrate the achievements of Olympians from all countries and enable users to see the progress of each country live.
Craft experiences that cater to Olympic enjoyers of all levels, from the Tennis fans who enjoy a bit on Sunday to the American's who haven't missed an Olympics since '84.
Homepage & particles
The Summer of Sports solidified the effectiveness of utilising Particles, especially ones that updated live on the homepage and app. The 'Mega embed' particle that lived at the top of the Telegraph for the duration of the Paris was the most ambitious version we've ever tested and was split in to three sections: the left covered the medals awarded to Team GB, the middle focused on the schedule for the day and updated as each event concluded; this was also focused on Team GB with their events being shown as priority. The right was linked to the main Olympics live blog that ran each day and surfaced each Key moment to the homepage — every gold medal, Team GB highlight or upset.
Scheduling
The main learning we got from Japan in 2020 was how significant it was for users to know exactly when each event started to plan their days around the events that they wanted to watch — especially for those following one or two disciplines. I introduced an all-new TV guide-style page that allowed the most dedicated of fans to find the exact events that wished to watch, broken down by hour, with comprehensive filters & sorting. My thinking was to design it in such a way that users can keep it on their second screen like a dashboard that progressed throughout the day.
For the less dedicated Olympics viewer was the fully curated What to Watch article, garnering over 1.5 million page views, written by the Sports Desk that recommended what events were most popular or had the potential to be most interesting. On it featured the same truncated timetable from the homepage with a reduced Team GB focus. Users could utilise basic filters to find the events they wanted to watch. This timetable was also featured throughout the website including at the top of all live blogs and in key articles.
Medals
Basking in the glory of a win is an important moment for sports fans across the globe. The medals page was created to provide a home for all things celebratory, both in Paris and looking back at how everyone faired historically. Users got an overview of each country's progress in the medals table or could see live results, showcasing the podium for each medal event. Team GB kept it's home on the left of the widget. A fun idea that I introduced earlier in the 2022 World Cup was a daily image within a carousel, in the top-right, that allowed journalists to pick a Photo of the Day that users could look back on once the Olympics had concluded. It survived 3 days before being cut in favour of key articles due to the need for a dedicated journalist finding one daily.
Conclusion
Comparing the past Olympics coverage of Japan to Paris is night and day. I’m glad that I’ve been able to bring a new shift in Sports design that doesn’t stop at Paris but continues throughout all of the sports coverage at the Telegraph. These pages were seen by millions of unique visitors from around the globe with hot spots in Paris and London. The entire coverage brought over 3m views and gathered in close to 1,500 new subscribers.