August 26, 2024 Read 7 Min

How the Paris 2024 Olympics App Could Be Better

The Olympics promised top-tier digital experiences for their 2024 games, but their mobile app has slightly missed the mark. Discover the app’s five key areas that our designers think need tweaks to turn it into a gold-winning experience.

With both games concluded, much is to be said about the 2024 Summer Games. 

But what particularly interests us is their Paris 2024 mobile app

As the official app, one would assume the app would be exceptional. Why wouldn’t it? 

The organizers had the best resources to ensure it:

The digital experience for Paris 2024 is the most sophisticated product we have launched so far. It was built on innovation, audience insights, content diversification, new features, and technical improvement.”

Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Channel Services

Yet, the reality is somewhat underwhelming:

Paris Olympics App Store Ratings

So, where did it go wrong?

About the Paris 2024 mobile application

According to the International Olympic Committee website, the app houses features focused on enhancing fan engagement, such as:

  • Customizable schedule, medals, and results section to match users’ favorite sports and teams
  • Exclusive access to original Olympic news, features, and content straight from the source driven by AI algorithms 
  • Interactive AR filters and map that allow fans to chart their Paris 2024 experience and explore all the must-see events
  • Digital ticketing solutions from QR codes via the mobile app 

On the surface, these features promise a “Made For You” digital experience.

However, while using the app, our UX/UI designers, Mohsin and Diyana, noticed a few things amiss that counter its claims. 

Upon further inspection (using the heuristic evaluation), here’s what they’ve found:

5 Usability Problems

1. Personalization Limitations

The app promises “a personalized experience” by encouraging users to favorite their anticipated events, countries, and athletes. 

But currently, choosing favorites is limited only to countries (teams) and sports:

Adding favorites

While a dedicated “add to favorites” section for athletes is essentially non-existent.

If users are looking to follow specific athletes closely, it’ll require either:

  • Extensive scrolling through the entire list of countries or sports
  • Or manually searching their names in the search bar

This limitation diminishes the app’s flexibility and relevance for individual users, ultimately impacting their overall experience.

Improvement

Introduce a dedicated tab or section to add favorite athletes for more user personalization and higher engagement. Allowing users to select and track their favorite athletes would satisfy their need to quickly receive detailed updates and content, which will likely keep them longer on the app.

2. Accessibility Issues

The homepage lacks direct and quick access to users’ favorite sports and events. 

Instead, they are subjected to an unnecessary process of either: 

1st Path: Use the “Schedule” page, filter their favorites, and click on the sport for more details.

Accessing “Favorites” via “Schedule”

2nd Path: Click on the “Favorite Countries” feature on the homepage. However, this entry point displays only the number of ongoing events for said country without visibly specifying which events are happening.

Accessing “Favorites” via homepage

Improvement

The home page is the first point of contact for users, often functioning as a navigation hub.

Therefore, it should be utilized to display updates on users’ favorites upfront for better personalization.

This includes showing upcoming events, recent results, and other relevant information earlier. 

It eliminates the need for users to repeatedly filter through the “Schedule” page to find this critical information.

3. Confusing User Experience

If we had to summarize the app’s overall user experience in one word, it’d be confusing

The app suffers from poor design choices in several areas that unnecessarily complicate the user journey, such as:

  • Schedule Feature

With sports apps, users naturally expect to know and track when events occur. 

This makes the “Schedule” section one of the app’s most relied-on features. However, instead of simplifying the viewing planning process, several complications hinder it.

For one, it suffers from repetitive and inconsistent filter options. 

The app uses a main menu but also separates options, such as dates, favorites, medal events, and saved events, into distinct filter categories.

Filter options in “Schedule”

This separation leads to a fragmented experience where users might spend excessive time navigating multiple filters to find their desired content.

Also, the “Favorites” and the “Main” filter menus show users the same options.

“Malaysia and Diving” show up in both “Favorite” and “Main” menu options

Duplicating filter options not only wastes valuable screen real estate but it also overwhelms users’ cognitive capacity. 

Furthermore, users cannot select multiple sports or countries simultaneously, which restricts them from creating a tailored schedule that fits their preferences.

Only 1 country and 1 sport at a time

What’s more, the app’s interface is visually cluttered. 

With numerous events overlapping, distinguishing one from another becomes difficult.

The events appear to blend, forcing users to differentiate them solely using time indicators—a method that is far from user-friendly.

At a glance, how do you tell which event is happening?

Improvement

Simplify the filtering process by automatically applying all favorited items from the get-go while labeling other filters as “Advanced Filters.” 

Allow for filtering multiple favorite sports and countries and incorporate visual elements like time blocks in the “Schedule.” It will help users distinguish overlapping events better and enable a more personalized schedule.

  • Navigation Journey

UX best practices emphasize simplicity and sticking to common patterns for navigation.

However, the Olympics app deviates from this principle.

To begin with, the app has an unclear navigation path with multiple pathways leading to the same page.

For example, the “Schedule” and “Events” tabs.

Each tab directs users to the same schedule page. The only difference is the “Events” tab has dropdown options for better filtering.

“Schedule” page accessed through (1) Schedule tab and (2) Events tab

Furthermore, users must navigate an inefficient path to find specific sports or event details.

They either have to…

1st Path: Scroll extensively on the homepage to access the list

2nd Path: Utilize the search bar

3rd Path: Locate the intended details in the Schedule

These navigation issues harm the user experience. When users can’t easily find the information they need, it leads to lower user satisfaction and higher bounce rates.

Improvements

Add more visible and intuitive entry points for browsing all sports directly from the homepage. It’ll streamline the users’ search process when seeking specific event information.

Redesign the appearance of the “Schedule” page differently. Tailor the design based on users’ entry points to reduce disorientation.

  • Icons & Buttons Design Flaw

Many icons are unlabeled, and rare icons, such as those representing medals, are not intuitively understood as they are not commonly used in other apps. 

Olympic App Iconography

The flaws worsen with the simultaneous display of both back and close icons in some parts of the app, which can lead to navigational errors. 

“Close” and “Back” Icons on the same page

There is also a lack of differentiation between buttons—for example, the two “Questions?” buttons lead to different pages.

One “Question” button leads to a detailed help page.

“Questions” to “Help” page

While the other leads to a “FAQ” page.

“Questions” to “FAQ” page

Improvements

All app icons should be clearly labeled, especially less common ones like medals, for better user understanding.

Retain only the close icon for returning to schedules and rename similar buttons to their subsequent pages. This will clarify guidance and simplify navigation, which in turn will reduce user frustration.

4. Marketing > Functionality

Hero sections are vital to maximizing user impact, especially in capturing attention and increasing user retention.

So, designers often use strategic and intentional design to ensure that the hero section delivers the application’s value proposition.

But it’s the opposite for the Olympics app. 

Users most likely open the app to view the game days of teams and the sports they are following. 

Yet, upon launching the app, users are first greeted by marketing content focusing on merchandise sales. 

Marketing in the “Hero Section”

Users would need to scroll to view the schedule for the next Olympic event for the day. This design choice misaligns with the primary user goal of checking event schedules.

Improvement

To best serve the user’s main objectives, the home page should’ve been reorganized to prioritize the schedule in the hero section. 

In this case, marketing content should be a secondary focus, placed somewhere reasonable below the hero section.

5. External App Requirement

As the official mobile app for the games, one would think it’ll be the ONLY thing you need to satisfy all your Olympic digital needs. 

So, it was a bit frustrating to discover that the app requires users to use a separate app for Olympic tickets via a QR code embedded under the “Enjoy The Games” section.

Retrieving tickets on a secondary app

This violates user expectations and adds unnecessary steps to the ticket retrieval process. For some users, it may even require an additional phone to scan.

Improvement

The app could integrate a ticketing system in a single app to prevent the user from downloading another app.

If that is not possible, at the very least, provide a direct download link for the external app.

It makes downloading less cumbersome than asking users to scan a QR code. 

An ideal situation would be a direct prompt to open ‘App Store’ or ‘Google Play Store’ depending on the device used.

It’s in the Details

While the flaws in the Olympics 2024 mobile app may seem minor, they highlight the importance of attention to detail in app development. 

When compiled, these minor issues can gradually diminish the app’s overall functionality and appeal.

At Snappymob, we understand that true craftsmanship in mobile app development and UX/UI design lies in meticulously addressing these details. 

Our commitment to excellence ensures that every aspect of the user journey is thoughtfully crafted. We code and design apps that function well and delight users with seamless and intuitive experiences.