Elevating Arts and Culture
As Northern Ireland's Premier Theatre, the Grand Opera House Belfast stands as a beacon of artistic excellence and cultural heritage. Much more than a venue, the Grand Opera House serves as a vibrant creative hub. Eyekiller were appointed to create a website that serves as a digital stage to showcases its productions, corporate services, and cultural offerings.
Launch Project
Harmonising Brand Identity and Event Artwork
The Grand Opera House hosts a diverse range of performances, each with its dedicated event page essential for marketing and audience engagement. A major challenge was the varied artwork and branding from different production companies, which often clashed with brand guidelines, leading to a disjointed user experience. Our solution was to design a system that allowed for seamless integration of these diverse elements without compromising the Grand Opera House's brand consistency, ensuring each show's unique identity was respected while maintaining a cohesive overall website aesthetic.
Developing a Flexible Theming System
We developed a flexible theming engine in Craft CMS that empowered content editors at the Grand Opera House to select custom colour schemes to complement each production's artwork. Additionally, we incorporated the Grand Opera House's unique brand elements, such as specific shapes and illustrations, into the CMS. This feature ensures that while each show's page can be individually styled, it still retains the venue's overarching identity. To facilitate these customisations, we designed a user-friendly interface for the backend, allowing editors to easily apply changes without technical expertise, thus streamlining the process of updating and adapting event pages efficiently.
'Mobile First' Design Approach
Given that over 80% of ticket sales occur on mobile devices, our mobile-first strategy prioritised the essential information and interactions needed by mobile users. We streamlined navigation and optimised load times to ensure smooth and efficient functionality on smaller screens. The new design is fully responsive, adapting effortlessly to various screen sizes and orientations to enhance usability and engagement.
Focus on Usability and Engagement
We paid special attention to the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) on mobile devices. Strategically positioned CTA buttons, readable fonts, and minimalistic design that avoids clutter while providing the essential information and functionalities theatre-goers seek. Features like date pickers for show schedules, seat selection, and seamless Spektrix purchasing pathway are meticulously refined to work flawlessly on small screens.
Seamless Spektrix Integration Boosts Operational Efficiency
Our custom integration of the Spektrix API plays a crucial role in enhancing the functionality of The Grand Opera House website by facilitating seamless 'real-time' synchronisation of detailed event and performance data. This robust integration ensures that the latest event information from Spektrix Ticketing platform is consistently reflected on the website, keeping content fresh and accurate for users. Additionally, this integration is designed to be user-friendly for both box office and marketing teams, significantly improving operational efficiency. It simplifies the management of event details, allowing for quick updates and ensuring that all team members can easily access and use the system to its full potential, enhancing overall productivity and responsiveness.
Incorporating Accessibility Standards
Our design team meticulously designed the Grand Opera House website to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. This commitment ensures that all users, including those with disabilities, can navigate and engage with the site effectively. Key enhancements, such as optimised colour contrast and comprehensive keyboard navigation options, go beyond merely improving usability—they significantly enhance the online experience, making it more inclusive and welcoming.
Enhanced User Experience through Inclusive Design
Understanding the diverse needs of the Grand Opera House's audience, we implemented features that allow users to filter performances based on accessibility options. Each event page within the CMS can be tagged by its access type, including audio-described, captioned, relaxed, and signed performances. This functionality is supported by clear labelling with universally recognised Access Symbols, enabling users to easily identify shows that meet their accessibility requirements.
The Eyekiller team were fantastic to work with...
“Their passion and skill shines through in each interaction and their dedication to our project ensured that the final product went beyond expectation. We are delighted with our new website and the feedback from our customers has been brilliant!”"
Success Stories
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