Digital matters in the performing arts
2022 has been a busy year for me, very much focused on meeting various digital needs in a range of performing arts organisations. In this post, I share what these projects focused on, what we built and what my role was on these.
I round them up by banging my usual product management drum. New digital products and solutions need to go hand in hand with new, thought through workflows designed for efficiency.
Internal and customer-facing needs of theatres
Increased revenue generation, on-brand experiences, improved accessibility, cost cutting, and more efficient teams.
Projects in 2022 saw me working across a range of product-related responsibilities – a mixture of product management, user research, accessibility testing, discovery and product scoping, and digital strategy consultancy.
Shakespeare’s Globe shows on demand
In January 2022, I wrapped up a 7 month project with Shakespeare’s Globe, after I’d defined and delivered the newly redesigned and re-platformed Globe Player.
Working closely with a core team at the Globe and overseeing the design and development by the digital solutions agency Substrakt, we used Substrakt’s native video-on-demand product [showcase] to power the player.
The new user-centric National Theatre website
Working closely with Substrakt and a fantastic cross-functional team at the venue, I’ve worked with the National Theatre on product strategy for their website re-think (due to launch in January 2023) for most of the year.
We have been focused on making the new website easy to use and accessible working with users with a range of disabilities and digital literacy, auditing content and re-thinking their content strategy, while also surfacing and showcasing the huge range of events and activities (including their cinema screenings and films on demand) the National Theatre provide to audiences nationwide and internationally.
My work was focused on bridging user and stakeholders needs with the design and development choices that Substrakt were leading on.
Bridge Theatre gets an easy ticket booking path
In early spring, the Bridge Theatre went live with Viadukt by Substrakt, a white-label e-commerce experience I product managed with the Substrakt team for most of 2021. Viadukt is a quick, easy and accessible online booking experience for users, wherever they are.
Designed and built with users with and without access, Viadukt specifically addresses and solves the pain points that users have reported they experience when booking tickets online.
It’s easy to choose a seat even in a complex seating plan and on mobile, see the view from the chosen seat and check out in a few steps. It’s even easy to add food and drink to your order in the same go. When you pay, add the tickets seamlessly to your mobile wallet.
Viadukt, the easiest way to book tickets online is part of the Bridge Theatre website. Photo: Substrakt
Designed and built as a mobile-first solution – and most accessible – Viadukt can be powered by any existing CRM already in use the venue, such as Tessitura and Spektrix. It’s fantastic to finally see it live – give it a go next time you book your tickets online via the Bridge Theatre or Malmö Opera.
Making digital more efficient at the RSC
Summer saw me working with Substrakt for the Royal Shakespeare Company, together with Substrakt. What started as an audit of how digital projects get shipped and prioritised ended in crucial conversations about digital capabilities and creating more efficient workflows, while assessing the next digital projects the RSC should be reviewing and actioning.
Mapping the best planning software to Opera North
For 6 months and working closely with Opera North’s CEO David Collins.
I ran a large scale discovery project at Opera North looking at ways in which opera planning across lots of departments with varying needs and complex interrelated dependancies can be made more efficient – be it with digital solutions, or improved workflows and processes.
Speaking to 30+ stakeholders, my job was to define their needs and translate them into must-have requirements for specialist planning software to bring into the organisation in the future.
As part of this, I was auditing 3 potential planning software agencies to assess how their solution can or cannot meets the needs of Opera North’s team planning and strategic goals.
The V&A for Generation Alpha
Since autumn, I’ve been back in the museum world, leading on defining and delivering a brand new product for young people at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which will continue into 2023.
New digital products, new workflows
In 2022, I was tasked with not just defining, developing and delivering digital solutions, but also auditing and re-thinking the processes, workflows and organisational changes needed to support the health of these products.
These projects and processes always need to plug into the wider digital strategy goals.
The function around revising internal processes is often overlooked or underrated when it comes to product management and implementing digital solutions.
Existing workflows require scoping early on in the product definition process as much as any existing (or lack thereof) digital solutions in place.
Efficient teams, clear responsibilities and product ownership while aligned with the organisation’s digital strategy, need to be an essential KPI around measuring the success of any new digital product.
If I can help you do any of the above at your organisation in 2023, don’t hesitate to get in touch – let’s chat.