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Scaling the Rugby World Cup Booking Experience

Lead Product Designer and Manager
Head of Ecommerce, Sales, Engineers, CEO
Couleur
Lead product strategy, UX/UI design, research, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration
€1M sales in 24h on launch
30% increase in successful purchases
90% reduction in support tickets

1. Introduction

Couleur served as the official travel agency for the Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2023. As the Lead Product Designer and Manager, I was responsible for the end-to-end strategy of a platform that facilitated thousands of high-value transactions for international fans and VIPs. The objective was to transform a manual, high-pressure booking process into a seamless digital journey for users purchasing official travel and match packages.

2. Problem & Business Context

The platform faced "Event-Induced Volatility," where massive traffic surges during ticket releases threatened to paralyze legacy systems. We had to manage limited inventory, specifically tickets and hotel rooms, while ensuring that the 40% of users who historically abandoned the funnel due to technical complexity were retained.

Users were required to navigate complex travel packages combining flights, hotels, and match tickets, often under time pressure during high-demand release periods.

3. Research & Data-Driven Insights

My research combined competitive benchmarking against major players like Gulliver’s Sports Travel with a deep dive into user behavior data.

Preventable Friction: Data showed that 80% of support issues were generated by unclear pricing and complex package configurations.

The Trust Gap: Only 50% of users felt confident completing high-value purchases (exceeding €2,000) without manual intervention.

User Personas: We developed specific personas for "The Die-Hard Fan" and "The Corporate Organizer," mapping their distinct journeys from match discovery to final checkout.

4. Design Strategy: The Eisenhower Framework

I utilized the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize features based on urgency and long-term business impact.

Urgent & Important: We prioritized real-time seat selection and a robust payment gateway to prevent overbooking of limited match inventory.

Building Purchase Confidence: I focused on improving pricing clarity, package readability, and checkout validation to help users complete high-value purchases with greater confidence.

Reducing Cognitive Load: To address the 80% support ticket rate, I revamped the information architecture to simplify complex "Flight + Hotel + Ticket" packages into a single view.

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5. The Solution: A Scalable, Dual-Market Engine

The final solution was a responsive platform optimized for both individual fans and professional travel managers.

Taskflow Optimization: I streamlined the "Discovery-to-Purchase" flow to under 4 minutes, reducing the friction that led to previous abandonment.

Simplified Booking Experience: The redesigned experience reduced complexity around package configuration and made travel offers easier to compare and understand.

Integrated Support: By implementing clearer placeholders and real-time validation, we ensured users had the information needed to complete purchases independently.

6. Outcomes & Impact

The launch was a landmark success, proving that a high-velocity UX can drive unprecedented commercial results.

Launch Velocity: The platform successfully processed €1M in sales within the first 24 hours of launch, maintaining 100% uptime during peak traffic.

Conversion Power: We achieved a 30% increase in successful purchases compared to previous cycles.

Operational Efficiency: Proactive error handling and clearer messaging eliminated 90% of preventable support tickets.

7. Reflections

The Couleur project demonstrated that for global events, technical scalability must be matched by UX simplicity. Selling €1M in a single day required more than just a payment button; it required a system that built enough user trust to facilitate high-value transactions.

By simplifying package configuration and reducing friction throughout the booking experience, we created a platform capable of supporting both business performance and user confidence during one of the world’s largest sporting events.

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