The USC (Universitair Sport Centrum) which serves as the sports venue of the University of Amsterdam, has recently introduced a new online platform. The USC claims that this platform aims to give their site a fresh new look and replace their platform in need of a change. Anne Kootstra, who works in the department of marketing and communication for the USC, gives her words on the new platform: ‘Our old platform was outdated and rather confusing. It was just time for an upgrade to a new platform with a fresh and more user-friendly set-up.’
Users seem to be happy with the new system. ‘We’ve been using the booking function of this new platform since September and have rolled it out to more and more sports in our program. We started with sports where you need a partner, like tennis and padel. The look and feel is better, there’s a fresh new design that’s more up to today’s standards. Feedback from users has been mostly positive, as there are way more possibilities in this new platform like adding other members to the booking, inviting guests to play and renting a racket or climbing shoes. You can now filter on class level. But if you have a membership that allows you to do multiple sports, and you want to see the full schedule with all your options, that’s also possible. Those are features that we didn’t have in our previous platform’, says the USC spokesperson.
‘The full transition to the new platform last week came with some bumps along the way. But I think we’re mostly settled and members are definitely starting to find their way around the new platform’, adds the spokesperson. Developing a webpage is not something that can be done in a whim: ‘It took about a year. That might seem long, but it’s a complicated platform to build. Because we have such a complicated membership system and offer so many different sports, there are not a lot of parties that can and want to build such a platform. We’ve worked with the same party that also built the previous platform.’
Overall, this platform aims to fix issues that have been plaguing the old platform and it makes life easier for those subscribed to USC. This upgrade would also help in making it easier to follow home workouts. With a new lockdown in place, this new platform can hopefully help to ease the pandemic blues, especially for those who are finding ways to stay fit at home.