But add the digital design agency Prezence to the mix, and the result changes dramatically - as demonstrated by the launch of the new and improved website for Computicket, www.computicket.com.

Prezence, one of Africa's most prominent new media agencies, specialises in taming the complex world of online and mobile digital technology for the average human user. Using proprietary and the most innovative technologies at its disposal, the agency creates digital experiences that are at once functional, strategically-focused, beautifully-designed and - most importantly - easy to use and enjoy.

This is precisely why the company was contracted by Computicket, South Africa's largest national ticketing company, to overhaul the brand's existing website. The result is a lightweight but highly-functional and intuitive user interface that works seamlessly with Computicket's tried and tested physical ticketing platform.

“The bottom line is that we have made it easier, and much, much more intuitive to find and book for virtually any event under the African sun - provided, of course, that Computicket is selling the tickets!” says Prezence MD Tim Bishop.

This puts the website experience completely inline with the physical Computicket brand experience, which revolves around providing access to events ranging from theatre and concerts to festivals, sporting action and even travel. If it's happening in South Africa, you can book for it via Computicket.

“There is simply no point to having a website presence that frustrates users by creating more problems than it solves, so that users can't find events that have been advertised, or takes more time to find those events than it would to travel to a physical outlet and buy the tickets. The online world is supposed to make consumer life ‘simpler, better, faster'. If it doesn't do that, it's damaging the brand,” says Bishop.

The new, improved Computicket.com site improves the user experience through a variety of new tools that allows site visitors to find exactly what they're looking for in a matter of seconds, and one or two clicks, no matter how they choose to search.

The site employs Prezence's “Extreme Functionality” philosophy branching out from three fundamental event-matching criteria: What, where or when? So if consumers know what type of event they'd like to attend, when they want to go, or even when they want to do something (anything!), they can find exactly what they're looking for.

Some other exciting new features include:

• A lightweight interactive seating plan that replaces the old Java system and provides far more control over the booking experience as well as some handy at-a-glance mini seating plan features.
• A useful "Itinerary Planner" tool that allows 'festival' goers to plan their days attending multiple shows without a schedule clash. With the ability to save multiple itineraries, all planned events can then easily be booked in one simple online transaction.
• A new "Quick Book" functionality that allows users to choose seats and transact in seconds without leaving the home page.

It also includes hundreds of additional enhancements to improve the overall user experience, such as hover-over information, similar event cross linking, at-a-glance icon information provision and interactive shopping baskets.

From a technological point of view, the first-time visit overhead is limited to a mere 350kb, and the site also uses intelligent browser and database caching to facilitate instant loading on subsequent visits and ensure quick and efficient search results.

“It is a huge departure from the previous site and whilst the interface may initially look daunting, post-development tests have proved that it takes the average user just 10 minutes to discover all of the benefits and features of the revamped site, and begin to really take advantage of the additional functionality,” says Bishop. Seasoned users are now finding it extremely rewarding and the feedback has been tremendously positive.

He adds, in conclusion, that this is only the first phase of the Computicket digital development. Future plans include the deployment of the Prezence “User Profile” and “Customer Relationship Management” tools that will enable the delivery of personally-targeted versions of the Computicket.com site, ensuring profiled and relevant event delivery to each individual user; as well as a comprehensive mobile site that will allow users to browse and book on the go. And then, for those of us who simply cannot or will not wait in a queue, there's the self-ticketing, print@home functionality…

“At Prezence, we know that it takes complex technology to simplify consumer life. We specialise in innovating and then taming this technology, so that brands can focus on engaging through a simplified but very rewarding consumer experience.”

Prezence 021 5262080