One Team, Connected

For more than 100 years, New Zealand’s Olympic and Commonwealth Games teams have shaped history and inspired pride across Aotearoa. NZOC wanted its digital channels to carry that legacy forward, becoming the best source of information and inspiration for athletes, fans, partners, media and the next generation.

The website and app had different jobs to do. The website needed to make a vast archive of athletes, Games and results easy to explore. The app needed to deliver immediate schedules, results and medal updates, while giving people a reason to stay connected outside the few weeks when the world’s attention turns to the Games.

The existing ecosystem made that difficult. Content and storytelling were inconsistent, records were duplicated, and the legacy technology relied on complex APIs and data structures. Accessibility and usability needed significant improvement, while an SEO audit had uncovered issues with duplicate content and metadata.

All of this had to be resolved before Paris 2024. The new platform needed to handle live updates and peak traffic, preserve more than a century of sporting history, and give NZOC editors confidence that the information reaching the public was accurate. It also needed to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards and support meaningful engagement between Games.

We began by talking to New Zealanders. Qualitative and quantitative research uncovered six recurring needs: recognise my interests, build anticipation, keep me informed, help me get to know the athletes, connect me with Olympic history, and show me how to get involved.

Those insights defined a clear role for each channel. The website would be the authoritative source for the NZ Team’s past, present and future, serving everyone from occasional visitors and superfans to educators, researchers and media. The app would provide a more direct, personal and always-on connection for fans and athletes, with particular value during live competition.

At the centre was a large and complex content estate covering Games, host cities, sports, schedules, results, medal tallies, athlete profiles and more than a century of history. We redesigned the content model, information architecture and publishing experience around that data. A headless Storyblok CMS gave the NZOC team a single place to manage structured content, while live feeds kept schedules, results, and medal information up to date across both channels.

We built a unified, accessible design system around the silver fern and NZOC’s Waihanga. Rangipapa brought the Team's spirit, passion, and mana into the interface, supported by Niho Tangata and Pou Tangata. We extended the colour palette and designed the experience to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards.

The website used rich storytelling, video, imagery and historical data to bring the Team’s full legacy to life. The app focused on immediate, tailored access for athletes and live Games information, with personalised content, gamified experiences, and bespoke partner activations. Shared content and data kept the two experiences consistent while allowing each to do its own job well.