Local leisure centre websites 🤯

[TwinklyTornadoBear]

Why, for the love of god, are local leisure centre websites so catastrophically shite? We’ve lived near three different ones now, and each time it feels like a competition to see who can design the most user unfriendly site. They’d get a slicker result if they outsourced it to a bunch of 12yr olds.

Want to see the timetable? Just scroll past the Ts & Cs, GDPR statement, parking policy, contact info, and probably the town’s coat of arms, right down at the very bottom. Because obviously that’s the most logical place to hide it.

They’ve got three completely separate systems depending on what you’re doing. Booking a session - use the main site. Want to see lessons, go to Course Hub. And don’t forget the HomePortal which you occasionally end up in, and looks the same as everywhere else, but is just designed to send you on a wild goose chase. You also get to re-select your “home” centre from a randomised drop-down list every single time. Maybe Exeter, tomorrow Dundee - does your local
pool even exist anymore?

Swimming lessons are a whole new level of joy. First you’ve got to find where to book them on the site (which should earn you a Duke of Edinburgh badge in orienteering). Then you can add your child to a waiting list… except the staff say the waiting list doesn’t exist. Not to worry, just keep refreshing at 6 a.m. every morning like it’s Glastonbury tickets.

All the while you’re tripping over lengthy statements about their “mission and values.” I don’t care if your mission is world peace and your values are kindness, courage and turmeric smoothies - I just want to know when the pool is open, how much it costs, and whether I can book a gym session without studying computer programming. 🤯

Is this just a local curse, or are leisure centres nationwide engaged in some secret pact to make their websites as unusable as humanly possible?

Yep O hear you.

one of the reasons I do wild swimming which is free is because I do not have to book!

Totally agree! Terrible user experience. Just make the timetable accessible on the front page.

Completely agree OP. We have Better running our local leisure centres and their website is impossible to navigate

Haha - agree, a timetable and 'book here's button is all that is needed!

Agreed
It’s like a test to get to the timetable. And then to book anything multiple portals with multiple log in details.

We must visit the same leisure centres.

Booking a course of swimming lessons for a child involves a cryptic crossword, international treasure hunt and queueing under the full moon, holding a white rose.

Ours is horrendous, might as well be written in a foreign language. Absolutely impossible to find the information you want.

Haha is this Places for People? Sounds a lot like Places… 🤣

Yes, ours is the same. If you go in to book something, the staff on the desk are often bemused too. I’m amazed anyone manages to use them.

Our local leisure centres are Thrive branded. I downloaded the app but it's still a nightmare to book anything! There is a Book Online option. So you click on it. Add something (e.g. a squash court) to your basket. Go to your basket to check out - nothing there! Because you actually have to book online on a different part of the site entirely, after logging in (every time). The screen where you type your card details is TINY and there is no autofil function. It's terrible!

Sounds like Better, which technically should be called Shitter if you ask me.

Yes ours too (Thrive)

Spend 10 minutes filtering the timetable to find the right activity, site and day, then press Book Now and you are back to the beginning except that it's all in a different order.

Then if you pay online it's the most user unfriendly platform I've ever seen!

In our one I once ended up booking a swimming session at a leisure centre 150 miles away as I hadn’t performed the website rituals correctly. Then I couldn’t find a phone number anywhere to cancel as they don’t want you phoning them.

Cross posted with SoManyDandelions!

Last time I wanted to book a swim I gave up after about 25 mins. Dreadful, I can not believe anyone ever tests these websites to see if they work before releasing them. So annoying when council services should be encouraging people to be active.

Ours is Everyone Active which i actually find pretty easy....although I'm only booking swimming!

Totally agree. It was much better a few years ago when the staff at leisure centres could book you in. Now they can't; they too can only direct you back to the mystifying website, as I found when in desperation after spending a morning trying to book swimming lessons I got in the car and drove to the leisure centre to try to sort the lessons out.
The problem appeared to be that I already had an account myself because hey I go swimming myself as a grownup! How dare I complicate things by adding swimming lessons for children to the mix. The only way we were able to resolve this was my husband, who doesn't swim and hadn't got an account linked to his email address, set up a new account and booked the children's swimming lessons through that

Omg yes! And my local one doesn’t list the swimming sessions in time order - it just shows the available ones and you have to click into each one to see what time it is 😭

Agree… i’m a ux designer as well, so its kind of a professional insult as well. its kind of hard to make an interface that bad…
only positive side it that i’m never short of bad user experience examples

Yes! Tried booking swimming in multiple different areas due to holidays etc- they all seem to have the same basic website and booking system and it is bloody awful.

Ours is like this. Also impossible to find out if you have to a “member” to book at all, or it’s just a discounted rate for members. And then it’s a mystery how you become a member - you can buy a £30 membership for the gym, but that’s not the same as the membership card that’s only a fiver and gets you money off swimming.

I hear you OP!

ours has the most spectacular pricing strategy too. For example, I have managed to prove I am a local resident (which in itself was a drama) so can get cheap swimming in their standard session for a seemingly limitless number of adults. But not children, who the. End up being more than adults. They need their own email address to get the cheaper rate and you have to login and book their swim separately. also, under 3s are free at this session type, fair.

they also offer an aqua play session. Here, under 3s are charged full adult rate and local discounts don’t apply. A swim for my family goes from being £8 to £19. What an amazing session this must be!! Well, they throw a few balls in the water and a few floats…

Soft play, all children’s tickets include 1 adult. If an additional adult wants to attend it costs £5 extra - which is more than the cost of an under 3 going WITH an adult. So it’s cheaper for a toddler to attend with an adult, than just an extra adult who will probably sit in the cafe buying coffee anyway…oh and in a final twist they offer some sort of family ticket which actually ends up 10p more expensive than buying the tickets separately 😂🤦‍♀️

the whole thing is a hot mess.

😆😆😆 This is so true

The better app ux guy was on leave when they developed their site and app.

So true! I'm between three different counties in Wales and each one has exactly have you have described! I used to swim a lot but just can't be bothered these days!