Usability is a discipline applied across sports venues, whether we call it by name or not.

Wayfinding, queue management, and cashierless checkout each aim to improve usability. All three target different moments in the fan journey, but they share a common objective: to make it easier for fans to complete purchases.

Better wayfinding reduces time spent searching and keeps people in commercial areas longer. Shorter lines increase the likelihood that fans follow through on their intent to buy. Faster checkout increases the number of transactions that can be completed during peak windows.

These different systems share an important premise. Reducing friction improves completion. When it is easier to buy, more buying happens. This is what owners want. So, why don't we hear more about usability in sports?

Much of the available data comes from individual technology deployments or vendor case studies. Results vary by venue, by market, and by event type. What works in one building may not translate directly to another. More importantly, it is difficult to isolate the impact of any single technology or to understand how multiple systems interact to influence outcomes like per capita spending.

Technology investments ought to deliver measurable outcomes, and many do. Wayfinding, queue management, and cashierless checkout are evaluated against observable results: fewer wrong turns, shorter lines, faster transactions. Not all venue technology purchases are held to the same standard.

Instead, they are justified by promising a better fan experience. Fan experience is a meaningful goal, but it lacks a measurement framework. Without one, owners have no reliable way to know whether an investment performed or what to do differently.

Usability offers that framework. It is precise, measurable, and directly connected to the outcomes owners actually care about. Applied more intentionally across venues, it could produce results the industry has been promising but struggling to prove.