Transforming the International Wine Challenge Digital Platform
The International Wine Challenge (IWC) runs one of the world’s most recognised wine competitions, spanning multiple events, submission cycles, and global audiences.
The platform supports the full competition lifecycle:
- Producers submitting entries
- Judges evaluating at scale
- Sponsors and partners engaging
- Industry users exploring results and insights
It operates as a continuously evolving digital ecosystem, shaped by event cycles, submission windows, operational dependencies, and changing audience needs throughout the year.
Challenge
Over time, the platform had become harder to adapt to the operational complexity of the International Wine Challenge.
Key challenges included:
- Multiple competitions with different timelines and requirements
- User journeys that varied across entrants, judges, and partners
- Content, data and user pathways changing frequently without a coherent underlying model
- Growing operational effort required to manage updates, maintain consistency, and support change across the platform
This led to:
- Friction around submissions and key navigation points
- Higher internal effort to manage content and updates
- Limited flexibility to support future growth
- A gap between the platform experience and the strength of the IWC brand
What impressed us most was Deployflow's agility and responsiveness. They were able to adapt quickly as requirements evolved, provide practical solutions to new challenges, and maintain momentum without compromising quality. Communication was always prompt and transparent, and it genuinely felt like they were an extension of our own team rather than an external supplier. Their combination of technical expertise, flexibility, and collaborative approach made them an excellent partner throughout the project.
Overall, we were very satisfied with Deployflow's work and the way the project was managed. If anything, as with any fast-paced digital project, even more proactive sharing of future enhancement ideas during the development process is always welcome. That said, they were always open to discussion and responsive to feedback, so we have no significant areas for improvement.
What was done
Deployflow partnered with the IWC team to reshape the platform as a more scalable, interoperable and operationally resilient digital foundation.
The work focused on improving clarity for users while creating a structure better able to support ongoing change, multiple event types, and more sustainable platform management over time.
Platform and experience design
- Structured journeys around competition models, event timelines and key decision points
- Clarified pathways for different audiences based on role, timing and intent
- Made key information, actions and service routes easier to understand and navigate
Platform structure
- Reorganised how content, competition data, and service layers connect across the platform
- Introduced a modular structure capable of supporting multiple event types and evolving requirements without disrupting the wider service
Interoperability
- Aligned the platform with existing systems, operational workflows and update processes
- Improved how updates, content and competition data move through the digital ecosystem in a more coordinated and sustainable way
Delivery
- Collaborated closely with the IWC team throughout
- Brought product thinking, service design, UX and engineering together in a single delivery stream
- Enabled continuous iteration, early validation and responsive refinement as needs evolved
Approach
Delivery followed a lean, sprint-based model aligned to real operational cycles and decision points:
- Iterative releases tied to competition timelines
- Early validation of UX and structural decisions
- Focus on high-impact improvements first
- A practical approach to support long-term maintainability
Outcome
The result is a stronger and more adaptable digital foundation for the International Wine Challenge — one better equipped to support operational complexity, multiple event models, and ongoing evolution over time.
- More consistent journeys across events, competitions and audiences
- Clearer pathways for users navigating submissions, event journeys and key actions
- Greater flexibility to support new formats, changing competition models and evolving organisational requirements
- Reduced operational effort for internal teams managing content, updates and service change
- A digital platform more aligned with IWC’s global standing and long-term ambitions
Most importantly:
- The platform supports increasing levels of activity and complexity without adding operational strain
- It provides a foundation that can continue to evolve alongside the organisation
Transformation principles
- Product-led platform thinking
- Event- and lifecycle-aware experience design
- Modularity and interoperability by design
- Cross-functional, outcome-focused embedded delivery
- Built for scalability, accessibility and maintainability
