Analytic evaluation of facilities performance from the user perspective: case study on a badminton hall

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for badminton halls and, through a case study, illustrate how the facilities performance of a university badminton hall can be evaluated from the user perspective. Design/methodology/approach: After a desktop literature review, the findings were discussed by a focus group, and the discussion result formed the basis for establishing an analytic hierarchy of facilities performance for the badminton hall. Then, interviews were made with 169 badminton hall users to solicit their perceived facilities’ importance and performance levels of the hall. Using MATLAB, a computer program incorporated with an Analytic Hierarchy Process was devised to compute the importance weights of the performance attributes under assessment. The outcomes were interpreted using an importance-performance evaluation matrix. Findings: A facilities performance hierarchy, comprising nine KPIs, was established for the badminton hall. The factors influencing the users’ perceptions, the importance and performance levels of the KPIs and the areas of the hall requiring improvements were identified. Research limitations/implications: Future studies can take a similar approach of this study to develop KPIs and facilities performance hierarchies for other types of sports venues. Practical implications: The method used to identify the improvements required for the badminton hall can be applied to investigations on other sports facilities. Originality/value: The methodology of this research was first applied to study a badminton hall – as reported in this paper.