HOW CAN WE FACILITATE THE PROCESS OF DISCOVERING AND ATTENDING LIVE SHOWS of FAMILIAR AND UP-AND-COMING ARTISTS?
Euphonic Concert Discovery App
Duration: 5 weeks
Background
The concert business has steadily increased over the past several years. The boost in ticket sales can be attributed to various factors, including the rise of mobile-ticket sales, a surge in global entertainment event growth, and the influence of people who prefer spending disposable income on experiences rather than objects. Although the industry is booming, there is a lack of resources facilitating the process of finding and purchasing tickets for events.
For my User Interface Design and Development project, I chose to explore this problem space and create a potential solution for concert goers.
The Problem
DATA RICH, KNOWLEDGE POOR.
In order to gain context and define the problem space, I conducted lightning interviews, surveys, and secondary research. From my research, I learned that people who go to at least one concert a month juggle several platforms to learn about upcoming events and purchase tickets as soon as they are announced (see graphs below). Respondents emphasized the need to monitor events closely because tickets especially for larger shows are often sold out within minutes, which can be attributed to bots (i.e., computer programs) and reserved tickets. Reserved tickets, which constitute up to half the available tickets on average, are ‘on hold’ for industry insiders, brokers, and ‘pre-sale events’ for non-public groups. Despite it being time-consuming and overwhelming, users insisted on monitoring various platforms to ensure they can purchase a fairly-priced ticket directly from the venue.
Rather than introducing yet another platform that artists could use to promote events, I decided to aggregate the large amount of information currently available and create a more seamless concert discovery and ticket purchasing experience.
Target Users
CONCERT GOERS + CONCERT SEEKERS
People who attend shows regularly (at least once
a month) and/or frequently monitor various platforms
for upcoming events (e.g., Facebook, SongKick)
User Flow
I created a high-level user flow to detail the concert goer experience and determine product features.
Design Round 1: What do users want?
LOW FIDELITY PROTOTYPES
With low-fidelity prototypes, I was interested in understanding how users learn about events, what information they seek in this discovery process, and what terms or filters they utilize in their search–location, venue, genre, artist, date, popular with friends, etc. I also was interested in evaluating the concert recommendation feature.
User flow diagram with annotations
User Feedback Highlights
Onboarding: Landing Screen
“Show me the concerts already!”
Design Approach:
Multi-screen onboarding flow
User Insights:
The onboarding flow required several user inputs, from name and city to favorite
genres and artists. Users, especially those who intended to use the app to search for a specific artist or event, were frustrated by the several steps (seven, to be exact), illuminating the lack of flexibility and efficiency of use.
Additionally, users felt the screen wherein they are asked to connect social media accounts should be shown upfront and be used to auto-populate music interests. All users were comfortable signing in with an account rather than continuing as a guest in service of receiving a personalized dashboard.
User Dashboard: Navigation
“I’m not sure what these [icons] mean.”
Design Approach:
Tab bar with icons to enable fast and easy switching between screens, and place bar at bottom to make it easier to reach on mobile devices
User Insights:
The icons on the bottom navigation were shown without text, thereby relying entirely on the user’s interpretation and past experiences. Some users, for example, thought the ticket icon meant where they could buy tickets while others thought it was where they could see purchased tickets.
What was more interesting was that only a few users interacted with the bottom navigation without being prompted, and some didn’t even notice it! Rather, users were navigating via content on page rather than the toggling between pages featured on the navigation bar, revealing a more linear flow. On the page, users expected the events to automatically be chronologically sorted, and preferred to browse by events popular in their social network or genre rather than artist or location.
User Dashboard: Grid v. List View
“I don’t know where to start”
Design Approach:
Card-based layout to aid scannability and encourage discovery
User Insights:
At first sight, users were overwhelmed by the amount of information on the dashboard. If they had a specific event in mind, they started in the browse section. If they did not have a specific event in mind, they started by reviewing the recommendations. Users preferred the list view for recommendations because it enabled them to clearly view the events. They preferred the grid view for browsing because it enabled them to quickly scan the available options.
On the event cards, users confirmed the key information to display: artist photo, artist name, and event date. They expected all the events to be near them, based on the earlier screens, and therefore did not require the event location to be listed upfront.
Event Details
“How much are tickets?”
Design Approach:
Clear call to action (“Buy Tickets”) with secondary information — event details and related events — listed below in a card-based layout
User Insights:
Users found little value in seeing a description of the concert — instead, they preferred to see a starting value for tickets, and if applicable, any opening acts.
Users also preferred to see a list of related events, not necessarily at the same venue.
Final Design
High-Fidelity Mockups
Landing
Onboarding
To alleviate the frustration experienced by users during a multi-step on-boarding approach, I introduced a hybrid login with social media (Spotify or Facebook) or e-mail (to ensure accessibility).
First-time users who sign in via Spotify or Facebook only need to fill out one screen — location — before seeing their personalized dashboard. Artist and genre preferences would be gathered through the platforms and be used in the customization of the dashboard.
Onboarding > Location
For first-time users who sign in with a social media platform, the only required input is location.
Onboarding > Loading dashboard
Confirm user input and reinforce value proposition of app (number of events)
Expanded hamburger menu
Navigation
In order to facilitate a more seamless and intuitive navigation within and between pages, I included a side menu that expands when needed rather than a fixed bottom navigation bar to toggle between the three main components of the app: events, purchased tickets, and favorited artists, genres, and venues. I also included a tab bar for navigation within each page, as shown on the screens below.
Preferences > Genre
Tab bar to facilitate navigation on page
Preferences > Venue
Tab bar to facilitate navigation on page
Dashboard > Recommendations
Dashboard > Recommendations
To avoid overwhelming users with too many options and facilitate user flow, I chose to utilize a card-based layout that displays key information at-a-glance and features a larger visual to increase attractiveness. I also included a heart icon to demonstrate favorited artists.
Dashboard > Event Details
On the event details page, I wanted to maintain simplicity by only including the necessary information: event date, event location, and starting ticket price. I also wanted to maintain the spirit of concert discovery by enabling users to learn more about the artist through their profile, bookmark the event for future consideration, and/or discover similar events.
Ticket Purchase
If the user chooses to buy a ticket, they will be shown the ticket purchase page which includes a banner that quickly shows the best available and lowest price tickets. Users can also sort tickets by price, quantity, or value, which are common ticket purchase filters. Each ticket card also lists the number of adjacent seats available and ability to view the seat on a venue map.
Dashboard > Browse
Dashboard > Browse
The browse page includes a horizontal list for each filter (e.g., Popular with Friends) to display featured items and encourage users to see all options within the category. Users can also choose to view curated lists, such as “Up and Coming Artists”.
“I love how colorful and organized the app is. I would use this to see when artists I like are performing near me or to see other events I might like.”
Reflection
Check back soon for my reflection on this process, the product, and next steps!