How to meet new people with similar interests at the events?
As someone who loves attending events I use a lot of different apps of online ticket purchasing. I had a few doubts about functionality while using many of the available solutions. I decided to check what might cause problems for others and finally come up with a complete solution. This concept takes a holistic approach to the process, from finding the right event to purchasing tickets, and ultimately facilitating real-life interactions with other people. In this case study, we will explore the journey of creating the mobile app concept and the possible positive impact it can has on users' social lives and mental well-being.
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Design process
Understand the users:
Designing the functionalities:
Understand the users
Survey
I was keen to map out aspects of the process of going to events in general. From what influences the selection of a particular event to a wide perspective on the multi-faceted process of attending an event.
110 people responded to the survey on event purchasing issues and below I want to share the most common threads and interesting facts in this area.
Selection of the event
Paradoxically, aesthetics and readability will not affect perception so well if all the most relevant information is not included in the communication. The survey shows that two aspects are the most important when making a choice: the matching (date, event details) and the easiness of going through the particular steps of the purchasing process.
Social aspect
It is remarkable to highlight that the need to commonly experience the emotions coming from different events. This contrasts with the conclusion that most people would like to experience these emotions on a regular basis, which is problematic considering the availability of people around us.
Discovery expectations
In the open questions, the issue of changing the way of exploring came up. Users no longer mainly want to search for events by name and it is much more appealing to see what is happening at a particular venue, add to watch or follow their favorite artist. I interpret this as a need for a positive experience starting at the level of event selection and a desire for a smooth transition through all stages of the process.
Generational aspect
Many of daily activities are done through the internet connection. We often feel more comfortable in this way. This combines with the discovery of both new, non-obvious events and the human need to connect threads and seek de path in relationships and occasions. It is particularly relevant when it comes to interpersonal relationships and the simple, non-committal beginnings of relationships.
Easy adaptability
We live in a culture of constant sharing. We want easy and instant access to things. That's why it's so important from a great user experience level to provide, for example, super easy access to a ticket for everyone when we also make payments for our friends.
Problem definition
The most important area for improvement
It is clear from the collected data that users expect speed and efficiency both when selecting an event and at each subsequent stage of the event participation process. The social aspect and the need to share unique moments with others also deserves attention. For this reason, my main idea is to combine improvements inside the main pathway [of purchasing tickets for events] and the desire to use technology in meeting new people with similar interests.
Design challenge
I asked myself How can I provide ticket purchasers the opportunity to share the emotions and experiences of attending events with other participants while navigating them through the process in a smooth and enjoyable way?
For the purpose of structuring, I have written out the design assumptions for this project:
What have I learned?
Learning about general pain points and needs by asking questions in the form of a survey sharpened my focus on precision in asking right questions. Over and above this, I have learned to better define the key elements of processes in order to create precise guidelines for looking for good practice - to know exactly what I need to find.
What will I do better in the future?
Now I know how important is to have a clear structure of the interview. Also empathy and the the way how to articulate the questions is extremely important in terms of creating a comfortable environment for the interviewee.
Designing the functionalities
User flow
The main process finding an event includes all of the aspects of ticket purchasing but possibility for socialising / hanging out with others. virtual queuing and a practice room booking. The creation of the user flow allowed identical elements to be defined for both of the main paths and logically linked together.
Content filtering
In the context of intuitive event filtering, it is most important to create categories that are as clear as possible, reducing the time needed to search for an event and the risk of user frustration. Therefore, I used the card sorting method and separated the following categories and subcategories of events using the test:
Benchmarking
I separate my thoughts on existing solutions into those of ticketing and any inspiration showing good practice for the areas mapped in the previous stage.
Purchasing
In the context of the purchasing process, it is important to understand each step and the smoothness of the transition. On the plus side, clear divisions and visual differentiators such as in the Uber app or division by dependencies as in IFTTT work.
Exploration / Socialising
The aspect of connecting people with similar interests as in Tinder or Hinge is something to use in the Outer project as well. Apart from that, anything that combines exploration and an unusual path of navigation is also enhancing.
Validation / rate
Designing an effective feedback mechanism that will realistically help validate meetings with people at events I consider to be a very complex matter. Both very simple solutions like in SeatGeek as well as two-step ratings where we can find out the details of specific actions like in Uber eats or Blinkist deserve attention.
Potential for implementation
It’s important for me to be close to the real environment do I tried to think about aspects of potential implementation of designed features. For that I used impact – effort matrix which allows to validate quickly what should be part of the minimum viable product and what should be discontinued or postponed to later stages of product development.
At this stage, creating an absolutely interactive solution that allows interaction with others, such as Snap map, could prove disproportionately expensive compared to adapting it to the function it has to perform in my project. The most important thing for me is to provide a high-quality experience when searching for and buying a ticket. The second essential functionality is the ability to meet new people based on the swipe pattern known from dating apps such as Tinder.
Low fidelity prototype
To start thinking about a visual flow through the different aspects of the features. The most important thing for me is to show the two main functionalities. The first functionality is the whole ticket purchasing process including solutions for all micro pain points observed in previous stage.
The second most important functionality is the process of meeting new people who are also attending the same event. This includes an overview of all participants and the ability to match people up and easily start a conversation to meet up later at the venue.
Usability testing
Five people took part in the testing. These are main conclusions from this session:
What have I learned?
I’ve learned how to approach holistically the aspects of creating mobile app functionalities. Also that the components of performing a process can be very small but nevertheless have a big impact on the overall feeling, as proved during usability tests. I find it important to think about aspects of practicability and potential purpose in the context of the effort expended. Despite a rather intuitive approach in this aspect, I find it very important in terms of building both design and business awareness.
What will I do better in the future?
Certainly the question of creating a brand identity is something relatively new to me, but at the same time extremely interesting. Besides, every contact with users reinforces my conviction that it is worthwhile not to stop at the current level of empathy towards them and to constantly try to understand users better.
Brand identity
I made an attempt to create something like the Outer brand image. The symbol of this tool became a rocket as an element that pierces through the atmosphere and reaches new spaces.
How the app works
Final solution
The decisive process for selecting an event
Ticket purchase
Looking for a companion to experience the event together
About outcome
The result of my thought process of facilitating ticket purchases and the opportunity to meet new people is a prototype that brings together the mental models we already know and a new approach to the socialization aspect of public events. I wanted this tool to be a reason to go out into the real world as much as possible, making the most of the advantages that come with new technologies.
General learnings
The process of creating this tool was very inspiring as I clashed my assumptions with reality several times. This reinforces my belief in being close to the user in the design process. In addition, what I learnt during the work was also to use previous experiences (both my own and others') and to be aware of how much value these experiences have.
It was also very interesting for me to focus on the question of the identity of the solution I am creating. This is an important moment, as I consider the conscious creation of identity to be one of the components of a positive user experience.
I am considering this as a MVP (Minimum Viable Product) hence, for example, the ability to link one user to another - without the ability to group / add friends.
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