Hassle-Free Booking for Theater Lovers
Overview:
Second Stage Theater, our client based in New York City, specializes in producing contemporary American plays by both emerging and established playwrights. Currently, ticket purchases can only be made through Second Stage’s website. I have been tasked with creating a mobile app for Second Stage to offer visitors an alternative, easy way to purchase tickets for their favorite plays.
My Role:
In this self-initiated mobile app design, I led the entire design process from discovery to delivery. I developed user personas, identified pain points, and mapped jobs-to-be-done. The project culminated in detailed wireframes, user flows, and a high-fidelity prototype, resulting in an intuitive ticket booking experience for diverse users.
Duration
8 Weeks
Client
Second Stage
Team
1 UX Designer (me)
TL; DR
The Problem
Second Stage needs a mobile solution to streamline their ticket-purchase experience.
Second Stage needs to explore alternative ticket sales platforms to broaden its audience base. The goal is to design a mobile app solution that enhances the ticket purchasing experience for theatergoers, eliminating the need to browse a website or visit a physical ticket booth to purchase tickets.
The Solution
The solution offers a seamless experience for browsing shows, selecting seats and time slots, and reviewing purchase history.
A hassle-free and intuitive booking experience for both theater enthusiasts and casual visitors, enabling them to effortlessly browse available shows, time slots and seating, and purchase tickets for their favorite performances.
Feature 1
Effortlessly Find the Shows that Suit Your Needs
Users can easily search and filter all available shows based on dates and price range. Additional search tags help reduce visual clutter on a mobile screen, allowing users to fine-tune their search results.
Feature 2
Pick the Best Seating that Fits Your Budget
Seat selection is quick and easy. Users can effortlessly choose their preferred options either through a drop-down menu or aninteractive seating map. Selected seats and their prices are clearly visible at a glance.
Feature 3
Easily Access Your Purchased Tickets
A simple checkout process reduces the customer drop-off rate. A shortcut in the profile section provides quick access to purchased tickets.
Foundational Research
A Deep Dive into the Problem Space of Theatergoers
To kick off the design process, I began with a problem space analysis of theater ticketing and applied a range of UX methodologies to gain deeper insights into the design context.
- Semi-structured interviews: Facilitated in-depth conversations with users who watch plays at least once a month.
- User journey mapping: Visualized the end-to-end user experience to identify pain points and opportunities for theatergoers in NYC.
- Competitive analysis: Evaluated existing market solutions for mobile ticketing to understand industry standards and identify differentiation potential.
- Affinity diagramming: Synthesized research findings to uncover patterns and prioritize user needs.
This discovery phase yielded crucial insights into our target users' demographics, behaviors, and pain points, setting a solid foundation for user-centered ideation and prototyping.
Persona Archetypes
My foundational research uncovered two main types of theatergoers. First are the casual attendees, including out-of-towners and tourists, who seek new experiences. Second are the enthusiasts, typically city residents passionate about the latest productions. These distinct groups approach theater with different expectations and behaviors.
The Casual
Explorer
Age: Gen Z / Millennials
Demographic: Middle/working-class living in suburban areas, visiting NYC a couple times a year.
Motivations: Seeking new and novel experiences, eager to make the most out of their stay in NYC. Flexible on shows and the time of day if there is a good deal.
There are so many fun things to do in the city. I’m always down to experience something new!
- Female, 20s, Tourist
The Theater
Aficionado
Age: Older Millennials / Gen X
Demographic: Educated middle/upper middle-class households; local or from the Tri-State Area.
Motivations: Passionate about theater and eager to discover new playwright talents, I am flexible on price but prioritize show preference and good seating.
If I want to see a play or if I like the actors, I would pay a premium to be the first to experience it.
- Female, 50s, NYC Resident
Problem Reframing
The key insights from my foundational research helpd me reframe the problem space into the following statement:
How might we design an intuitive mobile ticketing experience that allows users to effortlessly discover shows matching their interests, schedule, and budget?
Paper Wireframes
Leveraging user insights to transform complex show discovery into an intuitive, familiar search experience.
Following user research synthesis, I initiated an iterative ideation process to address identified pain points. My low-fidelity wireframe exploration focused on creating an intuitive homepage that showcased available shows with efficient filtering capabilities.
After exploring various UI patterns and interaction models, I converged on a solution featuring a prominent search bar with date, price, and genre filters. This design decision, informed by heuristic evaluation and mental model mapping, leveraged users' familiarity with similar search paradigms in flight booking and accommodation rental platforms.
Wireframes Overview
Usability Testings
Testing Initial Assumptions
With my wireframes established, my next step was to present them to real users and gather their honest feedback. I opted for two rounds of usability studies to ensure that the overall ticket-buying experience is intuitive for users.
My assumptions before testing were as follows:
Dates, price range, and genre are the three main considerations when users search for shows to watch.
A seat map representing the actual theater layout will assist users in choosing their desired seats.
71%
Frequent Theater-Goers
7
Participants
43% vs. 57%
Male vs. Female
24 - 56
Age Range
User Insights
During two rounds of usability testing, 90% of participants successfully completed their assigned tasks, albeit with varying degrees of ease. This process revealed several key insights:
1. Different search methods, including shortcut tags and detailed filters, cater to different user needs.
The way people use the search function on the home page varies widely. Some users prefer to select specific dates and price ranges, while others simply want to browse all shows or have very specific criteria in mind. The home page should be designed to accommodate this diverse range of search behaviors.
2. An interactive seat map is essential for comparing seating options and prices.
Many users appreciate the seat map as a visual reference to assess the quality of the view and compare pricing for specific seats. To accommodate different preferences, users should have multiple ways to select seats, whether through a list view or an interactive map. This flexibility ensures a more user-friendly experience.
3. Users need consistent reminders of key details (show name, date, time slot, and price) throughout the journey.
During the ticket purchasing journey, many users tend to forget key details such as their selected date, seats, or total price. It's crucial to prominently display this information at every step of the process, allowing users to easily reference and confirm their choices throughout the booking experience. This consistent visibility helps reduce errors and improves user confidence in their selections.
Design Iteration - Home Page
Creating Visual Shortcuts to Search for Shows Efficiently
1. Search Bar: Two rounds of user testing revealed that selecting dates and times for shows using dropdown menus was redundant and frustrating. Some users wanted more intuitive price and date filters, like sliders, on the homepage, while others preferred simpler options. The search section was redesigned to balance quick actions with customization, accommodating both user preferences.
Wireframe
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Design Iteration - Seat Selection
An Interactive and Dynamic Way to Select Tickets and Compare Pricing
1. Dynamic Seat Map: Based on usability testing, around 50% of the users selected seats from the map, while the other half used the scroll list. To accommodate both types of users, a dynamic ticket selection system was introduced in the final iteration. This new interaction allows users to choose seats either from a list or through an interactive map, while displaying a summary of selected seats and the total price.
2. Ticket Quantity and Price: The initial wireframe lacked the ability to buy multiple tickets with different prices simultaneously. The first iteration added a section for specifying ticket quantities but still didn't provide an overview of selected seats or the total price. The final iteration addressed these user pain points by not only displaying total prices and selected seats dynamically, but also providing a clear path forward with the addition of a "Continue" button, improving the overall user experience.
Wireframe
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Design Iteration - Date Selection
Quick Price Comparison via Calendar View
1. Calender View: Initially, users were confused about the purpose of this section, as they had already selected their desired date range on the home page. However, after clarification, they understood that this section allowed them to view all available dates for the show and compare prices across different dates. Most users expressed a preference for having their pre-selected dates highlighted, which was incorporated into the final design.
Wireframe
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Next Steps
Testing assumptions quickly through rapid iterations is the key to unlocking true innovation.
To address the feedback and pain points raised by users during three rounds of testing, we redesigned the concept to simplify the process. Users no longer need to monitor calls. Instead, they receive verification prompts before the call and can choose to receive updates during the call. Afterward, they are provided with a summary and transcript. Additionally, users will receive policy-related tips before and during their interactions with customer service agents and be directed to the best contact channel.
These prototypes and testing sessions have shown our team the value of rapid iteration. We often had assumptions about which features users would prefer, but testing revealed surprising results. By observing users interact with our prototypes, we uncovered unexpected challenges, which inspired new ideas and ultimately led to our final deliverables.