Egredior — an event reservation app
People with busy schedules need to inquire, reserve seats for events.
The problem:
UX / UI designer, UX researcher.
My role:
Design an app that allows users to reserve a place for an exciting event, allows them to know more about the event in advance, reserve a seat and receive a reminder of the event.
The goal:
Conducting interviews, user research, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, iterating on designs, determining information architecture.
Responsibilities:
User research: personas
I conducted several interviews with users to understand their thoughts, goals, and frustrations. Personas, User Stories, Empathy Maps, and User Journey Map were also created and user-centered design was used to accurately meet the users needs.
AMANDA
Liam
Age: 42
Education: PhD im Management
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Family: Live with a partner
Occupation: Manager
Education: PhD im Management
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Family: Live with a partner
Occupation: Manager
Age: 42
Education: PhD im Management
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Family: Live with a partner
Occupation: Manager
Education: PhD im Management
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Family: Live with a partner
Occupation: Manager
Age: 22
Education: Student
Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska
Family: Live with a family
Occupation: Full-time student
Education: Student
Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska
Family: Live with a family
Occupation: Full-time student
Age: 22
Education: Student
Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska
Family: Live with a family
Occupation: Full-time student
Education: Student
Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska
Family: Live with a family
Occupation: Full-time student
Goals
- Be a successful manager;
- Keep a balance between work, hobbies and spending time with loved ones;
- Have dates and meetings in interesting places, get new emotions;
- Plan free time in advance;
Goals
- balancing his studies with fun;
- wants to explore what his neighborhood has to offer;
- Wants to spend time with classmates to network;
- “Sometimes encounters difficulties at restaurants or while out running errands, where shopkeepers tend to speak very quickly and limited translation options are available.”
- “It is difficult and boring to read large texts without illustrations.”
- “No option to share invitation with friends via app.”
Frustrations
- “Not all apps and websites are optimized for screen reader usage.”
- “I want to be sure that the event is interesting and worth visiting. That it's not a waste of time.”
- “I want to know I can cancel my reservation if I have urgent business to attend to.”
Frustrations
Problem statement:
Liam is a young non-native English speaking student who wants to be able to search for events on the app in his native language and also invite friends to an event to plan a weekend with friends.
Problem statement:
Amanda is a busy adult who wants to organize a visit to an interesting event with her family in advance, because her busy schedule does not allow spontaneous decisions.
«I like to explore new places in my area. Attend events with friends or younger siblings.»
— LIAM
Bio
Liam came from Georgia with his family a few years ago and went to university. He attends evening school to improve his English. But sometimes it is difficult for him to understand the fast draw or specific terms in English. Liam lives with his family. Likes to spend time with friends and younger siblings.
«I have a pretty busy schedule due to work and hobbies. I want to attend interesting events and plan them in advance.»
— AMANDA
Bio
Amanda is a successful middle manager. Lives near Charlotte, North Carolina. Lives with his partner and two dogs. Has hobbies and refresher courses. Amanda has a visual impairment for which she uses screen reader technologies. Schedules a week ahead of time. She tries to keep a balance between work and free time. Tries to find interesting events to visit with a partner.
User research: Empathy Maps and User Stories
As a successful middle manager with busy schedule and a visual impairment I want to plan activities for yourself and your loved ones in advance and use app are optimized for screen reader usage so that as conveniently and quickly as possible to learn more about the event and register for it.
As a young immigrant to the USA who is balancing his studies with fun I want to be able to invite friends to interesting events using the application so that as so they can quickly learn more about the event, react to it and register for it.
User research: Pain points
- Not all apps and websites are optimized for users with a visual impairment;
- Not all applications allow you to translate information into different languages;
Accessibility:
- Apps don't offer event reminder or purchased tickets section;
- Can't choose several places/tickets at the same time;
Time:
User research: Summary
After conducting the research, two groups of users were identified. This is for full-time students and adults with a busy work schedule.
Such users prefer to learn more about the upcoming event in order to decide whether it is worth spending time on it. These users usually book multiple places. Attend such events to spend time with family or friends.
Our Reservation App will let users to reserve a place to an interesting event which will affect users who plan their schedule in advance by allowing them to know more about the event in advance, reserve a seat and receive a reminder of the event.
Such users prefer to learn more about the upcoming event in order to decide whether it is worth spending time on it. These users usually book multiple places. Attend such events to spend time with family or friends.
Our Reservation App will let users to reserve a place to an interesting event which will affect users who plan their schedule in advance by allowing them to know more about the event in advance, reserve a seat and receive a reminder of the event.
Ideation
I started sketching and creating paper wireframes.
Taking the time to draft iterations of each screen of the app on paper ensured that the elements that made it to digital wireframes would be well-suited to address user pain points.
Taking the time to draft iterations of each screen of the app on paper ensured that the elements that made it to digital wireframes would be well-suited to address user pain points.
Digital wireframes
As the initial design phase continued, I made sure to base screen designs on feedback and findings from the user research.
A page was developed for a specific event with the ability to add a ticket to the cart.
Low-fidelity prototype
The low-fidelity prototype connected the primary user flow of reserving an event, so the prototype could be used in a usability study with users.
Usability study: Details
- 30-60 minutes
- Georgia, remote
- Unmoderated usability study
- Users were asked to perform tasks in a low-fidelity prototype
Methodology:
1) How long does it take for a user to select and reserve an event in the app?
2) Are users able to successfully reserve the event that they want?
3) What can we learn from the steps users took to reserve an event?
4) Are users able to successfully add an event to the calendar for notification?
5) Are there parts of the user flow where participants get stuck?
6) Is the payment process easy for the customer?
2) Are users able to successfully reserve the event that they want?
3) What can we learn from the steps users took to reserve an event?
4) Are users able to successfully add an event to the calendar for notification?
5) Are there parts of the user flow where participants get stuck?
6) Is the payment process easy for the customer?
Research Questions:
- 25 participants
- 14 male, 11 female
- The ages 23-56
Materials:
Usability Study: An affinity diagram
Confusion
Useful
Tone
Usability study: Findings
Two rounds of usability studies were conducted. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mockups needed refining.
- users need a more intuitive way to access filters;
- users need better cues for what steps are required to select the number of seats;
- users need a more intuitive way to access the map;
Round 1 findings:
«I need a hall map to choose a suitable ticket, find out different prices.»
- users need better cues for what steps are required to change the location;
- users don't use a calendar but want to keep their tickets in one place;
- users do not use the shopping cart, they are ready to pay for tickets immediately;
Round 2 findings:
«I need a city selection filter, because on a new journey,
I will choose an event.»
I will choose an event.»
Solution
Day / Night Theme
High-fidelity prototype
The high-fidelity prototype followed the same user flow as the low-fidelity prototype, including design changes made after the usability study.
Accessibility considerations
Provided access to users who are vision impaired by adding high contrast between background and text, and voice search capability.
For users from different regions, countries, the ability to change the language and translate texts in the application has been added.
With the help of color accents, the path of users with little experience in using modern devices is simplified.
Takeaways
The application makes users feel that we are really thinking about how to meet their needs.
“It was easy for me to find the application and pay for the purchase of tickets.”
“It was easy for me to find the application and pay for the purchase of tickets.”
Impact:
While working on the project, I learned a lot about accessibility and how we can help other people.
What I learned:
Let’s connect!