Contributions
User Research
Facilitation (workshops, ideation)
Product Design
Testing and Research Method:
Design Sprint
Problem:
The aim is to design an event-planning application that amplifies the universal appeal of art, food, and music – creative forms that bridge divides, be it language, class, religion, or gender. Harnessing these mediums, our app will be a crucible for artistic expression, cultural appreciation platform, and unforgettable shared moments.
UX Sprint Focus Areas
Personalized User Experience:
Enhance the app to provide customized recommendations, ensuring it appeals to every user's unique taste, whether they are a tastemaker or a general enthusiast.
Community Engagement and Networking:
Transform the platform into a space for users to connect, form groups, and share collective experiences. Aim to foster active participation and strengthen community ties through engaging event formats.
App Uniqueness and Value Proposition:
Distinguish our app in the competitive market by emphasizing its unique features. Focus on inclusivity and creativity to maintain its appeal in celebrating art, food, and music.
Business Model and Revenue Streams:
Identify and develop sustainable revenue models to support the platform's growth while staying true to our mission of cultural enrichment.
Market Expansion and Audience Reach:
Implement strategies to expand our user base, ensuring the platform's accessibility to a diverse audience without compromising our commitment to inclusivity and diversity.
Competitive Analysis:
Pros
To differentiate ourselves from competitors, we plan to focus on Culinary, Music, and Art, and create a unique specialized approach.
Live streaming real-time experiences through users attending events could enhance the community experience.
Simplifying navigation and maintaining consistency will improve the overall user experience.
We felt developing an event promotional tool that helps tastemakers manage and create content, will set us apart from competitors.
Users will have the opportunity to attract followers, become influencers, and help tastemakers promote events and build the community.
Key Insights and Improvement Strategies
Cons
The 30 Question onboarding process in the project brief is far more demanding than any researched competitors. Trimming down the questions during the onboarding process will speed up the onboarding process. However, it's important to consider the purpose of the 30 questions and whether they are necessary for creating a positive user experience.
We might have to complete another round of iteration and research focused on encouraging users to engage in online experiences after attending events offline.
Simple review system for events might place limits on communities. This app should engage users, like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Another iteration focused on inclusive standards might need to be conducted to explore these variables.
Onboarding Questionnaire Improvement: Break down the 30-question onboarding questionnaire into smaller segments and make it more interactive, using animations or graphics. Personalize it for each user with machine learning, based on their profile and app activity. Conduct A/B tests to understand user preferences better.
Tailored Event Recommendations: Develop a filtering tool for event searches by collecting data on user preferences and behaviors. Implement machine learning to refine recommendations over time, allowing filters by location, category, or price.
Social Networking and Group Formation: Introduce a social network feature within the app for users to create profiles, follow others, and join interest-based groups. Add real-time chat functionalities and consider social media integrations or gamification in future updates to boost engagement.
Feature Integration from Competitive Analysis: Perform a competitive analysis to identify innovative features from other event apps. Prioritize and design these features to align with our app's brand and user experience, incorporating user feedback.
Targeting Tastemakers and General Users: Conduct user research to understand the behaviors and needs of tastemakers and general users. Create personas for each group and tailor the app’s functionality and messaging accordingly. Validate these approaches through user testing.
Each of these steps focuses on making the app more engaging, user-friendly, and personalized, ensuring it meets the diverse needs of our user base.
Key Finding
We faced obstacles in focusing on practical requirements addressing the MVP for an application that targets two user types.
Clear user personas for both power and casual users were defined to better understand their needs and guide design decisions.
User research helped prioritize features and functions important to both user types but more iterations will be conducted to drill down on user experience and functionality.
Developing a unique brand identity that sets itself apart from competitors was a business need to keep in mind while developing the brand and application. Keeping the brand purpose apart of the design strategy is crucial for all agile engagement.
Exploring DEI standards is crucial for creating a welcoming and inclusive user experience. We will have to conduct further research and iterations to ensure the app meets the needs of diverse users and reflects inclusive values.
Long Term Goal
In 3 years, we want to be one. of the go-to application for events promoting music, art, and culinary events in every major city in the US.
User Personas
Takeaway
This phase was critical before we could attempt to develop a map for two different user types.
Users would need a platform that would allow them to drill down on local events, and track their unique interests and what’s happening around them. The ability to possibly interact with like-minded taste consumers might be another direction of cultivating communities.
To cater to the needs of tastemakers, we need to develop a promotional tool that allows them to manage and track multiple events, including RSVP and actual attendance. Additionally, the platform should facilitate the creation of a community around their niche, providing them with tools to connect with like-minded individuals and build relationships with their audience. How can we design a user-friendly interface that simplifies the event management process for tastemakers and provides them with the necessary insights to make informed decisions about their events? How can we incorporate community-building features into the platform to foster engagement and increase user retention among tastemakers?
User Experience Mapping
Creating user maps allows us to visualize the Minimal Viable Product and apply 'how might we' questions to the user experience. By mapping the user journey, we can identify where each functionality applies within our application and ensure that we are addressing our users' needs in the prototype.
How Might We?
During our 'How Might We' exercise, we prioritize empathy and defining our approach to the application. As we ideate, we use brainstorming, braindumps, and challenge assumption exercises to gain deeper insights and lay a strong foundation for addressing key questions. This process helps us develop greater clarity around the features of our application.
MVP (Minimal Viable Product)
App store accessible (android)
Onboarding registration for users (customer and tastemaker).
Tastemaker dashboard profile
Customer dashboard profile
Event publishing system
Event Editing Tool
Calendar system
social interactive mediums (stand-alone social media platforms)
Event change notification and update system.
Customer Feedback chat or form system.
Customer Feedback systems: We might want to categorize feedback or rank concerns so we understand the key pain points when using the application for future builds and protocols.
Low Fidelity Prototypes
The use of low-fidelity wireframes provided a helpful means for me to structure and experiment with my design concepts. Utilizing a wireframe template allowed me to dedicate more time to exploring diverse layouts and content approaches. Ultimately, my primary objective was to foster an interactive community amongst potential users and cultivate a sense of connectivity. Through the process of wireframing, I was able to successfully achieve this goal and create a user-centered design that promotes engagement and collaboration.
High Fidelity Prototype
Key Takeaways
After collecting valuable insights from our first build, another iteration was needed to enhance its user experience further. As part of this effort, we are simplifying much of the design. Additionally, we plan to conduct further research to better understand the unique needs of our users, and we anticipate that the live stream will undergo another iteration to address those needs.
It's important to strike a balance between simplicity and functionality. We are considering implementing a basic rating system with optional written reviews, while still providing robust features for community engagement.
To introduce new and innovative event formats, we could conduct user research to identify emerging trends and preferences in the event industry. We are planning to partner with event organizers and industry experts to bring unique experiences to our platform. Additionally, we could experiment with different event formats on a small scale to gather feedback and refine our approach.
To decide whether to implement additional revenue streams, we’re conducting market research to understand our users' willingness to pay for events and how we can provide value through premium features or offerings. Assessing the financial viability of our app based on user acquisition costs, retention rates, and revenue projections will be important. Based on this research, we could decide whether to implement additional revenue streams or focus on other growth strategies.
To expand our offerings and reach new audiences, we’re considering conducting market research to identify new event categories, locations, and user segments that we could target. We could also partner with event organizers and brands to bring new experiences to our platform and attract new users. Additionally, we could create a referral program or incentivize users to invite their friends to join the app to expand our user base.
In the end, this project had a ruff start getting to its MVP but it’s still steps in the right direction with a ton of wonderful insights and new understanding.