XSO
Between the Spring-Summer of 2021 I took a Google-led Coursera UX Design Certificate. Throughout the program we were tasked with designing a user-centered app. With that, I sought to design a ticketing app for an orchestra that helps to change the attitudes of younger audiences about classical music, allowing them to buy into an experience or socialized activity linked to a concert and to meet new people.
DELIVERABLE
Ticketing App for an Orchestra - XSO /ˈeksl/
SETTING
Certificate Project
TIMELINE
12 weeks
ROLE
Lead UX Designer, UX Researcher
The Problem (Challenges and Constraints)
Younger audiences have less opportunity to experience and cultivate an appreciation of classical music and live concerts. Many are fans of "relaxing piano music" without realizing they are listening to classical music.
Our Solution (Goal)
An app that can help change attitudes about classical music concerts and provide different choices for social interaction for younger people while also promoting experience-related perks and special offers that can help convert them into regular concertgoers and supporters later in life.
A ticketing app for orchestras that caters and appeals to mature and younger audiences alike, and offers them experience-based perks and options for social interaction.
How We Can Help
XSO is an app that encourages social media sharing of the concert-going experience coupled with educational opportunities, and it is not only focused on selling tickets. It leverages much of the same concepts behind algorithmic recommendations and mood-based playlists and goes beyond that by introducing new artists that users might not otherwise get to know.
Friends & Family Can Piggyback
XSO has a unique piggyback order feature. Users can invite friends and family to piggyback their orders, making the checkout process easier and more convenient - no more sending money back and forth.
Convenient Mobile Ticket & Venue Check-in
Users have all their tickets at the tip of their fingers when they need them. Just show the ticket on the screen and go. Easy breeze! XSO also reminds users to set their phone to silent when it is show time or can do that automatically if the option is turned on - no more of that jarring sound of a phone marimba ring interrupting a concert.
Research Study
User research was mainly based on secondary research carried out by orchestras and cities around the US and Canada, as well as universities to understand the challenges involved in attracting a younger crowds to the orchestra.
Key Insights
Tech-savviness: Older users may find it hard to use technology to buy tickets and often prefer holding on to a physical ticket
Not trendy enough: Younger users find it hard to buy half-price tickets online and would like to have concert options linked to social interaction opportunities
Ticket flexibility: Younger users can’t commit too far in advance and older users would like to be able to exchange tickets easily online
Rewards and Offers: Users would like to have access to experience-related perks and special offers that are not tied to how often they attend the orchestra
References
Personas (Audience)
Ideation (Initial Design Concepts)
The goal of the ideation exercise was to come up with the most ideas I could and refined them directly on digital.
Digital Wireframes
After ideating and drafting paper wireframes, I designed the initial digital wireframes for the ticketing app.
The core idea was to make this a fun and easy-to-use experience that would cater to a more mature and young audience alike, putting lots of emphasis on a cleaner UI that can also highlight special events.
Ease-of-use was paramount for me during the wireframing stage and we strived to make the UI current by offering the latest in technology
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Usability Study Findings and Insights
● Strive for better readability of ticket information: this should help make the user experience smoother as they would be able to easily identify the concert information on their tickets
● Display day of the week on date selection screen: this should prevent users from having to flip back and forth between their phone’s calendar and the ticketing app
● Add seat map views that display individual seat location in chosen section: this should make the interactive user experience more enticing in addition to providing more context and value to using the app to buy the a ticket.
Mockups
Accessibility Considerations
1 - The first and foremost step we took when designing this app was to build empathy and install an inclusive design mentality by looking at how people with the most varied abilities might use it.
2 - We strived to employ meaningful labels that are informative and would not mislead users, ensured that repeated components occur in the same order on each screen to make navigation as well as components consistent, avoided complex gestures and kept it down to tapping and/or dragging and made sure tap targets are wide enough.
3- Animations were also kept to a minimum not to cause discomfort and elements have been laid out in a linear and consistent way.
Impact
"Login was super easy. I liked the fingerprint - very current.”
“Piggyback orders is a great addition as well.”
“Buying was super easy, very similar design to most apps which is good so felt secure using Google pay.”
“Very easy to view and access tickets.”
“If I went to the orchestra, I'd want to use this :)”
Next Steps
Keep on adding new features that can address younger audiences’ need for social media interaction and offering them great virtual experiences.
One point that still needs to be addressed is how to convert youth into orchestra patrons later in life and how to attract them to concerts.
Older audiences might also benefit from features that can make their social interactions more meaningful, such as finding and participating in group activities that involve concertgoers, so the next step is exploring such features further in the app.
Learnings
Throughout this project I learned that empathising is of utmost importance since the inception of any project, and that although you try your best to design something that caters to everyone there will always be something you can make better, but at the end of the day what’s important is that you can make a difference to many people through your design decisions.
Prototype
