"How might I design a product that solves the problem of unaffordable concert tickets, and provide concert-goers with an equitable opportunity to see their favourite music acts live?"
Problem
Regular concert goers or individuals who wish to attend their favourite artist’s shows have been known to experience the loss of missing out on ticket or merch sales during the period of sale, leading to purchases being made from third-party resellers who often increase the prices to unreasonable amounts due to profit and popularity.
Role
UX/UI Designer & Researcher
Tools
Figma
Google Suite
Skills
User Research
UX/UI Design
Wireframing
Prototyping
GOAL
With the problem being identified, the goal was then determined; to design an app that could provide users with on-time or early access to tickets and merchandise for retail value, providing them with the experience of being able to see their favourite musical acts live - all without hurting their finances.
RESEARCH
Most of the research conducted was primary as I wanted to test the limits of what I could work with in the absence of secondary sources. A mixture of foundational research methods such as interviews, field studies, A/B testing, and on-site intercepts were implemented. At the time this was being conducted the product was only a lo-fi prototype, thus empirical data and KPIs were not measured, and the nature of data was qualitative. From the what was gathered, 4 key pain points were identified.
Once these were identified, I began to look back at the demographics I interviewed, and the demographics that I wanted the app to reach. Specific criteria included age, income, and occupation since finances are an aspect that I wanted the app to address. From these observations, I was able to craft two personas that would fit the range of most likely end-users.
The Design Process
Ideation
Being new to UX Design at the time, my ideation process took up much time than it would today. I began with paper wireframe sketches of what I wanted the home page for FANFAIR to look like, and I used it as the foundation for how the pages of the app would be laid out.
Four wireframes were conceptualized:
• Model A was the initial choice, but was decided against because it was too bare. Options were then narrowed down to options B, C, and D.
• Model D was selected as the final choice due to its layout and potential for visual appeal.
Prototyping
Based on this selection, I translated Model D into a low-fidelity wireframe on Figma to polish the look and gain a better visual understanding of how the interface would be laid out on screen. Prior to the development of the rest of the prototype, I also determined the user flow; taking into consideration all desired options and choices for users to make, from starting up the app to finishing their desired tasks.
Outcome
After working on this project over the course of 13 months, I was able to successfully complete FANFAIR into a high-fidelity state that contained the features and visual elements I wanted to include with the purpose of solving the problem that I had identified.
Restrospective
Looking back at the time I spent on this project, I would say that I have come a long way in my UX journey. This project was my first ever piece of design work. I worked on it while I was in the third year of my undergraduate degree while I pursued Google's UX Design certification - I can recall how stressful it was to take on the workload on top of my university studies.
Ultimately, this is a project that I am still proud of to this day, having done it alone and seeing it to completion. However, upon further reflection, there have been a few things that I realized during my time working on it.
✅ More in-depth research would have helped pushed my designs further in terms of addressing user needs and pain points at length and refining my design choices.
✅ My ambition in taking on this project alone was substantial, but it also hindered me throughout the months of working on it as I would keep crafting new iterations or features to test out. Establishing a clear scope of work would have helped me accelerate the process as it would have guided me on what to focus on.
✅ Experimenting further with different colour palettes and component designs could have provided me with more variety and options for how the app would look. This is based on feedback that I received from some peers, who liked the colour choices I used, but were initially thrown off by it.
✅ Working alone seems great, but to thrive in the world of design, I think that collaboration is definitely key. I think FANFAIR would have reached greater heights if I had the opportunity to collaborate with others in my endeavours.
