Overview
What You Doing (WYD) is an intuitive event app that simplifies event discovery, planning, and participation. It tackles common pain points like scattered information, chaotic group coordination, and impersonal recommendations, transforming event planning into a seamless and enjoyable experience.
As a UX Designer on the WYD project, my work focused on creating a user-friendly app prototype with a cohesive design system, personalized recommendations, and seamless group planning features to enhance the event experience from start to finish.
Timeline
5 Months
Role
UX Designer
Contribution
Primary research
Concept ideation
Prototyping
High-fidelity designs
Front-end Development
Team
3 UX Designer
1 Project Manager
6 Developers
Status
Acquired
Problem Context
Planning and participating in events can be overwhelming due to disorganized information, lack of personalization, and inefficient tools. WYD aims to provide a centralized, easy-to-use platform for event discovery and management.
Objective
To create a seamless and personalized event discovery and planning experience that encourages social engagement and reduces the stress of event coordination.
Challenges Identified
Scattered Information: Users often struggle to find event details in one place, leading to frustration and missed opportunities.
Difficult Group Coordination: Planning events with friends or colleagues can be chaotic due to a lack of coordination tools.
Lack of Personalization: Users are overwhelmed by irrelevant event suggestions, making it hard to find events they genuinely care about.
Solutions Implemented
To address the challenges identified in the WYD Event Application, we implemented targeted design solutions that streamlined event discovery, enhanced personalization, and improved group coordination. Below is a detailed breakdown of the solutions:
Centralized Event Discovery
Unified Platform: Created a single platform where users can find all event-related information, eliminating the need to search across multiple sources.
Event Categories: Organized events into clear categories (e.g., music, sports, workshops) for easy browsing.
Search Bar with Autocomplete: Introduced a prominent search bar with autocomplete functionality to help users quickly find events of interest.
Personalized Recommendations
User Preferences: Allowed users to set preferences for event types, locations, and interests during onboarding.
Popular Events Section: Highlighted frequently searched and trending events to help users discover new opportunities.
Group Planning Tools
Group Event Creation: Enabled users to create events and invite friends or colleagues directly within the app.
Shared Event Calendars: Introduced a shared calendar feature to help groups coordinate event schedules and availability.
Real-Time Chat: Integrated a chat feature within event pages for easy communication among attendees.
RSVP Tracking: Provided a clear overview of who is attending, maybe attending, or not attending an event.
Real-Time Notifications
Event Reminders: Sent timely reminders for upcoming events, ticket purchases, and schedule changes.
Personalized Alerts: Notified users about new events matching their preferences or updates to events they’re interested in.
Group Updates: Provided real-time notifications for group event changes, such as new attendees or schedule adjustments
40%
Higher Satisfaction
Users reported higher satisfaction with event suggestions and increased engagement.
50%
Reduction in Coordination Time
Improved group event attendance and reduced planning chaos.
35%
Improvement in Task Completion Rates
Users praised the app for its ease of use and intuitive design.
User Research & Design Process
We chose a mixed-methods approach to ensure a well-rounded understanding of user needs:
01. Observation Study
(Understanding User Behavior)
Goal: Understand how users naturally engage with event discovery, planning, and sharing.
Process:
Observed 10 users (students, professionals, and event enthusiasts) as they interacted with existing event platforms.
Tracked navigation patterns, common behaviors, and pain points.
Insights:
Users often struggled to find event details in one place, leading to frustration.
Group coordination was chaotic, with users relying on multiple apps (e.g., WhatsApp, email) to plan events.
Many users felt overwhelmed by irrelevant event suggestions.
02. Competitor Analysis
(Benchmarking Best Practices)
Goal: Identify industry standards, best practices, and areas for differentiation.
Process:
Analyzed 7 competitors: Eventbrite, Meetup, Facebook Events, Ticketmaster, Splash, Dice, and Bizzabo.
Evaluated their strengths and weaknesses in event discovery, sharing, and curation.
Insights:
Competitors excelled in centralized event discovery but lacked personalized recommendations.
Group planning tools were often limited or non-existent.
Visual clutter and poor navigation were common issues across platforms.
03. Semi-Structured Interviews
(Gathering User Insights)
Goal: Explore individual experiences, challenges, and expectations regarding event planning and sharing.
Process:
Conducted 5 interviews with Tempe students and local citizens.
Asked open-ended questions about their event-sharing experiences, methods, benefits, and pain points.
Insights:
Users wanted a way to showcase their event experiences on their profiles.
Many expressed frustration with the lack of tools for coordinating group events.
Personalized event suggestions were highly desired but rarely available.
04. Survey Response
(Gathering User Insights)
Goal: Validate findings at scale and ensure solutions addressed widespread user needs.
Process:
Created a survey completed by 48 respondents, including event veterans and newcomers.
Asked about event participation preferences, sharing habits, and pain points.
Insights:
70% of respondents found it difficult to coordinate events with groups.
65% wanted more personalized event recommendations.
80% expressed interest in a feature to showcase their event experiences on their profiles.
05. Usability Testing
(Validating Designs)
After developing low-fidelity wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes, we conducted usability testing to validate our designs and identify areas for improvement.
Testing Process:
Participants: 10 users (students, professionals, and event enthusiasts).
Tasks:
Discover an event using the app’s search and filtering tools.
Create and share a group event.
Showcase an event experience on their profile.
Metrics: Task completion rates, error frequency, time on task, and user satisfaction.
06. Iterative Refinements
(Validating Designs)
Based on usability testing and post-launch analytics, we made the following refinements:
Testing Results:
Added more filtering options (e.g., price range, event type) to the event discovery page.
Improved the RSVP tracking feature with clearer visual indicators.
Expanded customization options for the profile showcase (e.g., more badge designs, photo uploads).
Reduced the intensity of hover effects and animations to minimize distractions.
Journey Map for
Event Sharing
We created a customer journey map to align stakeholders and highlight pain points in the current event discovery, planning, and sharing experience.
Final Design
Event Discovery and Planning
Profile Section
Showcases user event preferences and interests, enabling personalized experiences.
Profile Display
Highlights user details, followers, and following to foster social connections.
Final Design
Event Details and Search
Event Details
Displays comprehensive event information, including attendees and a streamlined registration confirmation process.
Fosters community interaction by showcasing people attending the event and making participation seamless.
Event Search
Map Search Page: Enables users to find events using filters like distance, date, and category.
Calendar Page: Provides a clear overview of upcoming events the user will be attending for efficient planning.
Final Design
Event Creation and Management
Event Creation Page
Simplifies organizing events with intuitive tools for customization.
Event Tickets and Management Page
Displays purchased tickets, social events, and hosted events for easy tracking and management.
Phase 1 Design
With the completion of Phase 1 for the WYD Event Application, we presented our initial prototypes, gathered feedback from stakeholders, and prepared for the next stage of development. These designs set the foundation for enhancing event discovery and user engagement.