Discover. Plan. Attend. Fest. Rest. Repeat.
The Introduction
Every year, 32 million Americans attend a music festival.
It is a highly sought-after experience that people are willing to $$$ spend on. However, music festivals can very easily be a logistical nightmare for attendees.
Factors like weather, staff shortages + high costs can negatively impact the customer experience…
The Timeline
Week 01
Discover
Define problem statement and research questions, and establish project timeline.
Week 02
Research
Conduct 5-7 interviews. synthesize data, develop 2 unique personas and define user journeys.
Week 03
Design (Pt. 01)
Create user flows, define moodboard/logomark and begin low-fidelity wireframes.
Week 04
Design (Pt. 02)
Develop sitemap, define a design system and begin high-fidelity wireframing.
Week 05
Prototype
Develop a prototype based on high-fidelity wireframes, set up Maze and gather users
for usability testing.
Week 06
Testing
Conduct usability testing,
synthesize results, identify findings and define revisions to be made.
Week 07
Revisions
Revise prototype based on usability testing results and begin putting presentation together.
Week 08
Presentation
Present completed presentation and define potential next steps.
The Problem
How might we streamline the process of discovering, planning + attending music festivals?
In a study conducted among 22 music festival attendees, 50% of participants cited the planning + attendance of music festivals to be moderate in terms of difficulty.
The Solution
FEST is a mobile application reimagining and streamlining the music festival experience for attendees. The features include:
Discover
Browse + discover hundreds of music festivals offerings in the US across various music genres, dates + locations.
Plan
Plan the festival experience by finding tickets, collecting a group of friends + finding travel + housing accommodations.
Attend
Access festival information including real-time update, festival schedules, checklists and festival ground maps.
The Ideation
The User Research
Key Findings:
When going about research, 75% of participants opted for word of mouth and social media as their leading sources.
95% of participants noted seeing their favorite music artists as their leading driver to attend a music festival. Other reasons included:
to experience a dynamic art & culture event (65%)
to spend time with family & friends (60%)
to escape from the real world (55%)
When rating the difficulty of planning a festival, 45% of participants rated it a 3 (moderate). Some of the most challenging aspects they noted:
analyzing total costs (55%)
collecting a group of people to attend (40%)
deciding what festival to attend (40%)
When rating the difficulty of attending a festival, 45% participants rated it a 3 (moderate). Some of the most challenging aspects they noted:
expensive food/beverage options (75%)
long lines to enter the festival (50%)
lack of restrooms/rest areas/water stations (30%)
set times moving around (30%)
22 participants, via Google Forms.
The Focus Group
Key Findings:
When it came to preference of festival type (genre-specific or genre-diverse)
it was split exactly in the middle, with half of participants leaning genre-specific
and half leaning genre-diverse.When asked about what participants’ key steps are when researching/planning a festival, they mentioned:
Reviewing the lineup
Seeing if the festival website has tickets
Gathering a group of friends
Analyzing housing/travel costs
Reviewing social media posts/reviews
Frequently mentioned applications used in festival planning included:
Venmo, Splitwise (costs/finances)
Airbnb (housing)
Spotify (music/playlists)
NJTransit, Skyscanner (travel)
Instagram, Reddit (reviews)
When it comes to festival updates, some users opted into text updates, but most have received any festival communication via email (which they often wouldn’t check regularly).
6 participants, in-person interview.
Discover
•
Plan
•
Attend
•
FEST
•
Rest
•
Repeat
•
Discover • Plan • Attend • FEST • Rest • Repeat •
The Personas
Simon
Prefers Larger Genre-Diverse Festivals
25 • He/Him • Seattle, WA
The Pains
Inaccurate or outdated sources
Overwhelmed with travel/housing options
Minimal communication from festival
The Goals
Have a great music festival experience
Share the festival experience with friends
Getting his money’s worth
The Tasks
Access accurate, up-to-date information
Gather a group of friends to attend with
Analyze festival attendance costs
Book hotels, car rentals, airplane tickets
Review festival content from previous years
Maddie
Prefers Smaller Genre-Specific Festivals
29 • She/They • Brooklyn, NY
The Pains
Limited information about festivals
Limited information on set times
Minimal communication from festival
The Goals
Have a great music festival experience
Experience festival(s) alone or with friends
Attend smaller festivals more often
The Tasks
Access accurate, up-to-date information
Access routes via public transportation
Review festival content from previous years
The Outcome
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The Plan Feature
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The Discover Feature
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The Attend Feature
The Prototype Walk-Through
The Takeaways
More Research, Better Features
For this case study, there was an extensive amount of research done. This included field research, a research survey with 20+ participants and a group interview. This allowed for stronger information architecture within the application, and this was validating in usability testing.
New UX Tools = Learning Curve
In my traditional usability testing approach, I am able to see users interact with the product in real time and talk through their experience. In using a product like Maze, I am given a synthesis of their usability testing via stats and reports. Though I saved time on facilitating the test, I had to spend extra time trying to understand the results.
Keep User Testing Tasks Simple
Although all tasks were successfully executed by the usability test participants, the program being used for testing was logging indirect success. Why? I had set up the test to include multiple steps per task. Moving forward, each task will be set up with a more simplified end goal for the participant.
Let IA + Research Inform Design
As a graphic designer, my first instinct is to deep dive into the typography, colors and imagery of the application. For this project, I felt it was important to take a step back and let the information architechture informed by the user research lead the direction of the visual interface. In doing so, I saved time and was able to develop a simple, effective visual language for FEST.