The Product: Cinema Ticketing App
My role: UX/UI Designer
Duration: 8 Weeks
Project Summary
The project described below showcases the development of a cinema ticketing app walking you through each step from conducting the user research and establishing the initial problem statement to creating the user flows and wireframes to the final app mockups.
Problem Statement
Most cinema ticketing apps face usability issues including slow booking, confusing showtime navigation, and limited payment options, resulting in user frustration and potential revenue loss.
Goal Statement
The goal of the project is to design an app with the most simple intuitive end-to-end booking sequence that can help raise the number of cinema bookings made.
Responsibilities
Conduct user research
Define the problem and present solutions
Define User journey, Empathy Maps and User Flow
Design Journey: Wireframes, low-fidelity and high-fidelity Mockups and Prototype
User Testing
1. User Research Summary
To understand user frustration, needs and requirements I conducted user research through interviews and user surveys of my project. First of all, I needed to understand the user groups associated with cinemagoers and the demographic that attends movie theatres in general.
During my research, I also relied on data provided by the British UK Cinema Association. The official government body in charge of collecting and analysing all cinema and movie industry-related data coming out of the UK-based industry.
In the UK the main cinema attendance is made of the following Demographics:
The age groups of 15-24, Gender: Majority Male
The age group of 25-34, Gender: Majority Female
The age group of 34-44, Gender: Majority Male
Reference: UK Cinema Association.
3. Interview Questions
What Would you like to achieve when entering a competitor's app?
2. Could you explain your ideal journey using the app?
3 What tabs would you expect to see?
4 What qualities of the app are most important?
5. Can you give examples of similar apps?
6. What time of the week would you book a cinema ticket for?
7. How much in advance are you booking?
8. How many people are you going with?
4. Pain Points
Excessive information
Most apps and websites tend to display all information even the small print within their apps. Making users overwhelmed.
Long booking process
In many cases the booking process contains unwanted elements such as ad banners and extra offers.
Few payment options
Most apps only support debit and credit cards. Meaning no Apple pay or Paypal option is available.
Unnecessary Sign in pages
Some of the apps currently avalable require users to sign in or register before making the booking page available.
5. User Persona Cards
Rachel Wood
Age:22
Education: BA in Management
Hometown: London
Relationship Status: Single
Occupation: Office Assistant
Rachel is a career starter young professional who wants to have a
chill night out during the week with her friends.
She wants to find a comedy playing in a cinema in central London.
Somewhere she and all her friends can watch a movie together.
Goal: find a movie for a girl's night out.
Frustration: scheduling problems
Ali Mohammed
Age:21
Education: Engineering Student
Hometown: London
Relationship Status: Single
Occupation: Student
Ali is a university student at Kings College in central London. He is in his 2nd year and wants to take out his partner on a date to watch a romantic comedy.
Goal: his goal is to find the best date movie possible.
Frustration: too many options need a place to get the most relevant information from on what's playing.
6. How does the App help them?
The app helps potential users by significantly reducing the booking time using a simple sequential flow for the booking process. Using clear prompts to call to action and incorporating a quick book option as well for users who already know which movie they want to book.
7. Competitive analysis
As per the above-mentioned sources UK Cinema Association. The 4 biggest chains of cinemas in the UK are Cinema World, Vue, Odeon and Curzon
Apps Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
The main strength of all of these apps is that they are aesthetically pleasing and bring each cinema into one's phone.
Weaknesses
After conducting my research I can conclude most of these apps are bombarding you with a plethora of information and in some cases requesting additional information from the user side before even bookings can be started.
The best example is the Odeon App where you must first sign in before even starting browsing their film library. But even the rest of the apps require the users to do some "digging" before making the actual booking.
The design created by me aims to reduce this "digging time" by as much as possible.
8. User Flow (sketch)
Several user flows were created and tested via review sessions with stakeholders. Results were incorporated into a final simple and clean version of the user flow. Enabling users to proceed through the booking process as easily as possible. The above diagram shows how each screen ultimately leads to the booking page.
9. Storyboard (sketch)
Based on the above process of research and incorporating feedback the following close-up storyboard was created to capture the best-case scenario for each user engagement.
10. Wireframes
Low-fidelity wireframes were created and tested with stakeholders via online feedback sessions.
11. Mockups
Impact
At the end of the project, an easy-to-use concise and user-friendly app was created that serves both user needs and business needs as well. Enabling users to purchase stress-free tickets to their favourite shows. While at the same time enabling cinemas to raise their profits.
What I learned
Clarifying Feedback with Stakeholders
When stakeholders offer general design feedback, it's crucial to take the opportunity to delve deeper and clarify the issues. Keep in mind that interpretations of terminology can vary, so obtaining more specific feedback brings me closer to finalizing the design. Reflecting on past experiences, I realize there was room for improvement: I didn't inquire enough with stakeholders to gain clearer insights.
Embracing Change When Things Don't Go as Planned
One significant challenge I faced during this process was frequently making minor adjustments to designs, which prevented me from exploring broader, more innovative directions. Thankfully, a brainstorming session with my mentor enabled me to effectively address this issue.
Learning from Every Iteration
While using creative names may enhance visibility, it can also confuse users. to prevent this, it's essential to use familiar terms and industry-standard layouts that users understand.