Timeline
November 2023 - January 2024 (7 weeks)
Tools
Figma, Figjam, Pen & Paper
My Role
Product and Visual Designer, UX Researcher
The Problem and Solution
The Problem
Amidst the hustle of daily life, carving out moments for leisure activities like going to the movies is crucial for personal well-being and relaxation.
In 2023, despite surpassing $9 billion, the US box office remained $2 billion below pre-pandemic levels. Persistent challenges in revitalizing box office revenue, intensified by changing consumer habits and operational hurdles, highlight the necessity for strategic action. These obstacles not only impact financial metrics, but also result in workforce reductions and an impedance in the industry's ability to foster a vibrant cinematic landscape.
To navigate this landscape successfully, the industry requires innovative solutions in different fields that all prioritize revenue growth, enhance operational efficiency, and foster a compelling and inclusive entertainment experience conducive to sustained business success and creative expression.
The Solution
One path forward to restoring box office revenue is through eliminating pain points from moviegoers journeys by implementing a user-friendly ticketing app that enhances accessibility, convenience, and engagement.
Introducing MovieMate: an efficient and user-friendly platform that streamlines the moviegoing process. Its interface swiftly connects users with intriguing films and seamlessly aligns with their availability and location, thus ensuring a quick and convenient solution that enhances their moviegoing experience.
Competitive Analysis
Comparing Three Platforms: Navigating Access, Community, and Specialized Services in the Entertainment Industry
To figure out where MovieMate can excel, I took to looking at a direct competitor and two indirect competitors: AMC Theaters, Letterboxd, and Ticketmaster respectively.
AMC
Simple, visually coherent
Theater view page states the address clearly
Divided into categories, everything a moviegoer wants can be done in this one application
Limited information about accessible showtimes and seating
Summary: While the application functions effectively, users are required to tap the screen more frequently than optimal, increasing the risk of user disengagement. This is most noticeable when the user is trying to access information about accessibility and movie details.
Ticketmaster
Loads slow
Fees are not easily readable
Tappable zones are small
Summary: The application feels slow, with tappable zones requiring specific precision. Adding on the coveted hidden fees, the user is left with a frustrating experience.
Letterboxd
Tailored to users who already have friends on the platform
Showtime + Tickets feature is difficult to use due to poor visual hierarchy and small font sizes
Summary: The application operates under the assumption that users have established connections with friends within the platform. However, film discovery becomes constrained for those who do not have any connections. Moreover, the showtime + tickets feature appears hurriedly executed, lacking visual coherence, the ability to tap theater addresses for map display, and presenting information in a cramped format with small font size.
User Personas
MovieMate’s Target Audience
Using personas helps in focusing on a specific target audience. The fictional personas below were created to give a solid general feeling about the lives of MovieMate’s potential users, and to see how MovieMate can help alleviate their problems.
Luis, 22 Years Old | Student
Luis, a college senior wrapping up his bachelor's degree, navigates a myriad of responsibilities, including caring for his younger sister. Finding solace in movies as a means to unwind from his hectic weeks, Luis encounters a common struggle—difficulty in securing suitable showtimes for the movies he desires. Eager to catch the latest Marvel film, he faces the challenge of inconvenient showtimes at his local theater. Yearning for a solution, Luis dreams of a quick and efficient way to explore alternative theaters nearby, ensuring he can find the perfect showtime that aligns with his schedule.
Jane, 45 Years Old | Data Analyst
Jane, a dedicated mother managing the whirlwind of family life. With two lively kids, aged 11 and 12, and a supportive husband, movie nights have become a cherished tradition for them. However, navigating showtimes with optimal seating for their larger family poses a unique challenge. Balancing the preferences of both kids and coordinating schedules with her husband makes finding the right movie time a bit tricky. Jane envisions a movie app tailored to accommodate larger families seamlessly, ensuring they can relish the enchantment of cinema with comfortable seating and convenient showtimes.
USER INTERVIEWS
Understanding Movie Watchers’ Habits
After interviewing eight different individuals about their movie-going habits, I discovered three common themes:
Theme One: Users struggle with inconvenient show times All user candidates expressed issues with finding a movie with a showtime that worked for them.
Interview: “Honestly I can’t tell you the amount of times I just gave up because AMC’s showtimes didn’t work for me.”
Theme Two: Exploring new options is too much of a hassle All user candidates preferred to go to their usual list of theaters. The top two sentiments shared here were that it was “too much work” to find a new theater and that it took too much time to search for a theater that was playing a movie they were interested in.
Theme Three: Limitations of seating All user candidates have previously found a movie and a showtime, only to find out that the theater was packed except for a handful of seats on the side.
Interview: “The app lets me know if the theater is near full capacity which is great, but there’s an issue with how it determines what near full capacity means. Why would I want to watch a movie sitting in the front row? It’s just a waste of my time.”
USER FLOW
How The User Navigates
Mapping out the user flow is a crucial part in the design process. The user flow refines the boundaries of the product, stating what is possible and what is currently not. Any adjustments / added features to the product would have to fit into this user flow. Some information I specifically gained from the user flow is: what screens I needed, potential pain points, and number of actions possible on any given screen. With the user flow defined, I can begin wireframing.
wireframe
Wireframing MovieMate
To create a good layout of the app, I utilized Crazy Eights to get a general sense of where the buttons, text, icons, and images belong. I also asked my interviewees which aspect of each wireframe they liked the most, and tried to bring it forward into further designs to create a unique layout.
Key takeaways were:
Interviewees reacted well to the Gmail-esque filter button being located constantly in the bottom right corner.
Interviewees specifically liked the implementation of a button to show a map of the theater’s area.
Interviewees preferred a simple menu bar at the top of the screen rather than at the bottom.
STYLE GUIDE
Using a Style Guide
Creating a style guide was crucial in establishing a cohesive visual identity to MovieMate. A cohesive visual identity is important to a product because it establishes brand recognition, instills trust and credibility to users, and helps a product stand out from its competitors. Visual identity for MovieMate consisted of a defined typography, color palette, and iconography.
high fidelity prototype
Quick & Convenient
After conducting interviews and doing research, three key features stood out to test users that would encourage them to go to the theater more.
Comprehensive Theater Coverage
MovieMate is designed with all theaters in mind, rather than a single venue or chain. Test users are more likely to go see a movie when there are more options easily available, as the experience of finding an applicable showtime is less of a hassle.
“I like how if theater chain A doesn’t have a good showtime nearby, I could quickly look at other theaters for a better showtime without having to download a second application.” - Test User #7
Intuitive Planning Tools
MovieMate is designed with the understanding that planning can be difficult when the information you need isn’t easily accessible. Test users are less likely to give up on a specific showtime when they can easily check information about the next days/weeks of showtimes.
“…Why doesn’t AMC let me quickly compare seating like this? It’s so simple and quickly tells me if a showtime works for me or not.” - Test User #6
Localized Convenience
MovieMate is designed to get you ready to go to any theater. Test users are more likely to go to a new theater when they can easily check where the theater is located.
“I love that I can quickly check a local map of the theater and see how far it is from me… I’d definitely feel more inclined to go check out a new theater.” - Test User #4
Results
A Glance at Test Users’ Response to Using MovieMate
Task: You're organizing a movie outing with five friends, all of whom are fans of drama films. They've informed you that they're available around 6 PM and would prefer to leave the theater by 11:30 PM. Your task is to select a drama movie, locate a theater offering a showtime with at least six adjacent seats available, and proceed with booking the tickets.
Task Completion Rate: 100%
Average Time to Complete Task: 1 min 39 seconds
Likelihood of Using MovieMate Over Competitors from 1 to 10: 8.7
How Do You Feel About Using MovieMate as Your Main Ticketing App for Movies?
“I would greatly prefer it… it removes the hassle of having to open three different apps just to find one showtime. It makes the whole process so much less frustrating so I think this would get me to go check out a movie more.” - Test User #7
CONCLUSION and REFLECTION
Takeaways
Being my third major UX project, the opportunity to design MovieMate was the culmination of everything I have learned. Incorporating concepts formally acquired through the Google UX Design Certificate and skills gained as a UX/UI design intern at Ezvent, my approach to this project was radically different. Allowing the project to simmer, I conducted multiple rounds of iterative work on wireframes, lo-fi prototypes, and hi-fi prototypes.
I discovered the paramount importance of research. Although seemingly self-explanatory, expanding the sample size from two deep interviews to eight light interviews proved to be a bastion of untapped knowledge. Calling back my interviewees to gauge their preferences on wireframe elements and assess what worked in the lo-fi prototypes resulted in creating a hi-fi prototype that I am immensely proud of. It endeavors to accomplish what appears to be a simple task and passes with flying colors.
The creation of a style guide was also important as it served as a visual reference throughout the design process, eliminating the need to choose colors on the spot. This project has combined theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and lessons from thorough research and iterative design, marking an important milestone in my journey as a UX designer.
Next Steps
Design filters to help users find movies that appeal to them. While MovieMate encourages users to go to the movies by making it an easier task, test users indicated that there is further work to be done for those who don’t have a specific movie in mind. Given time limitations, this feature was not fully developed but is the top priority.
Monitor user activity for data-backed decisions. It is necessary to analyze how a large sample of users use the application to guide the future of the application and make the product more efficient. Two specific categories to look under are the usage of location services and time spent scrolling on the movie list view.
Refining seat maps for theaters. Due to MovieMate’s comprehensive theater coverage, it is important to remember that no two theater rooms are laid out the same. This calls for the creation of a seat map that is dynamic and highly scalable. Movie theaters that house 30 people and theaters that house 300 people need to be accurate for user satisfaction.