ACAN
Role
Design Lead
Deliverables
Wireframes, UX/UI, Mobile app, Web responsive app
Team
Anton Munin, UI Designer
Peng Xiong, Developer
Luis Leite, Developer
Overview & problem
Local food & beverage businesses need a way to bring in customers and capitalize on popular days of the week. How might we connect & engage people in their 20s & 30s to nearby social events run by local venues?
The client came with a developed trial-run app published in the app store. However, it faced technical and visual hurdles creating a confusing consumer experience. I led the redesign of their mobile app and web platforms bridging the gap between Consumers, Business Owners, and System Admin.
Note, the UI and animations in this case study have been updated to reflect my current standards.
Who are the users?
Constraints
Scope creep became a persistent presence involving quick turnaround times and last minute feature adds.
Resource constraints
Initial Discovery sessions with the client were too short, leading to multiple MVP feature adds down the line.
Leaned heavily on Mobbin and AI for secondary research
Stakeholders were concerned if there were enough revenue and event discoverability opportunities for business owners.
Design
Visual Direction
Working closely with our UI designer, we created ACAN's first WCAG AA-compliant design library, ensuring accessibility within a dark-themed app across mobile and web platforms. With video reels being a central piece of user personalization and event marketing, we wanted to make sure the design components felt sleek and polished displaying a trendy and exclusive feel.
Inspired by "ACAN", which stands for the Mayan god of wine and festivities, it was important to keep the brand color orange to create a fun and lively app experience. Simultaneously, this allowed the client to maintain their existing marketing swag without deviating too far from their established identity.
*Acan branded swag at one of their curated events. Alas, I did not get a free t-shirt :(
Event Marketing Reels
Initial explorations emphasized the use of reels as video marketing for Business Owners. By creating their own promo reels similar to social media reels, this would draw in Consumers and immerse them in experiences before purchasing passes.
As a Business Owner, the ability to publish an event with Promotion Reels are the gateway to generating traffic and ticket sales to an upcoming event. All published events are sent through an in-app approval system operable only on Desktop ensuring System Admins see and curate the quality of the event.
Approval System
To ensure Business partners upheld quality event standards, an automated approval system was added to the System Admin web platform. By implementing the approval channel, the goal was to speed up back and forth communication between the two partners and allow admin staff to manage and grow as needed.
QR Check-Ins
The client previously relied on manual pen-and-paper guest check-ins and email channels to assign Reps to each event. Seeing an opportunity to streamline this process, I implemented a mobile browser QR guest check-in and a desktop/mobile friendly Assignee Calendar for Admins. The goal of this is to automate logistics as much as possible by leaving email messaging as support channels.
Future
As the app launches to market, we will be looking at metrics for number of App Downloads, Passes Purchased, and App Engagement via Sign Up and Reels Watched.
Present
Internal Testing
In this phase, the Android, iOS, and web browser app is externally tested by the designer (me 👋) and the client's preferred list of 10 users to identify bugs, gaps, and collect feedback for fixes before the product is fully released.
Future
Launch to App Store
After the testing phase, the app would be publicly launched alongside it's marketing counterparts. Here is where we'll be able to see what feedback the general public has for the consumer app and track the app's KPI's in the first 30, 60, 90 days of launch.
Future
Iterate & Optimize
With the 1st iteration of the app launched to market, we'd look at the first 90 days of conversion in Sign Up, Pass Sales, and Events Published. Utilizing data to reveal the user journey would be a starting point to inform where users are experiencing friction.