ACAN
Designing a ticketing and events platform for businesses and city locals
Role
Lead designer
Team
Founder
1 Product Manager
1 Designer
2 Developers
Deliverables
UX/UI
Mobile app
Web responsive app
Overview
ACAN partners with selected businesses by providing them the ability to create events and sell event passes within the app ecosystem.
ACAN, an early-stage app in the hospitality industry, provides revenue opportunity to businesses by co-sponsoring events during popular days of the week. Through curated partnerships, how might we connect people in their 20s & 30s to local city events?
Rebuilding the app from the ground up, I led the design of their mobile and web app bridging the customer and business experience between Customers, Business Owners, and System Admin.
Problem
What's the issue?
The client came with a developed trial-run app published in the app store. However, it faced technical hurdles and was missing key features:
No organized hierarchy of information, venues, event details, and reels
Ambiguous interaction states, icons, and zero state screens
Obscured pass purchases and event search
Missing Business Owner and System Admin operation platforms
Solution
A reimagined experience for Consumers
Following popular social media behavior, I designed a reel experience for businesses to upload promo videos as the face of published events. Primary event details are laid on top with a call-to-action "Get Passes", allowing customers to view the event experience prior to purchasing passes.
Providing a self-service event and ticketing platform for Businesses
Businesses are now able to create and manage events in their web portal. Surfacing ACAN booking fees and 3rd party payment services, I emphasized net profit after payout during pass customization, allowing businesses to preview pricing in real-time.
Data metrics to track KPIs in Admin portals
On the admin side, they now have the ability to measure top performing reels, events, and venues alongside high-level metrics regarding profit, revenue, and user accounts.
Market Segment
But who are we designing for?
Primary research into customers and businesses were provided by the client and their partners. Extracting from their background in hospitality and operational industries, I was able to forecast design opportunities during our weekly syncs while gaining a holistic view of the buyer / seller relationship.
Iterations
Home Feed Display
Initial feedback from the client wanted the app experience to have a social media-like feed to differentiate from Eventbrite, a close competitor in the market. To do so, I simplified filters and turned static event posts into short-form reels.
Iteration #1
Iteration #2
Final UI
Here is a close-up view of filters and venue profile user flows. These iterations were accepted in the initial pass. By adopting familiar mobile app patterns, we wanted to aim for immediate user adoption from customers.
Filters
Venue Profile
Notable Features
Uploading Promo Reels
As a Business Owner, the ability to publish an event with Promotion Reels is 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.
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 was to automate logistics as much as possible by leaving email messaging as support channels.
Assignee Calendar
Scan QR
Visual Direction
Visual Direction
Working closely with our graphic designer, we created ACAN's first WCAG AA-compliant component based design library, ensuring accessibility within a dark-themed app across mobile and web platforms. With video reels being a central piece of event personalization and event marketing, we wanted to make sure the design components felt sleek and polished giving off an exclusive feel.
Inspired by "ACAN", which stands for the Mayan god of wine and festivities, we kept their orange color theme and used to brand the app experience. This also allowed the client to maintain their existing marketing swag without deviating too far from their established identity.
Future
Shipping the app
As the app launches to market, we will be looking at metrics in the first 30, 60, 90 days of App Downloads, Passes Purchased, App Conversion via Sign Up, and Reels Engagement Rate.
Completed
Development & Testing
Rounds of user acceptance testing in the Consumer, Business, and Admin accounts are externally tested by the designer (ie, me 👋🏼) to identify bugs, gaps, and collect feedback for fixes before the product is fully released.
Future
Product Launch
During the client's soft launch, ACAN generated $655 in pass sales during the first month. As the product completes UAT, the client will look to launch both the mobile and desktop app.
Future
Measuring Performance
Once the product launches, the client will track the app's engagement and revenue KPI's in the first 30, 60, 90 days.