Mobile app
2018-2019
It’saLive is a white-label mobile app that helps both festival goers and organisers make the most out of the live music experience.
Individual project | UX, UI, Interaction design
The problem
Music festivals are becoming more and more popular, offering participants a unique music and leisure experience. With the increasing popularity of music festivals, venues are often very crowded, which results in a general sense of disorientation among festivalgoers. Experiencing long lines, constantly searching for your friends, and feeling like you're missing out on activities because you can't find them, are among the letdowns of the music festival experience and hampers its chances of success.
General sense of disorientation and fear of missing out
No real-time knowledge of what is happening and where
No way of knowing which areas are more crowded than others
In the end, these can severely damage this otherwise enjoyable experience and festivalgoers have a hard time maximizing the full potential of what the festival's program has to offer.
Competitive research
I decided to research the market in order to understand how others are trying to solve the problem I have identified. Among the products I reviewed were in-house festival apps and apps for large conventions, and even amusement parks that face similar challenges
The main features of in-house festival apps offered general information concerning the festival's lineup, stages, schedule, etc. I could not identify any feature providing real-time information on what is currently happening in the venue, such us updated information on how crowded certain areas are, how bad are the queues to the toilet or the bar area, or changes in the performances' schedule. In addition, the maps usually featured in these apps are static and the user is unable to navigate the festival with them. In terms of music festival apps, my understanding is that no product exists today that provides a holistic, all-inclusive, experience for the user.
On the other hand, the other category of products I reviewed, namely convention and amusement park apps, did offer some real-time updates on queue status, etc. I used these apps as case studies and tried to optimally integrate some of the features I researched into my design.
User research
For my user research, I interviewed international festivalgoers in order to better understand the challenges they are dealing with and which solutions are offered at present.
Conclusions from the interviews
The music festival experience is epic, something is always happening somewhere and festivalgoers want to stay updated on where the magic is at. So as not to miss out on anything, festivalgoers want to able to make more informed decisions on where to go and what to do.
are concerned about queues and very
crowded areas
have difficulty finding their friends during
the festival
missed an anticipated activity because
of rescheduling
enjoy a well organized and easy to navigate venue
The solution
My solution is a white-label app that complements the music festival experience in a wholesome way. The product will include ticketing, payments made to suppliers at the festival (festival currency; Google pay), real-time updates on festival happenings and rescheduling, and a live survey of the entire venue, including queues, crowd density and friends' locations.
Additionally, since the app will be installed on all mobile phones in the venue, festival managers will receive relevant information for better real-time management of the event, through a designated dashboard.
Target audience
1. A young, music-loving audience that enjoys music festivals.
2. Music festival managers looking to improve their management efficacy.
The value
Festivalgoers enjoy access to relevant information for a better, full festival experience, while festival managers are able to navigate their business more efficiently.
The goal
Increase the enjoyment for festivalgoers and increase revenues for festival managers.
The product
Sitemap
I began the design process by creating a list of all the features I wished to include in the product and organizing them into feature pages.
Wireframes
The next step was to take into consideration user flow and translate it into coherent wireframes. At each stage, I envisioned the user's experience and their needs. For example, I wanted to simplify registration for the user, and since one of the features is to communicate with friends and find their location, I thought it would be easier for users to register through Facebook and not have to fill in many details. In this way, friends could be easily found, as they will automatically appear in the "My Friends" feature of the product.
White-label thinking
Since this product is a white-label product, its general structure and design need to act as a kind of mold to which each brand can supplement their particular content and visual concepts. The design of the first screens especially enables visual flexibility, where I left enough room for the brand to give the user a taste of the festival's unique experience and spirit.
The design
For this project, I decided to base the product on the international techno festival: DGTL. The inspiration for the design was a combination of the festival's style guide, together with the visual experience of physically being in the festival, with an emphasis on ambient lighting. Techno often calls for creative lighting design, where its purpose is to amplify the musical experience by disengaging the listener from their surroundings and allowing them to submit to their own individual worlds, together with the beat.
The app is the entry ticket
After registration, the user is redirected to a countdown screen, which is a part of the product that I defined as "pre-festival". The countdown screen already instructs the user on when and where they should be in order to enter the festival. On the day of the festival, the screen transforms into a QR barcoded entry ticket, for an easy and efficient access to the venue.
Interactive map
The first screen the user sees after entering the festival is a map of the venue. The map has four viewing options:
1. A live view of all festival stages.
2. The locations of the user's friends.
3. The location of toilets, consumption stalls, entrances and exits. When pressing a location, the user can now see what the status of queueing is.
4. Crowd density view.
Live view of the festival
Pressing on a specific stage, while in live view on the map, will redirect the user to a "live tab" where they can view live footage of the stage and details such as who is performing at the moment and who will perform immediately after that. Also, users can add performances they are interested in to their personal lineup or switch to view the full lineup for that stage.
Festival managers' dashboard
I designed the festival managers' dashboard drawing inspiration from the DJ's mixing stations, with DJs being those who "manage" the dance floor. The dashboard has several viewing modes: a pre-festival view, during the festival and after the festival. Each option will show the user only what is relevant to them at that particular time.
The entire dashboard appears above the fold, where the most important information is shown, while secondary information will appear only when "Info" is pressed. All viewing modes are interactive and dynamic, and the user has freedom to choose what and how they would like to view the relevant data.
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