I worked on this project with 5 other designers.
The goal for this project was to create a digital platform for skilled individuals to launch and manage in-person learning events like workshops and classes. This platform would act as "white glove support" for skill sharers that want more than just a ticketing platform.
Competitive Analysis
Survey
Persona
Mid-fidelity Wireframes
Prototypes
6 weeks
How can we create a platform that includes event creation, event support, event marketing, venue coordination, and attendee-focused customer service focusing on the host/organizer side.
During our research one of the first thing we analyzed in the event management platforms were that what individuals who host events face during the process of sharing their skills, expertise and hobbies with others. With the current pandemic situation the team realized that we shouldn't just consider in-person learning events but also look for online competitors as well. The Competitors can be grouped into 3 different categories.
5 out of 6 Directs have event management and analytics dashboards
Swiss Army Knife approach; lots of resources, tools, full-spectrum organization and control for events
Most platforms are mobile-2nd; more features and attention paid to desktop experience (complexity)
Even within digital, desire to network with others; connect to local instructors or businesses
The purpose of the survey was to collect information from participants so that we could start to see
some patterns in their behavior and thoughts. Some of the topics covered in the survey include the participant’s demographic background, whether they prefer to host events online or offline, how COVID has affected their ability to share, the current process they go through when organizing events, and any frustrations they experience while doing so.
After synthesizing survey results, some findings stood out to the team:
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In order to gain a more in-depth understanding on what real hosts and skill sharers need, we interviewed 11 event hosts & instructors as well as 3 students & attendees. Here are some of the insights that we gathered:
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Independent event hosts and instructors who want to scale their business need a centralized digital toolbox to flexibly execute and manage their events both online and in-person because current market offerings are fragmented, making it difficult to grow business in an efficient manner.
We developed a persona to encapsulate and organize the goals and the barriers to goals, motivations, frustrations, needs, and wants of our user.
In order to get the ball rolling on ideation, we decided to do a How Might We exercise.
We took the problem statement and began to pull it apart, and started to ask How Might We questions in order to generate some creative ideas.
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After completing the "How Might We" exercise, our team created six different concepts which are as follows:
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After coming up with the concepts, we needed to determine which one had the most priority.
We created a matrix based on what would stand out in the market and would be easiest to implement.
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After deciding which concepts had priority, we converged them to create one overarching concept that we would build the solution upon.
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This is a low to mid fidelity prototype so all screens are in grayscale and not every section is fully clickable. Also, this version already incorporates most of the feedback and input from our usability test results.
Across all of our interviews and research, one of the biggest pain points for event hosts was finding a venue. In our solution, the host can easily find a venue according to location, type, price and more.
Another pain point for event hosts was getting the word out about their event. They would use multiple tools and platforms, but with Eventurous, they can save time by posting about their event with just one click.
Because this is a stream of income for event hosts, they need tools to keep track of events and grow business. Eventurous keeps track of it all in one place and even offers a cost-benefit analysis tool to help determine what is the best price to charge attendees.
Many of the event hosts expressed a desire to connect with event attendees and other hosts who offer the same type of classes. It would be a forum where people could gather and exchange ideas.
Based on all the ideation and concepting our team did to this point, we created a mid-fidelity prototype of what was needed for users on this platform.
We conducted a usability test with 7 users in total, 5 of which have teaching experience. In this usability test,
we asked the users to complete the following tasks:
Tasks:
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We addressed some next steps and future recommendations that should be addressed when transitioning our design from an MVP to a finalized functional platform. Each of our future recommendations have been validated by what users need incorporated into an event planning platform.
5 out of 6 Directs have event management and analytics dashboards
Swiss Army Knife approach; lots of resources, tools, full-spectrum organization and control for events
Most platforms are mobile-2nd; more features and attention paid to desktop experience (complexity)
