PROJECT OVERVIEW
Hypothetical Project
TEAM
Lizzie Bloodworth
Ana Marrero
Nate Davis
Objective
Create an app for party-goers to preview DJ and bar information to ensure they have a successful night out with great music.
TOOLS
Figma
Trello
Adobe Illustrator
Google Forms
The Problem
For most partygoers, a fun and memorable night out is very dependent on the music and vibe. Although these are influential factors, they’re often indeterminable until arriving at the venue/scene.
The Solution
An app that allows partygoers to preview DJs and music genres at various local clubs through the use of video and real-time updates.
The Impact
Increased the rate of efficiency by 1 minute and 8 seconds after implementing usability testing feedback.
RESEARCH
Getting To Know The Problem
PROPOSED PROBLEM
We started by coming up with what we assumed the problem to be. This would help us create some research objectives. Our proposed problem was:
Not knowing the DJ or type of music playing at a particular club can heavily affect the success of a night out.
Objectives
Research for this project revolved around two questions:
How much does music impact someone's night out?
2. What aspects of a DJ/music do people care about most?
We hypothesized that music would be a huge impact, and we wanted to see if the research aligned. In addition, we were genuinely curious how people felt about the quality of a DJ. That information can be quite subjective, but it would lead to important content decisions in the app.
Survey Data
To quickly collect quantitative data, we conducted a survey via Google Forms. We received 85 responses. Our respondents were 72% female and 72% between the ages of 24 and 27.
How much does music impact your night out on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (it's the main reason you go out)?
If you paid to get into a venue, but you did not like the music, would you leave?
How would you like to learn about the music playing at various local clubs?
Main Takeaways
Music greatly affects a night out.
Paying a cover cost affects how people decide where to go.
Live videos are a great way to help people decide on a venue.
Interviews
After collecting some quantitative data and establishing that our problem was common and legitimate, we moved to interviews to get qualitative data and insights into real world experiences of how music can affect one’s night out.
Interviewees
To match our survey data, we primarily interviewed women. We also focused on finding interviewees that were frequent party-goers.
Alyse
26, F
Emma
27, F
The Impact of Music
Main Takeaways
Music makes a huge impact.
People care less about who the DJ is and more about how they are performing in real time.
Music, Vibe, and the Crowd are the biggest factors for a successful night out.
The Problem
For most partygoers, a fun and memorable night out is very dependent on the music and vibe. Although these are influential factors, they’re often indeterminable until arriving at the venue/scene.
ANALYSIS
HOW MIGHT WE…
Give party-goers a better understanding of the vibe and music playing at various local bars and clubs ahead of time?
Help users ensure their night out will be a success?
Make finding a good bar more convenient and safe for our users?
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
With such a common problem, there had to be some sort of solution out there, so we started to look at our competitors. There were a few components shared across different competitors, but across the board Vibe Check was the only platform that offered all of these factors:
Value Proposition
Based off our users needs, wants, and fears we were able to come to a conclusion on what makes Vibe Check unique and valuable:
We save users time and money, and we give people the confidence to try out new bars and DJs.
Needs
Wants
Fears
USER PERSONA
We wanted our user to reflect our research respondents, so we made sure she was female and a resident from Austin, TX. We also pulled some direct quotes from some of our interviews.
Dancin' Diana
26 years old
Austin, TX Transplant
Business Consultant
“If it doesn’t make me dance, I don’t want it!”
“I just want to know where I can find the music I love!”
“I’m still exploring Austin. I want to have fun while I’m at it.”
USER Journey Map
We used some examples from our interviews to get a snapshot of what a user’s common experience might be when experiencing bad music during a night out.
Our main user is trying to leave one bar in search of a better bar, but Vibe Check is also a great resource for users wanting to avoid bad music overall.
The Solution
An app that allows partygoers to preview DJs and music genres at various local clubs through the use of video and real-time updates.
BRAINSTORMING
Creating the Solution
USER PATH
Main User Task
Set up an account and view two live videos from any local club.
There are many ways a user might navigate our app, but this path was intended to represent the “happy path” or the perfect seamless journey for a new user creating an account and finding a bar with music they like.
SKETCHES
To quickly brainstorm layout and content ideas, we started sketching. We focused a lot of our energy on the bar page layout and map/list view to create great browsability.
A/B Testing
Our app was centered around live videos, so we conducted some A/B testing to learn more about how our users would want to access and view live videos.
Gallery vs. Continuous Scroll
Swipe vs. Button
Insights
Users equally liked the gallery and continuous scrolling, so we incorporated both.
Users preferred a swipe interaction over a button to access the live videos.
MID-FI Wireframes
After implementing the A/B testing results, we went back for further usability testing to understand where we could improve.
The average user took 1 minute and 8 seconds to complete the main user task.
Bar Page
“Is this supposed to be a swipe up? It's not really working.” - John
Map
“I want to also be able to search bars I like and see if they'll be playing the music I like." - Jennifer
Live Videos
“It'd be nice to have a share option so I can keep my friends in the loop of what the plans are." - Justin
Data-Driven Design Changes
Swipe and click interaction
Search bar
Share option
UI Style Guide
We intended to create something with a retro feel because music and its impact are timeless. The colors that represent this aesthetic often draw from the secondary colors orange and teal. We paired these with a neutral yellow to create some contrast.
IMPLEMENTING
Bringing the Solution to Life
Wireflows
Onboarding
Choosing a Bar
The Impact
Increased the rate of efficiency by 1 minute and 8 seconds after implementing usability testing feedback.
Final Results
CONCLUSION
Looking Back & Looking Ahead
The Problem
For most partygoers, a fun and memorable night out is very dependent on the music and vibe. Although these are influential factors, they’re often indeterminable until arriving at the venue/scene.
The Solution
An app that allows partygoers to preview DJs and music genres at various local clubs through the use of video and real-time updates.
The Impact
Increased the rate of efficiency by 1 minute and 8 seconds after implementing usability testing feedback.
Learnings and Reflections
This was my first project where I really felt like I used the UX process to my advantage. There were moments where my team and I explored really cool features such as allowing users to vote for club options among their friends to help them decide on a club for the night. Although this would likely be a great addition, I felt it veered away from our set intention for the app.
As the project manager, I encouraged us to allocate our energy toward the research-based goals and design decisions first. In the future, with more research and testing, I’m sure adding a voting feature would be something users might really love, but for the time being I’m glad we chose to prioritize the research and set objectives.
Next steps
Building a user persona for promoters, club owners, and DJs
Exploring a voting feature for friends
Offering real-time ratings for DJs
Researching music preferences and expanding that filtering feature
Fin
