Defining the UX for your festival
Festival Introduction
Research
Figure 1 and 2 are mind maps
In order to chose a festival, extensive research was taken to help make this choice. The research was based on existing festivals, festivals of different kinds and what they would typically entail. With plenty of research and with different ideas in mind, a music festival was created. Figure 1 and 2 is of a mind map that goes more in-depth of the overview and things to consider with the festival created.
Childish Festival Overview
The festival designed is Childish Festival which would be based in York, specifically at Knavesmire Park. Knavesmire Park is a large outdoor venue, it is a prime location for people across the country as it is easily accessible with the A65 being just under 5 miles away. The park is situated near York Racecourse, thus making it easy for locals as there is already an existing public transport line. People travelling by Train also have the use of this public transport. There is plenty amenities surrounding the area as well as many accommodation choices for those who chose to stay nearby.
Childish Festival accommodates the age group of 18-30 year olds, this is not to say people of 30+ years can’t attend the festival. It will be centre stage to large, popular UK artists covering the genres Pop, Electronic/Dance, Indie and Hiphop. There will be opportunities for smaller artist to play too. This is inspired by a mixture of existing festivals such as, Parklife, Leeds Fest and Coachella. Childish would be set to take place annually during summertime (July-August) with the duration of 3 days (Weekend).
The Festival would give the opportunity to the smaller local business to gain custom as well as free promotion/advertising. There will a variety of food and beverage stalls along with different entertainment avenues such as fair ground rides.
The problem space
The problem space for both the website and companion app is solely based on the user and the design has to accompany their needs. The primary goal is to create a website and a companion app for the Childish Festival. The designs have to be subtable for the selected age range as well as providing relevant information on the event that would be useful to the user. In order to be successful in this, both the website and app have to include the key components of usability which involves utility, learnability, memorability, efficiency, safety and satisfactory.
Utility relates to the relevancy, practicality and functionality of the website and companion app. In order for them both to be a success, the interface needs to meet the users needs
Learnability is how easy both products can be navigated by its users for the first time. It will be advantageous for them to be of a similar layout to existing festivals, that way navigating the site will be predictable.
Memorability stems from learnability. If the site and app is easy to use, it will benefit the memorability of the user as they won’t have to remember how to navigate them due to its predictability.
Efficiency directly relies on the user and the utility of both products. There has to be some practicality and functionality to the app and website for it to be efficient. This is a product of both learnability and memorability.
Satisfaction relies on all the points above. To improve the satisfaction, the design as a whole should be considered. The site should be interesting and induce the feeling of excitement. 2 good examples of this would be Parklife and Creamfields, both of which are analysed in the next post.
Safety within the cyber world is essential. The user needs to be protected from errors or mistakes they may make. A common feature within technology in recent years is an auto-fill option. Making a mistake within this could mean the users information has been sent to an incorrect email that doesn’t belong to them. The email could contain harmful information such as card details and personal details.
The users end goal is to have the ability to purchase tickets and to acquire information such as accommodation and transport.
Website
The website will be most useful to the user pre festival. This is where they have the ability to purchase their tickets in advance. The site will also be the hub of all the information required prior to the festival. There will be opportunities given to multiple stakeholders, this includes job vacancies and sponsors for smaller local businesses.
In order for the website to be successful, it needs to include high-quality content that is engaging to the target audience. Including plenty of images and other forms of media are useful as overloading the website with text can bore the users which may result into them leaving the website and not returning. There needs to be a clear flow of actions for the website to run seamlessly, this will help the user to understand how to use the site.
Companion App
Having a companion app to the website can be very useful. Most festivals are held in large open spaces that have a large number of attendees, so often, phone service can be intermittent, therefore a user could download the companion app before attending. The app could have important information that an attendee might require without needing an internet connection such as access to tickets and the venue maps. Other use cases of the app would be for users with a limited data package for their mobile device, these users would benefit from having a mobile app preinstalled when attending, this way they would not be using their data allowance to access the website for important information, they could use the companion app.
The app will also hold information that is relevant to the user during the festival, certain features it holds won’t be accessible in the format that is required on the website. The user should have the ability to redeem their tickets from their phones, access what is available at the festival and also have direct access to contact Information they may require without the use of internet.
References
- Nielson Norman Group. 2021. Problem Statements in UX Discovery. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/problem-statements/. [Accessed 5 March 2022].
- Law insider. Unknown. user safety definition. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/user-safety. [Accessed 5 March 2022].
- Kintek. 2010. Utility, Usability and User Experience. [ONLINE] Available at: http://kintek.com.au/blog/utility-usability-and-user-experience/. [Accessed 5 March 2022]
- Forbes. 2020. Building A Successful Website For Your Business. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2020/05/27/building-a-successful-website-for-your-business/?sh=185230a663ed. [Accessed 7 March 2022].