PROBLEM
Movie theaters aren’t offering a seamless, personalized online experience
Many theaters don’t offer the option of ordering food online prior to the movie, moviegoers have to wait in long lines for snacks and risk missing part of the movie and distracting others when entering a theater late.
OUR PRODUCT
It’s not just a movie, it’s an experience
ICONIC offers a private screening experience. Theater goers can watch the movies they want the way they want. The website allows users to reserve a personalized movie experience, choose their movie and unlimited dining options. When they get to the theater they can simply relax and enjoy the show.
USER RESEARCH: SURVEY
Survey responders want a personalized experience at the movies
Because I wanted to understand the broad moviegoer population’s thoughts regarding luxury movie theaters and due to the time constraints of this project, I chose to utilize a survey to gain insights on moviegoer habits, desires and expectations.
A primary user group I found was customers who feel rushed getting to the theater and want to be able to reserve not just their movie but also food and drinks prior to leaving the house.
The research revealed two opposing groups, those who would like to be able to continue ordering snacks during the movie and those who are vehemently against others doing this. An interesting conundrum for a designer.
I created empathy maps to showcase the two opposing viewpoints and utilized the survey results throughout the design process to ensure I was delivering a product based in real user data
USER RESEARCH: PAIN POINTS
PAIN POINTS
PERSONAS
USER JOURNEY MAP
Mapping Jessica’s user journey revealed how useful reserving an entire movie experience online prior to the movie would be.
The sitemap should be simple and streamlined
SITEMAP
The original site map separated the experience, movie and dining options.
Reflecting on the user pain points I noted that users want a more streamlined and personalized experience.
The revised site map reflects that linear flow and direction for the website.
WIREFRAMES: PAPER
Unfamiliar concept = instructional home page
ICONIC focuses on reserving a private screening experience vs. just buying a movie ticket. The user flow is different than what people may be used to.
The home screen paper wireframe variations reflect this concept with the final version of the screen being more instructional
WIREFRAMES: PAPER
Screen size variations
Because so many people access websites from devices other than a computer these days it was important to come up with a responsive design for various screen sizes for ease of use
WIREFRAMES: DIGITAL
Key actions should be clear
When moving from paper to digital wireframes I wanted to keep the design simple and make sure the key actions I want users to take were clear from the homepage.
WIREFRAMES: DIGITAL
Screen size variations
I created mobile variations of the ICONIC website that allowed for the same reservation experience on a smaller screen.
PROTOTYPE: LOW FIDELITY
Creating a streamlined process
To create a low fidelity prototype I connected all of the screens involved in the primary user flow of reserving a private screening movie experience. I based the flow on the step by step process usually seen when signing up for an activity online
USABILITY STUDIES
I performed moderated usability studies with 5 participants
The main findings from the usability studies revealed a need for clarity in the steps to complete a reservation
MOCKUPS
Based on findings from the usability studies I made changes to the site flow. One change I made was to add pop up confirmations at each step of the reservation that included next step options. This helped to avoid user confusion in how to get to the next step
BEFORE USABILITY STUDY
AFTER USABILITY STUDY
MOCKUPS
To address users going to the top navigation menu for movies and food prior to reserve an experience I redirected those pages back to the experience page to follow the step by step process
BEFORE USABILITY STUDY
AFTER USABILITY STUDY
MOCKUPS
ORIGINAL SCREEN SIZES
MOCKUPS
SCREEN SIZE VARIATIONS
PROTOTYPE: HIGH FIDELITY
Smoothing out the edges
The hi-fi prototype followed the same flow as the low-fi prototype with updates based on the usability study to create a more linear path to reserve an experience.
TAKE AWAYS
“
This is a pretty cool site. I wish it actually existed.”
Impact
Our target users thought ICONIC was a great idea to enhance the movie going experience. They found the high fidelity design easy to use and intuitive.
Insights
I learned that actions that users are expected to take on a website should be obvious and whenever possible visible without needing to scroll. I also learned that best practice is to follow patterns that users already utilize and ensure the path to task completion must be clear. Lastly, I found that users will often utilize a variety of pathways and my job is to ensure all of those paths lead to task completion.
NEXT STEPS
Where we go from here…
Let’s Connect!
Thank you for reading!
If you would like to discuss this case further or are interested in working with me, please reach out.
Email: ndmhowe@gmail.com