NXNE
Elevating the Music Festival Experience
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Deconstructing the User Experience
Problem
With only five weeks to create and ideate an app from a limited brief, we didn't have sufficient time to conduct enough user research. However, recognizing the significant impact that research would have on the app's direction, we had to get creative.
Outcome
The final design made festival information easily accessible and promoted discovery through features like the “party” function, which connected individuals with similar music tastes. This app fostered community engagement through incentives to support local businesses.
How Can We Apply Our Experiences to the Creation of this App?
Overview
While working with NXNE, a Toronto music festival, for a humber project, our goal was to design an app that embodied the discovery of music and aligned with the festival's 2024 focus on enhancing community involvement.
Team
My Role
Creating Personas
Conducting Usability Tests
Designing Pages
Timeline
5 Weeks
The Final Product
Connecting Festival Goers with the Community
Team Tested, Team Approved
To quickly address the challenge of limited time for user research, I recognized that our team of five members represented the target audience for the NXNE app. I proposed that each team member spend 10 minutes sketching their expectations for each potential page based on our user personas and on their own personal experiences.
As we compared our individual sketches, it became evident that, despite our diverse backgrounds and roles, there were common themes and preferences emerging.
By grouping similar concepts together, we effectively conducted an internal user testing session. This process not only provided valuable insights into potential user expectations but also fostered collaborative problem-solving within our team.
The User's Guide to the Ideal Music Festival App
Through a combination of competitive analysis and insights from our internal user testing, we identified three key areas that would significantly enhance the festival goer’s experience while bringing in the aspect of discovery.
Scheduling
As a frequent planner, I understand the importance of quickly referencing a schedule throughout the day. To enhance the traditional scheduling format, I introduced a feature called “Smart Suggest.”
This feature offers users recommendations for restaurants, shops, and venues to visit during the gaps in their schedules.
Given the amount of businesses on Queen St West, we decided to show users the ones within a 5-minute walk from their location.
Location
NXNE has a unique format, spanning across Queen St West in Toronto rather than being confined to specific festival grounds. As a result, the festival never had a designated map. Recognizing this as a feature that users desired, we knew it needed to be included in the platform.
The goal was to have festival-goers not need to exit the app for more information.
Adding the map on the home page allowed users to view what was around them and navigate there with ease.
This feature was further supported with the explore page which listed participating businesses close to users.
Connections
NXNE's initiative to connect with more local businesses was a major consideration in our design.
To enhance the aspect of discovery, we enabled users to add friends to their party and earn incentives by completing festival badges together.
Genre Gliders
Given to Parties attending performances by artists of various genres.
Local Explorers
Given to Parties who visit multiple Queens St Businesses
What Did I Learn?
Ideal is not real.
Meaning, as much as more time would have benefited this product, and many others, that is not a realistic ask when there are set timelines and budgets. I learned to prioritize items that would have the most impact on the final product, while also finding creative ways to condense processes to fit the time frame.