Bandshow - Concert Merchandise App
Introduction
Bandshow is a mobile application for music lovers and concert goers who want an easy and convenient way to support the artists they love by buying their merchandise.
Now, there no longer needs to be the choice of missing part of the show to buy merch, or risking items being sold out once the show is over.
The Problem
Users need to be able to easily and conveniently purchase concert merchandise because otherwise they may need to arrive to the concert early, may miss part of the show, or may not be able to purchase what they want because it sells out.
The Goal
The Bandshow app will let users conveniently purchase concert merchandise which will affect their concert-going experience by giving them the opportunity to more closely connect with performers and take home something to remember the moment.
My Role
My role on this project was to take ownership of both the research process and the design. As the sole designer on this project, my responsibilities included user research, wireframing, user testing, design iteration, and creating a high-fidelity prototype.
Project Duration
2 weeks
Research
I conducted user interviews with target users and used the findings of those interviews to create user personas.
Some of the pain points included:
Not having time to purchase anything before the show.
Not knowing where to go to make purchases.
Concern over items being sold out.
Wanting to know pricing of items and
payment options.
User Stories
As a budget-minded musician, I want to know prices of concert merchandise ahead of time so that I can plan purchases to show love to artists that I enjoy and am inspired by.
As a student that uses concerts as a form of escapism, I want to purchase concert merchandise so that I can bond with the rest of the fans and have something tangible to remind me of the experience.
Design
Based on the information gained from conducting user research, I began working on lo-fi wireframes in Figma for Bandshow. The design included the following:
Search bar located at the top of the home screen so that users can go directly to the artist they’re interested in to see upcoming shows and available merchandise for sale
Featured Artists section displays the most popular artists touring to make it easy for their fans to make purchases for upcoming shows
The Upcoming Shows section on the home page conveniently displays shows for users wanting to make purchases for a show they plan on attending tonight (for example)
Testing
Type: Moderated user testing
Location: Remote using Google Meet
Participants: Five participants total
Length: 5-10 minutes
KPI: Time on task, Navigation vs Search
Results: Most users were confused by the checkout process, especially when it came to knowing what to expect after completing a purchase. This told me that users need to know more about next steps after making a payment.
Iteration
Search bar now includes “Search Artists” to give a clear indicator of what the search functionality can be used for
A shopping bag was added to the Upcoming Shows of artists who have merchandise available for purchase so that users can know whether or not items are available before tapping
After checkout, the user now gets a screen with instructions for where to go to pick up merchandise along with a second screen with QR code to make pickup faster.
Accessibility
To make sure that there were no issues with color contrast that may make parts of the app hard to see, I used the Stark plug-in to verify that the colors used pass accessibility standards. Because a gradient was used for the green color in the header, I made sure to check the font color against all three colors used in the gradient to make sure there were no issues there.
Notes
Tried different colors and even an all white version of the app but after getting design feedback from the users that participated in usability tested, it was clear that they all preferred the green color.
An option was added to ship to home instead of picking up at the show to accommodate users who might want to wear merch to the show or didn’t want to wait in line.
The original wireframes had an option to add an upcoming show as a favorite, but this was not brought up by any users and did not do anything to meet the goals so more research and testing would need to be done to see if this would be helpful to users.
Reflections
Some ideas that did not make it into the MVP included having a way for users to upgrade their pickup to an express pickup to get them through the line sooner. More research would need to be done to see if this would be worth pursuing.
If the app were to attract users who just want to buy concert merchandise in general, regardless of artist, the app would need to allow user to browse by product instead of by show or artist.
Future features could include using augmented reality to virtually try on clothing or to guide the user to the pickup location.
The original goal for the app can now be made into a statement:
The Bandshow app will let users conveniently purchase concert merchandise which will affect their concert-going experience by giving them the opportunity to more closely connect with performers and take home something to remember the moment.