experience redesign on ticketmaster.com (US)
2023 - 24
Events Detail Page (EDP)
☆ Ticketmaster Priority Program 2023-24.
Project Abstract
This project focused on eliminating the Quick pick list on events detail page to reduce seat selection errors and improve user experience.
In 2023-24, I led the redesign of Ticketmaster's Event Detail Page (EDP) to address high-demand ticketing collisions, especially during popular events like Taylor Swift concerts. Through collaboration with product teams, user testing, and iterative design, we achieved a 38% decrease in collisions, a 5% increase in Gross Ticket Value (GTV), and higher conversion rates. Additionally, the redesign incorporated sponsorship merchandise slots, contributing to overall business goals and a seamless fan experience.
Team : Product Designer, Product Manager, Marketing and Developers.
Duration : 12 weeks.
MY ROLE
I was responsible for distilling existing research, collaborate and strategize potential solutions along with web redesign.
I joined this project after the initial research and pilot study to lead the redesign of the user experience and reduce ticket selection collisions during high-demand events.
Early on, I collaborated with the product and engineering teams to refine the roadmap. I then led the design efforts to implement new features aimed at minimizing collisions on the Events Detail Page (EDP). I was responsible for creating end-to-end design solutions and effectively communicating strategies with executive design leadership and stakeholders. I also conducted user testing to validate the improvements.
PROBLEM OVERVIEW
During high demand events, millions of fans often faced 'collisions' when picking their desire seats causing frustration and anger.
Traffic on the Event Detail Page (EDP) can surpass millions during high-demand events, such as a Taylor Swift concert.
Collisions occurred when multiple fans simultaneously tried to select the same ticket from the Quick Pick list or the interactive map, leading to an error message and a frustrating experience. With a limited number of tickets available and a massive number of fans vying for the same seats, "collisions" became a significant issue.
At its worst, the collision rate skyrocketed, with over 40% of users encountering this issue during popular events. The problem was so severe that it became the highest priority on Ticketmaster's roadmap, driving the need to urgently redefine and improve the user experience to reduce these frustrating collisions.
When multiple fans tried to select the same ticket, it resulted in a collision error. The error was also rudimentary and vague without providing any specific context to the user, leading to more frustration.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Business wise, this issue was severe.
6% of high demand concerts drive ~79% of TM Global concert GTV.
User Impact
Most fans were not able to understand why this was occurring, leading to more frustration.
Fan anxiety and frustration due to decreased chances of getting tickets.
Loss of control and helplessness (Fan behavior) as fan can end up in an infinite loop.
Poor user experience, confusing scenario and error prone leading to fan losing trust in Ticketmaster and the entire Onsale experience.
Business Impact
Lower conversion rates, average order values, and overall gross ticket value.
Brand degradation and negative feedback from fans.
Risk of losing client trust and reduced fan retention.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Fans experience frequent ticket selection collisions during high-demand events on Ticketmaster's Event Detail Page (EDP), leading to frustration, reduced trust, and lower conversion rates. A solution is needed to minimize collisions and improve the overall ticket purchasing experience.
Solution
A complete redesign of the webpage, keeping just the map for selection and additional sponsorship merch slots.
DESIGN PROCESS
I approached this challenge in an organic, collaborative and agile manner.
Successful design processes thrive on teamwork, iterative feedback, and meeting expectations, leading to exceptional outcomes. These were the principles that I adhered.
01.
Identify: Existing research study and kickoff meets
This involved extensive meetings with the design team and product stakeholders to ensure a thorough understanding of the project brief, requirements, and expectations.
02.
Immerse: Conceptualization and Design
Once I had meticulously crafted a roadmap detailing my plan of action, including edge-cases, it was crucial to explore multiple solutions. A competitor study was conducted to identify efficient flows and the visual hierarchy. I also made sure that product team was involved and kept in loop with the design choices.
03.
Iterate: Testing and iterations
Once the designs were prioritized, I proceeded with unmoderated user testing targeted at the relevant audience. This allowed us to assess and gain insights into the usability of the updated flows.
04.
Test production and QA
I conducted a Quality Assurance (QA) audit on the test production of the designs to identify any discrepancies in the visual aspects compared to the proposed solution and design system.
identify and distilling user research to find the root cause
After an extensive round of kick-off meets with cross-functional teams to decode the issue, I began digging through the existing user research findings.
As the frontend inventory of the ticket type on Quick Pick list lacked real-time availability service pertaining to outdated technology, we figured that we could test a possible solution where we show only the Map to select tickets.
The HYPOTHESIS
The direction to drive a quick solution and test before redesign.
"We believe that if we suppress the quick pick list from Events detail page, then we can optimize the ratio of fans colliding with each other thus reducing the error rates and thus driving the conversion rate."
PHASE 1 APPROACH
We were able to validate hypothesis after AB testing the solution vs Map + List variant.
metrics
Turns out, we saw improvements in collision and there was an increase in the GTV as a result.
Soft launched the solution and the results were what we expected. This test provided positive insights on the collision problem and also increased the conversion rates.
(Metrics from insights team)
-38%
Collisions vs Map+List
+5%
Overall higher Gross Ticket Value (GTV) vs Map+List
+20%
Overall In-cart conversion vs Map+List
+9%
Overall Add-to-Cart conversion vs Map+List
Scope for THE PHASE 2
Now that we removed the 'Quick pick list', There was a need to somehow inject the lost sponsorship merch slots and redesign.
When the decision was taken to remove the 'List' from the Phase 1 solution, it also meant removing all the other upsell sponsorship merch slots from the page.
Hence, the design scope enlisted bringing in the sponsorship merch slot and also re-defining the UI of the page in accordance with the newly designed Global Design system.
You may ask, why was injecting sponsorship merch slots so critical? Well, Sponsorships alone generated over $X billions in revenue for the LN business portfolio.
Therefore, from both a business and design perspective, it's crucial that the merchandise slot on the new events detail page is visible and transparent to contribute to the revenue stream.
explorations
I explored more than 30+ solution over a month and these are some of them.
The design exploration process involved intensive brainstorming sessions with stakeholders and leadership.
Exploration 1
What did not work : Strong emphasis on black 'presale happening' component and finding value to add the subtotal component at this stage on desktop.
Exploration 2
What did not work : Same as above. Also, Stacking of merch slots in mobile devices occupied more real estate resulting in smaller map. Also, I tried exploring filter on top of the map but it was not feasible to develop and change the behaviour of filter for this project.
Prioritized Design
What worked well : The black 'presale happening' component still felt overwhelming but getting ride of accent purple made the design more digestible. Also, introducing carousals to accommodate merch slots for mobile proved efficient and functional solution to the problem faced above.
the final outcome
A Refreshed Events Detail Page (EDP) for desktop and mobile.
Although the anatomy and structure of the UI for desktop variant remained the same, Mobile UI underwent a reimagination. Introduction of merchandise slots as carousals at the bottom was a distinct change.
user testing
I tested this solution with 20 fans (aged 18-65) to understand sentiments, approach and touchpoints.
Goal of the study was..
Understand and study fan journey of selecting tickets using the Interactive Seat Map.
Recognize fan behavior and touchpoints towards finding information about any merchandising offers.
Validate fan approach to locate additional onsale information for the other similar events in case the existing one sold out.
INSIGHTS
Majority found the process easy and frictionless, while arguing some potential flaws in information hierarchy of secondary tasks.
Most fans found the process of selecting tickets easy and straightforward.
All fans were capable of finding relevant information from the Merch slots.
Few fans demonstrated difficulty understanding what ‘Onsale’ means, Ensuring a need for fan education in the future.
Whilst progressing Goal #3, Fans had difficulty reading the additional Onsale information as the dates mentioned within the modal were not in chronological order.
There is still a major accessibility gap for using Map for selecting tickets.
However, despite a few recommendations and improvement feedback gathered, we had to move on, develop and deploy the solution quickly to meet our deadline.
FINAL CHECK
I conducted QA of the product demo and flagged 9+ potential visual discrepancies.
Our aim was to ensure that any affected areas were rectified in the next phase of production before the release went live.
impact
There was an improvement in Collision by 9% and overall in-cart conversion by ~7.2%.
These results were based on the 3-month analytical study done by our insights team.
CONTINUING THE STUDY
Assess performance on live event to gather 'Real and pressure induced fan behavior'.
The proposed designs for desktop and mobile were developed as is and is currently live for few high demand events. The idea to keep monitoring and assess its performance in live scenarios, where the pressure to acquire a ticket is real, to collect genuine feedback and opinions.
The project helped us start open discussions around a few areas of improvement from testing which are addressed as a long-term design goal and which must be a part of the bigger program that Ticketmaster is currently prioritizing for the next year: Global Consolidation approach unifying experiences to create a one-design language across all markets.
looking back
My Reflections
This project marks a significant milestone in my career, being my inaugural major release on such a grand platform. Yet, it presented its own set of challenges and learnings.
Getting feedback is important
Each design decision had to be approved by stakeholders and leadership before moving forward.
Whenever I hit a roadblock, discussing it with others and getting their input helped me find solutions.
This experience emphasized the importance of teamwork and feedback.
It is imperative to consider fan environment in which the solution is used.
The setting where designs are applied can drastically alter outcomes. Sometimes, basic user testing isn't sufficient for optimal results.
For instance, fans often navigate event detail pages under time pressure to secure high-demand tickets.
I discovered that beyond solely testing prototypes, validating results with a live MVP in real-world scenarios is crucial.