June 2019

Ticketmaster Smart Buy

Concept project for a new ticketing feature for fans

Deliverables

Research, IA, usability tests, and visual design

Background

One of Ticketmaster's most dreaded fan products is the Smart Queue, a "virtual line" for high demand events that aims to counter bots.

"Are you fffing kidding me?? I just spent 45 mins... waiting in the queue for "2000 people" ahead of me..."

- Lisa, from Twitter

My goal was to increase brand affinity and fan satisfaction by improving upon an existing TM product. The Smart Buy feature allows fans to bid on seats while providing vital data about demand to clients, brokers, and fansellers.

The Problem

We conducted 50 user interviews from people on Hollywood Blvd and looked through over 200 Twitter/Yelp reviews to discover user pains.

Bad Communication

Fans disliked the uncertainty and lack of transparency behind their chances of getting tickets.

High Resale Prices

Resale tickets are listed at unreasonably high prices before most fans even got a chance to purchase their tickets.

Lack of Data

Ticketmaster, its clients, and resellers lack information about fans' willingness to pay.

Design Goals

1. Give fans more control over their time and money.

2. Provide more data about demand and willingness to pay to clients, brokers, and fan resellers.

Designing for the Ecosystem

A flow chart describing the strategy of how this feature would benefit Ticketmaster’s different users: artist clients, fans, and brokers

Ideation

User Journeys

The typical journey that a fan seller would go through to list their ticket.

The typical journey that a fan looking to purchase tickets would go through.

Kano Analysis

Basic Feature

Step by step directions
Minimum price range + floor/ceiling limits
Fan control over budget & ticket quantity
Fan control over preferred sections
Must be Verified Fan for abuse prevention
Ability to edit bids

Nice to Haves

Able to choose multiple dates & venues to place a bid on
Able to choose exact seat rather than just section
See the likelihood that user will get tickets with his/her current price bid

The Initial Design

These were the initial high fidelity mocks used in the prototype for user testing. Another goal of this concept project was to increase the feasibility that a feature like this would make it out of the backlog. Thus, I’ve reused a lot of existing de… — These were the initial high fidelity mocks used in the prototype for user testing. Another goal of this concept project was to increase the feasibility that a feature like this would make it out of the backlog.
Thus, I’ve reused a lot of existing designs to create these to minimize work for developers.

Usability Test Results

Introduction

Most users did not feel inclined to learn more about the Smart Buy feature when presented in this way.

how it works.png — Instructions

Users understood the information presented in the "How It Works" modal.

Requesting Tickets

Most users expected to see a seat map after pressing “get started.”

next steps.png — Confirmation

Users were unsure of when they'll be paying and what the next steps were.

New Product Map

The new product map utilized the insights from the usability tests to simplify the flow of the bidding process and allow for the feature to be offered on multiple different products across Ticketmaster's website.

Rather than making users wait a certain amount of time before the feature was offered, we decided that it was better UX to give them the option right when they get in line.

Final Design

Feature Introduction

A more prominent introduction of the feature gives users all of the information they need to know about Smart Buy upfront so that there’s no confusion

Using Smart Buy

After testing, I combined the ticket preference page and the seat selection page into one to better meet users’ expectations. Additionally, we added a feature that allowed users to choose to have seats in the same section or next to each other to avoid further confusion around the topic.

Checking Out

The new checkout and confirmation pages emphasize transparency around the feature, when users would be charged, and what the next steps are.

Conclusion

This project was presented to several senior level designers at the end of the summer for feedback. It also qualified as one of the top three winning projects for the final summer intern competition, in which my team and I presented it to Ticketmaster executives.

A couple of months later, one of Ticketmaster's competitors implemented a very similar feature. Some of the elements of this project were used in research efforts for a response to the feature. The concept was also backlogged by the resale team.