MVP Party
Exploring design solution that balances stakeholder requirements and user expectations.
Team
Chan Ik Chris Jung
My Role
Research
UX Design
Timeline
June 6 - 8, 2023
Problem
Friction between limitations of existing experience and expectations of users.
A popular children’s party venue faced stiff competition from their main competitor, which recently launched a more robust and streamlined party booking process. While the existing process was functional, it had limited options and provided an inconsistent user experience. To address this, the party venue proposed creating a conceptual party booking process in the form of an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Although they had specific requirements based on their own research, they remained open to receiving additional feedback. My task was to conduct further research and design a solution to enhance the user experience within the project’s time and scope constraints.
Solution
Align expectations to craft seamless booking process for personable and memorable party experience.
After going through research, including competition analysis, a new booking system was proposed. It implemented all the requirements by focusing on the following points that helped me deliver the prototype that "really hit the mark".
- Naturally presenting and acquiring necessary information.
- Improving requested features by contextualizing fragmented yet crucial information.
- Follow-Up and reminder feature for streamlined post-checkout experience.
Research
Reinforcing future design foundation with an additional support.
Based on provided interview data with target demographics groups, the request focused on providing missing context and options to aid informed decision-making process for users. The scope of the project, limited time frame, and technical limitations of scheduling and payment solutions vendor had to be considered for the following feature sets.
Continuity
Collect contact information as the first step of the experience
Personalize
VIP guest information for personalization
Assistance
Persistent way to access FAQ and Live Chat agent
Customize
Add-on customization with filters
Itemize
Detailed itemized list during checkout
Retention
Offer discount on future parties when singing up for membership
1. Competitors
To better understand the general business practices within the industry, the booking process of the direct competitors and adjacent venues were analyzed in perspective of intended target demographics: parents, and guardians of the children. The analysis has revealed number of key areas that could be improved for more seamless user experience.
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Clear Hierarchy
Establishing clear structure and information hierarchy will help users make informed decisions faster and easier
Simplified Information
Reduce cognitive overlord and promote ease of use by reducing visual and information clutter
Consistency
The established pattern should remain consistent throughout the website and booking process
2. Reorganizing fractured information
During the research process, fractured information delivery was noted as a major contributor to the uneven and frustrating user experience. Crucial information about rules and expectations existed in various parts of the website, yet it was not included during the checkout process or provided afterward. Additionally, some relevant information remained hidden, increasing confusion and frustration during the booking process. The focus was on grouping and reorganizing this information to provide the necessary context.
During Booking
1
Gather scattered venue rules from the website and integrate them into the booking process.
2
Present information in manageable portions while maintaining the overall context.
Post-Checkout
3
Include a dedicated section on venue rules in the reminder e-mail.
4
Grant access to a reservation hub for managing upcoming parties.
3. Minimizing unnecessary visual elements
The brand initially embraced a playful visual identity aimed at young children. However, an excess of visual elements disrupted layouts and information flow. To streamline the booking process and minimize interference, auxiliary visual components were strategically removed, while preserving the brand’s identity through typography and color palettes.
Design
Aliginig expectations of stakeholders by providing context.
The design concept prioritizes requested features while maintaining consistency, a clear hierarchy, and a simplified brand identity. Additionally, fragmented information on the website is collected and presented contextually to promote informed decision-making. The decision to prioritize a mobile design aligns with accessibility for busy parents.
Results
Presenting the work with future development recommendation
The new design was presented to a prospective client using my own pitch deck. Although I wasn’t physically present during the meeting, the design received positive feedback and was described as the prototype that “really hit the mark.” Unfortunately, due to other circumstances, the project didn’t progress further. Nevertheless, this experience allowed me to evaluate my capabilities as a designer in a professional environment.
During the research and design phase, I observed that a significant portion of the time-consuming organizational tasks—such as managing guest invites and consent forms—falls on the party organizer. While my recommendation extends beyond the original project scope, automating these processes could offer tangible benefits to the target audience: busy parents and guardians.
1
Simple Guest Invitation
Streamline the fragmented manual guest invitation process to be part of the post-checkout experience.
2
Card Customization
An opportunity for parents and children to create a customizable branded digital invitation card together.
3
Online Guest Consent Forms
Automate consent form distribution and collection via the guest list.
Reflections
Always be ready to learn and grow
- This project was very spontaneous, and I had to perform large number of tasks in short timeframe. Instead of being stuck on a part of the problem, I had to learn to see the bigger picture and deliver the result that satisfied both internal and external stakeholders.
Justify your decisions through research
- You need to be able to justify your decisions. Additional research I’ve done has helped me understand the pain points of users during checkout process and UX laws helped me pivot the focus to balancing the needs of stakeholder and users.
Somethings are beyond your control
- Don’t get discouraged by unsatisfactory result that is beyond your control. Instead of dwelling in what could have been, focus on how you can use this learning experience for future opportunities. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.