Project Overview

PROBLEM: The pandemic had a significant impact on the traditional movie theater experience, leading to more uncertainty and shorter stays for films in theaters compared to the pre-pandemic era. This exacerbates the already low awareness of all the different showings theaters have to offer.

SOLUTION: I designed MyMovie, a showtime check-in app tailored for a movie theater. The primary highlight of MyMovie is its ability to provide users with personalized movie recommendations based on their interests and schedules. Our target audience comprises movie enthusiasts and casual fans who don’t have the time or the means to know what’s playing in theaters.

DURATION: April – August 2023

MY ROLE: This was a solo project, I did everything as the Lead UX Researcher & Designer.

User Research: Pain Points

Low-fidelity Prototype

One of the primary user flows I connected was creating a recommendation filter, so the prototype could be used in a usability study. Below shows a range of options a user can set according to their preferences – including genres, showtimes, days available, and notification frequency.

Usability Study: Findings

I conducted and moderated two rounds of usability studies. The first was a low-fidelity test and the second a high-fidelity test of the product. Each included a series of tasks I assigned and recorded observations for, highlighting key takeaways below:

Key Insights

1. Users wanted a calendar view of showtimes when choosing a date (Round 1)

2. Users wanted more genres added to the filter tool (Round 1)

3. Users wanted to see their distance from theater locations (Round 1)

4. Users were confused how to set a reminder for a specific movie (Round 2)

5. Users were overwhelmed on the customize page (Round 2)

Refining the design

• The customize page was consolidated for easier navigation.

• Updates to the filter tool: added genres, theater proximity, extra categories, and accessibility options.

Solution

Impact

Accessibility Considerations

What I learned

Usability studies are crucial to find out if your initial designs actually work to create a great user experience. My designs changed so much because of the constructive feedback I received. I also learned feedback you weren’t expecting can greatly improve your product. For example, I did not anticipate my home screen layout to change so drastically. At first it was a simple grid of just movie poster images representing current showings with no accompanying text. The next iteration became much more organized after the movie poster images split into labeled categories that users could explore and also view/edit their custom filters seamlessly from there. My favorite part of the process was observing research participants navigate my product and gleaning invaluable insights.