Long Beach Cinemas started as a response to recent changes in the market as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The concept aim at streamlining the online ticket reservation process for any movie theater in Long Beach, CA. The objective also stipulated that the website design must respond to devices of varying screen sizes, most commonly desktop and mobile web browsers.

This project was done as a student project as part of the Google UX Certificate Program. I meticulously went through every phase of the product design cycle, from preliminary research to a high-fidelity prototype, in just three weeks. The project commenced on May 10, and culminated on May 28, 2021.

Persona

Preliminary User Research looked at how the typical movie-goer goes about their experience, from the impetus to see a movie to the time they return home after having seen it. The majority of movie-goers, specifically in Long Beach, CA, tend to be between 20 and 52 years of age, work full time, and have a significant other or spouse.

The target user group tends to see a movie every week, although in recent years only goes out to the cinemas an average of once or twice per month. Many have commented on waiting for post-pandemic conditions to return to theaters, but also lament at the lack of innovation in the movie-going experience.

After weeks of market research, prospective user interviews, and deep dives into online ticket reservation systems for all the nation’s top theater chains. These websites are all extremely similar, which provides an opportunity for Long Beach Cinemas to tackle many common gripes, thus standing out that much more.

Most users were hesitant about the same things. The biggest thing to turn off moviegoers is when they expect a quiet movie experience, and instead get a packed theater of amped up fans - or even visa-versa. Additionally, logistical issues like concessions or accessibility options could also lend themselves to interrupting the movie-going experience for audiences.

All of this is going through a user’s head when they buy tickets online, so to alleviate these pain points would go a long way to streamlining the process.

While considering insights gained from auditing both direct and indirect competition, I started to reconsider the typical process a user would have to go through in order to reserve tickets for themselves and most likely others in their party.

I brainstormed on different ways the process could be made to feel fresh for users, as well as emotionally prime potential customers for an exciting movie-going experience!

The site’s sequential structure resulted in many test users taking similar actions at similar times. Thus, the data suggests that users’ experiences rarely deviate from the main sequence of tasks. For that reason, the non-moderated usability test was followed up with a deep-dive interview, where follow-up questions tried to find areas to improve even in the minutia as well as explore aspects of the movie-going experience that lie adjacent to the ticket reservation process.

Insights

After the test, I gathered and organized the data. After reviewing trends and conducting follow-up interviews and surveys, three key themes emerged. First, test users across the board wanted some sort of immediate, real-time feedback on how crowded is each showtime. Additionally, most test users took some time to explore other movies and watch trailers - something that caused significant stoppage while reserving tickets. Users seemed to want a way of reading reviews and previewing movies that wouldn’t take them away from their current task flow (ticket reservation).

Using a combination of Keyshot Pro and Adobe programs (XD, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro), I produced this video, which briefly demonstrates and scrolls through all of the screens of the online ticket reservation task flow. Check it out below!