Finding simple: Seat map design for everyone

Finding simple is the journey of how Eventbrite reimagined the reserved seating event space
giving event organisers the tools to design their own seat maps. The Eventbrite seat designer simplifies the process of creating a seat map and assigning tickets enabling event organizer to host and sell tickets to their own reserved seating events. The talk will cover the approaches used, the strategy behind the solution and how we used collaborative ideation and design techniques to achieve a desirable outcome.

by Jason Bayly, presented at UX Australia 2014

Transcript

1. Finding Simple, Seat Map Design for Everyone Jason Bayly
 Senior UX Architect, Eventbrite #uxaustralia @jasb The Davenport Theatre, New York NY
 Image courtesy of davenporttheatre.com
2. CC Image courtesy of Interior_Photos on Flickr
3. CC Image courtesy of Sudheer G on Flickr
4. • Website localized in 14 countries, events listed in 187 countries • $1B in gross ticket sales annually, 1M tickets sold each week Eventbrite is an online marketplace for live experiences • Founded in 2006, late stage start-up • 450 employees worldwide, offices in 5 countries
6. What is reserved seating? Reserved seating is a type of an event where each attendee is specific seat. Up until recently Eventbrite only catered to general admission events.
7. What is a reserved seating event?
8. Country Music Concert
 CMA Theater, Nashville TN
 Seats: 800
9. Talent Show
 The Davenport Theater, New York NY
 Seats: 182
10. Religious Concert
 New Hope Oahu Church, Honolulu HI
 Seats: 1,000
11. Art Auction Fundraiser
 The Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria VA
 Seats: 925
12. Spin Class Fundraiser
 Soul Cycle Gym, San Francisco CA
 Seats: 54
13. California Philharmonic Orchestra Concert
 Santa Anita Race Track, Arcadia CA 
 Seats: 5,600
14. Benefits of reserved seating Attendees Can choose where they sit, feel in control Less stress on the day, no lining up, a seat is guaranteed Organizers Greater flexibility Increased revenue through tiered pricing Smoother entry management Eventbrite Little self service competition Extend our reach and relevancy Larger capacities, sell more tickets
15. What is simplicity? Simplicity is hard to understand or to do.
16. As UX designers we struggle to find the delicate balance between the simplicity of use and the complexity of usefulness.
18. Design should be collaborative A problem shared and ideated on is a problem solved.
26. Principles to guide your way Progressive complexity - When we hit complexity, reveal it progressively Easy error recovery and system forgiveability – What ever happens its never the end of the world Guide me to completion - Support and nurture me, the system is my Sherpa Communal creation & sharing – Share the love that is reusable templates, assets & stencils Seat map creation is a last resort – templates are the key to greater simplicity Aid spatial comprehension of the venue - the seat map is my guide Content over chrome (UI) – Don’t let the UI get in the way of my ticket/seat needs Restricted complication – Try to avoid complication at all costs The design and UI should BE Eventbrite - Light, bright & airy – always on brand Find ways to minimize input (with template seat maps, smart defaults & intuitive tools) Delight is in the details - The experience is the sum of all the moving parts Error prevention and affordance before messaging - Errors should be preventable Afford greater task focus through the use of contextual controls and feedback
27. Designing seat maps can be simple Methods and techniques used along the way.
28. All good design starts with a conversation 1
29. Walk a day in the shoes of your user and get out of the office.
31. Thoughtful reduction and refinement 2
32. Sometimes, the only way to figure out what is really important is to get rid of everything that isn’t.
35. Organise, sequence and reveal the detail 3
36. Start shallow and then go deep as needed. The deep end of the pool can be scary at first.
38. Way finding affordances keep things moving. Feedback is critical to success
40. Perception matters, simple should look 4
41. If the UI is pretty people will want to touch it, simplicity draws people in.
44. Predictable interactions are the key to success.
45. Acknowledge the complex, the difficult, the tedious 5
46. The user is your honored guest, make the system do all the hard work.
48. The first time is always hardest, support the on-boarding experience with extra care
50. Time is a commodity and a measure of complexity 6
51. The end to end experience
53. The 10 laws of simplicity… 1. Reduce 2. Organise 3. Time 4. Learn 5. Difference 6. Context 7. Emotion 8. Trust 9. Failure 10. The one Dr John Maeda @johnmaeda lawsofsimplicity.com
54. Thanks for listening! Finding simple, seat map design for everyone UX Australia Conference 2014 Jason Bayly
 Senior UX Architect ! jbayly@eventbrite.com.au
 @jasb ! eventbrite.com.au/reservedseating vimeo.com/87748221