Project Vision
Our band booking app for weddings aims to simplify the process of finding and booking the perfect musical entertainment for your special day. With our app, you'll be able to browse and connect with talented bands and DJs from a variety of genres, all in one convenient location.
Our goal is to make the search for musical entertainment as stress-free and enjoyable as possible for couples planning their weddings. The app will feature a user-friendly interface that allows for easy navigation, browsing, and communication with potential bands and DJs.
Users will be able to create a profile and input their wedding date and location, as well as their preferred music genres and styles. They can then browse a range of bands and DJs that fit their preferences and send direct messages to inquire about availability and pricing.
Additionally, the app will feature a rating and review system to help users make informed decisions based on the experiences of other couples who have booked the same band or DJ in the past.
We believe that our band booking app for weddings will revolutionize the way couples search for and book musical entertainment for their special day. By streamlining the process and providing a comprehensive platform for communication, we aim to make the planning process easier and more enjoyable for everyone involved.
Challenges
1. Creating a consistent and visually appealing design system that enhances the user experience.
2. Ensuring a speedy and efficient booking process that makes it easy for users to find and book their preferred musical entertainment.
3. Designing an intuitive and user-friendly interface that simplifies the search and communication process for users.
4. Implementing a messaging system that is fast, reliable, and integrates seamlessly with the rest of the app.
Kickoff
Welcome to Bandbook!
The design approach for this project was goal-directed and focused on creating an effective user experience.
To achieve this goal, I relied on qualitative research methods, including a kickoff, literature review, competitive analysis, stakeholder interviews, and the creation of persona hypotheses.
From the start, I asked myself key questions to guide the design decisions and ensure that the app meets the needs of the users.
Balancing user needs with business goals: How can we ensure that the app meets the needs of our users while also achieving our business goals?
Managing a large number of potential bands and DJs: How can we effectively organize and present a large number of potential musical entertainers in a way that is easy for users to navigate and select from?
Providing a seamless user experience across devices and platforms: How can we ensure that the app is user-friendly and functions consistently across different devices and platforms, such as smartphones, tablets, and computers?
Managing communication and feedback: How can we effectively manage communication between users and musical entertainers, and provide users with a platform to provide feedback and ratings for their experience?
Ensuring privacy and security of user data: How can we ensure that user data, such as personal information and payment details, are kept secure and protected from unauthorized access or breaches?
Keeping up with competitors and market trends: How can we stay ahead of our competitors and ensure that our app continues to meet the needs and preferences of our target audience, especially in a rapidly changing market?
Research
During our research, we found that the SME interviews provided us with the most effective insights. We used an affinity diagram to group the data into tasks, which we further categorized based on high-level goals for efficiency, process improvement, deeper engagement, and familiarity. By acknowledging potential conflicts of interest among different user groups, we were able to shape user goals that align with the goals of the business.
Meet The Couples
Competitive Analysis
After analyzing potential competing companies including The Knot, Bash, and Reverbnation, we found that while they all offer booking services, they are not 100% focused on bookings. Bash is the closest to BandBook. In contrast, BandBook stands out with its unique feature of allowing users to chat directly with bands/DJs to receive custom quotes from the actual members. This sets BandBook apart from its competition who doesn't offer this feature and also provide unnecessary information. While most features across competitors were similar, the main differences we observed were accessibility, with Bandbook being the most easily accessible, simplified interaction with fewer screens, a minimalist interface that's less distracting, and a specialization in band bookings.
What BandBook offers that it's competitors don't, or do not perform well at are:
+ The ability to chat directly with potential bands/DJs and receive custom quotes from the actual members.
+ A user-friendly and accessible platform that simplifies the booking process.
+ A specialized focus on band/DJ bookings, rather than providing unnecessary information.
+ A minimalistic interface that's less distracting compared to competitors.
+ A more personalized experience that allows for better communication and collaboration.
+ A wider variety of band/DJ options to choose from.
+ A greater emphasis on user needs and goals, resulting in a more effective and efficient booking process.
Preparing For The Journey
We created a user flow that outlines the basic journey a user takes from start to finish when booking a band. This helps us understand how users can interact with the product and allows us to see how they navigate through the different stages to achieve their goals.
Iteration
We implemented a meticulously crafted user flow to outline the end-to-end process of booking a band through our app. This user flow not only provides us with a deeper understanding of how users interact with our product but also allows us to create a seamless navigation experience based on user goals. Although we recognize the potential of catering to a wider audience, we strategically decided to stay focused on our core audience of wedding planners and enthusiasts, based on extensive research. We remain open to future exploration and expansion into other event categories.
Simplicity
Our users want a simple and easy-to-use app. Our competitors offer great features, but they can be overwhelming and confusing. We believe that people should be able to accomplish simple tasks without having to learn a complex interface.
Personal Chats
Our users wanted a way to connect with the bands they were considering hiring. They wanted to be able to ask questions, get to know the bands personally, and create custom quotes. This would give them a better sense of the bands and make it easier to choose the right one for their special day.
Search Refined
One of the most important features of our app is the ability to refine your search. Not every band is available to play at all times of the year, or at multiple events at the same time. By providing a refined search option, we save our users time by only showing them bands that fit their specific needs.
Only What You Need
Simplicity is important to us. Our competitors offer a lot of features, but we found that this can be overwhelming for users. We wanted to create a way to display information in a way that was easy to understand and navigate. That's why we created tabs on our featured band profile page. This way, users can choose to see the information that's most important to them, and they can avoid scrolling through a lot of irrelevant content.
Before and After
We wanted to make these screens after revision more like the common screens people see today. We notice that the yellow and purple stick out more which is great, but it is a little different than what people normally encounter. We will need further trials.
Our users thought that the text was too small, we changed the text to make it more consistent. We also changed the camera icon and the chat icons to more familiar looks that our users would encounter in their daily app usage.
Challenges Part 1
Creating a consistent and visually appealing design system that enhances the user experience.
- As you can see we carried the same color, font and text to image ratio throughout the entire app. We also used tabs instead of giving a large scroll down menu, this allows for users to select which tabs they want to open.
Ensuring a speedy and efficient booking process that makes it easy for users to find and book their preferred musical entertainment.
- We also give a lot of information for each musician in a large view of six per page scroll. Again, our intent is to provide a lot of information effectively to our users.
Challenges Part 2
Designing an intuitive and user-friendly interface that simplifies the search and communication process for users.
- We give our users the option to reveal the information they want. Also, keeping the chat feature on each page helps the user get to their chats whenever they would decide.
Implementing a messaging system that is fast, reliable, and integrates seamlessly with the rest of the app.
- Providing a messaging system was key to include for our users. This would provide our users with unique personalized quotes based on their unique wants for there special day.
Style Guide
From our competitive audit and reviewing our desired my successful apps, we decided to go with the color purple as our main color in our scheme. The other apps used blue and red as their primary colors and we noticed those colors have been very over used. We also decided to go with the font Lexend because of the great readability that it offers.
Takeaways
As the visionary behind BandBook, my passion for connecting people with their favorite bands and DJs is unwavering. This is my inaugural foray into utilizing the goal-directed design process, and I have come to realize the immense value it brings to future endeavors. The creation of persona hypotheses that serve to benefit both the user and business is a crucial element that I had previously overlooked. Through this experience, I have learned a great deal about the importance of the UI/UX design process and the vital role it plays in the success of an application. Although my focus was initially centered around weddings, I now recognize the app's potential to cater to a broader audience seeking musicians for various events. I believe this expansion will lead to an increase in both downloads and "word of mouth" marketing.
