Interaction Design for Screens (6 weeks)
Fall 23
Project Overview
An event-organizing platform centering individual identity and subcultural connections. Scene aims to enhance the experience of going out, while also removing parasocial pressures social media organizing creates.
Traditional subcultural organizing platforms center performers, vendors, and venues over individuals who negotiate and uphold the community, this often leads to static interactions. This creates a need for secondary social media platforms, primarily Instagram, to facilitate dynamic grass-roots engagement. Dice and Resident Advisor are good examples of experiences that fall flat. They showcase events, and experiences but have a high entry-ceiling that focuses their interactions towards promoters and venues. This ignores tight-knit scenes where promoters are people, and venues aren’t always the most traditional.
Problems
- Instagram is too large of an online context, encouraging “clout culture” and performative, anxiety-driven, posting.
- Current event-organizing platforms aren’t dynamic enough to keep up with grassroots communities that don’t operate within traditional venue and promoter relationships.
- There is a need for online spaces to foster community development and engagement outside of nightlife.
Proposed Solutions
- Facilitate ephemeral self-expression and community engagement that prevents lasting, restrictive status hierarchies.
- Create a dynamic role system that centers individuals as people rather than the services they provide.
- Create an open-ended posting system that fosters different levels of organizing, ranging from large events to close-knit gatherings.
Research
My research began in local subcultural scenes around Atlanta.
I reached out to organizers, performers, and eventgoers for interviews. I then created a standardized guide, utilizing open-ended questions, and empathetic interview practices to better understand the different needs of each user group.
20 interviews were conducted in total. Those interviewed were between the ages of 18-25.
Findings
- Instagram is the primary platform used to post and catch up on current events/shows. Flyers can be reposted on stories, and are easy to send to others.
- Instagram is often overwhelming, and some feel anxiety promoting shows they attend. A quarter of those interviewed, instead, relied on word of mouth.
- Many people go out to make friends but rarely find opportunities to make deep connections in person.
Most tend to follow/know someone on social media and only speak to them in passing.
- Smaller events are often planned networking with mutual friends and circulating events amongst different circles. Instagram allows for these actions to be done with ease.
Initial Wireframes
Pain-points
Groups: Since posting is ephemeral, and events don’t happen all the time many of those interviewed about the wireframes discussed a “group’s” feature. They enjoyed being able to message others, one on one, but emphasized how important it is to coordinate, and share information.
Exclusivity: Some events aren’t for everyone, for example politically charged charity warehouse raves, or elusive afterparties. Those interviewed were anxious about subcultural meaning being compromised. Many collectives center and uplift minorities, those spaces cannot be compromised. Secret locations, mass communication, and risk management are all things that could be more intentionally addressed.
Return Value: Many were nervous that they would use the app once, and never touch it again. There was no incentive to post a note or a poll unless an event was active or finished. Making the features work better stand-alone could encourage a more varied, and stimulating experience.
Final Wireframes
Features
Profile Types:
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Personal: Personal accounts are the main accounts used for self-expression, ticket purchasing, and event cataloging. Each professional account is linked back to a personal account highlighting individuals behind different groups, bands, or collectives.
Professional: Professional accounts are better geared towards curating calendars, managing tickets, and releasing information for upcoming events. Liked posts and purchased events are viewable by a professional account, but link back to a personal one.
- Profiles are customized through widgets, stickers, and colors to showcase an individual’s personal style. Widgets are pinned posts used to decorate an account’s profile landing page. They can link back to other accounts, act as a text bio, or highlight a media gallery. Favorite colors are used to customize the overall interface, while a custom font can make their name expressive.
- The different post types are notes, polls, or events. Polls and notes are ephemeral and disappear after being posted. They are posted on the top of the feed. Events are categorized under notes/polls in a calendar format. Events are only archived if they have been purchased or liked.
- Groups can be used by organizers to mass send important information or by friends sharing events and pictures. Groups are the only place where temporary posts can be permanently saved. Widgets such as media galleries, profile links, and map pins can be posted alongside texts. Groups can be collaborative, private, or read-only.
Ticket Hosting:
- Tickets can be hosted within the app or linked to an outside provider.