Improving Communication and Organization between Artists and Talent Buyers
BookIt! is an event management software designed to improve communication between bands and booking managers or talent buyers, simplifying the booking process and providing transparency to both parties.
BookIt! offers a seamless and efficient solution to manage live events, allowing musicians to book shows easily and talent buyers to manage their bookings with ease.
Here’s the quick version.
This is a video of my presentation of this project to both a live and zoom audience.
Communication Breakdown
Have you ever tried to book your new band?
It’s daunting. If you don’t know the right people, it can be difficult to find the information you need to be successful and there is very little feedback to know why you never got a response.
For the talent buyers receiving a high quantity of requests every day, the options for organization are not user friendly or are expensive.
Challenges
Participant Sourcing
One of the reasons I started this project was that booking managers and talent buyers can be hard to reach.
This proved to be true and I was only able to source one of them. I pivoted and made them a stakeholder.
How much should I build?
Another challenge I faced with this one was scope. Being a solo sprint with a two week window, I had to pair down from everything I wanted to design.
My Design Process
Phase 1
Empathize
Competitive Analysis
Feature Analysis
User Interviews
Phase 2
Define
Interview Analysis
Empathy Map
Personas
User Journey Map
Phase 3
Ideate
Brainstorming
Sketching
Whiteboard Wireframes
Information Architecture
Phase 4
Prototype
UI Kit
Mid Fidelity Wireframes
High Fidelity Wireframes
Interactive Prototype
Phase 5
Test
Mentor Critique
Usability Testing
Desirability Interview
Phase 6
Refine
Feedback Incorporation
Continuous Iteration
Presentation
Case Study
Empathize
All good UX begins with Empathy. So I conducted a competitive and feature analysis of the booking management websites/apps in the market. Then, I surveyed and interviewed performing artists and one talent buyer to gain insight into their motivation and pain points.
Competitive Analysis
Competitor 2: Eventbrite
User Interface and Design: Eventbrite has a clean and modern interface that is easy to navigate. Their website is well-organized and user-friendly.
Functionality and Features: Eventbrite offers a variety of features, including event creation and management tools, ticket sales and registration, and event promotion tools.
Music Catalog: Eventbrite offers a variety of music events, including concerts, festivals, and live performances.
Pricing and Fees: Eventbrite charges a fee per ticket sold, ranging from 2% - 3.5% + $0.99 per ticket.
Customer Support: Eventbrite provides customer support through email and phone support, as well as an extensive help center and community forum.
Competitor 1: Prism
User Interface and Design: Prism has a modern and visually appealing interface that is easy to navigate. Their website is well-organized and user-friendly, with a focus on simplicity and ease of use.
Functionality and Features: Prism offers a variety of features, including event creation and management tools, ticket sales and registration, and event promotion tools. They also offer tools to help artists and venues manage their bookings and schedules.
Music Catalog: Prism's music catalog is not as extensive as some of its competitors, but they focus on quality over quantity and offer a curated selection of artists and events.
Pricing and Fees: Prism charges a flat fee per ticket sold, ranging from 5% - 10% depending on the event and location. They do not charge additional fees for payment processing or other services.
Customer Support: Prism provides customer support through email and phone support, as well as an extensive help center and community forum.
Competitor 3: Bandsintown
User Interface and Design: Bandsintown has a visually appealing website that is easy to navigate. Their website is focused on music and has a user-friendly interface.
Functionality and Features: Bandsintown offers a variety of features, including event creation and management tools, ticket sales and registration, and event promotion tools.
Music Catalog: Bandsintown focuses primarily on music events, with a particular emphasis on concerts and live performances.
Pricing and Fees: Bandsintown charges a fee per ticket sold, ranging from 2.5% - 3.5% + $0.99 per ticket.
Customer Support: Bandsintown provides customer support through email and phone support, as well as an extensive help center and community forum.
Competitor 4: Songkick
User Interface and Design: Songkick has a simple and modern interface that is easy to navigate. Their website is well-organized and user-friendly.
Functionality and Features: Songkick offers a variety of features, including event creation and management tools, ticket sales and registration, and event promotion tools.
Music Catalog: Songkick focuses primarily on music events, including concerts, festivals, and live performances.
Pricing and Fees: Songkick charges a fee per ticket sold, ranging from 10% - 15% per ticket.
Customer Support: Songkick provides customer support through email and phone support, as well as an extensive help center and community forum.
The competitive analysis compared different online platforms that allow users to book live music events based on several factors, including ease of use, available features, music selection, pricing, and customer support. The analysis showed that each platform had its own strengths and weaknesses. Some platforms were easier to use than others, while others had a better selection of music events. The pricing and fees varied across platforms, and some platforms offered better customer support than others.
Prism.Fm was found to be the most sought after website but its higher cost and less than optimal support were its downfalls.
My users have a variety of reasons to keep costs low so I knew that I needed to create something similar but paired down and optimizing only the basics.
Four companies provide event management services with tools for event creation and management, ticket sales and payment processing, event promotion, artist/venue management, and data and analytics.
The companies are Prism, Eventbrite, Bandsintown, and Songkick.
Each company has unique features such as music discovery, personalized messaging, and integrations with other software and services.
Interviews & Personas
Performing Artist
Female, 20’s
“I’ve found that venues really want you to do most of the work.”
“A lot of venues have a radius clause, it makes sense.”
“Every venue I’ve booked requires an EPK.”
“I generally book out 4-5 months in advance.”
Performing Artist
Male, 20’s
“I just can’t get any venues to respond to me. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”
“Wait, what’s a radius clause?”
“I’ve heard of EPK’s but I don’t think we’re there yet.”
“I wish I knew how far out venues were booking.”
Performing Artist
Male, 30’s
“I’d really love it if the whole process was just laid out.”
“I know about the radius clause but that makes it tough to find bands to play with.”
“We have an EPK but I haven’t ever seen it required.”
“I generally book out 5-6 months in advance.”
Talent Buyer
Female, 30’s
“It always helps when bands have done a little research first.”
“I wish artists were aware of and understood radius clauses and their value.”
“I don’t really care about EPK’s. I just look at socials and listen to the music.”
“I generally book out 5-6 months in advance.”
Iterative Design
With our research and synthesis in mind, I began designing the platform. I created low-fidelity sketches and used Figma to create high-fidelity wireframes and prototypes.
From my research I knew I needed to design a calendar for picking dates, a form for bands to fill out as well as a F.A.Q. type page to answer bands questions.
I also needed to design the administrative portal where the talent buyer could more easily manage and respond to requests.
Critique
I asked two mentors for a critique of my wireframes.
I wanted to get feedback on my hierarchy, design, and to see if my reasoning and logic made sense.
I found that I had put too much emphasis on a “hero header” and that the calendar wasn’t exactly responsive for mobile and could have been formatted better to improve the usability.
Testing
Pretty close! Almost there!
I conducted a 3 combinations of Desirability Interview and Usability Test to find out what users of both sides of the software thought.
I was glad to hear that they all found the first version exciting though they could tell it still needed some design improvements. They liked the functionality but thought (like my mentors) that the layout could be improved.
On the band facing side, they wanted to see more information about the venue laid out as well as a confirmation that their information had been received.
On the talent buyer side, she wanted to see more functionality out of the portal side. While she was excited about the drag and drop options, she wanted to see the events become expandable with more information.
Interactive Prototype
Conclusion
In conclusion, my UX case study highlights the research, synthesis, and design process for a platform that connects bands and venues to improve the booking and scheduling process. By conducting user interviews, research, and affinity mapping, I was able to identify pain points and develop features that addressed the needs of our users.
My design decisions were supported by data and quotes from my research, and I was able to test my prototypes with different types of users. Overall, my platform is designed to create a seamless experience for both bands and venues, making it easier and more efficient to book and promote shows.
In the Future
I plan to continue my work on this project and to build it out.
My next phase is to test again with users for more usability testing and to refine the design based on that feedback.
I also want to start mid-fidelity designs for more of the administrative side, including
on boarding, account management, calendar creation, messages, an artist database along with the most desired features I find after the next round of testing.
I would like to find more talent buyers to test with and to gauge their interest in something that is a middle ground between nothing and something as comprehensive as Prism but for a lower cost.
Then I would also need to speak with developers to do some tech scoping and figure out the time it would take to code each aspect of the experience to see what is most valuable and achievable.
I would like to thank my participants and mentors for all of their help as I begin to build this software system out.
I’m excited by it’s potential to change the local music industry to be more inclusive and easier to navigate so we can all focus on the real point, performing and watching live music by passionate artists at cool and interesting venues of all sizes.
Thanks for taking the time to read my case study,
Have a wonderful day.
-Mike Larson Ux Research and Design.