Adding a Feature
Improving an existing app's agenda feature to create a better convention experience.
Responsibilities: UX/UI Designer, UX Research
Timeframe: 6 weeks
Tools: Figma, FigJam
Anime Expo is a yearly, cultural event held on the first weekend of July. This convention celebrates Japanespop, animation, entertainment, music, fashion, and video games. They welcome industry guests, local artists, and fans worldwide to enjoy the panels, shops, and booths hosted in Los Angeles!
As Anime Expo continually grows, the app should develop alongside it. With how busy the convention is, there should be ways to help attendees and vendors with planning.
While it has a functional general map for events, the app has several limitations:
The goal is to create more time efficiency for the user. This could be as simple as preventing the user from having to flip back and forth between the map and event information. I want to enhance the agenda for users to make their convention planning less hectic.
I wanted to add a feature of a proper agenda for Anime Expo’s existing app.
The new feature will improve:
Understanding what an attendee or vendor would need for their Anime Expo weekend planning is vital for the added feature of Anime Expo.
So, I recruited 6 participants for my user interviews. My participants were:
Within the interviews, I wanted to gather more knowledge on:
The user interviews gave great insight into how people approached planning for and attending Anime Expo. Below are the key takeaways for each category:
Planning / Scheduling
Travel & Arrangements
Arrangements for Anime Expo were straightforward. For travel, users used the train or carpooled. Users arranged to grab food at the convention, bring their own food, or plan dinner elsewhere.
At the Convention
Users were mindful of traffic, weather, and budget when attending Anime Expo. Some highlights of Anime Expo include the Exhibitor Hall, Artist Alley, concerts, panels, cosplay meetups, and seeing industry guests.
App Related
Users find value in Anime Expo’s app if it provides convenience through:
Further research was conducted through competitor analysis to figure out what feature to add that would be most helpful. I looked at apps for San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), Anime NYC, LVL Up Expo, PAX, and Disneyland. I wanted to gather inspiration to see if I can help create a feature that would better entice users to download Anime Expo’s app during their visit.
It is best to prioritize providing convenience to a user. This can be done through instruction or access to finding the information the user needs for navigating the convention weekend. Anime Expo doesn’t have a virtual queue or ways to provide a schedule share, which should be a feature to include.
For adding a feature, it is best to structure point-of-view statements to pinpoint what we will aid for the user. The “How Might We” questions pushed our focus further as we wanted to:
I created two user personas for Anime Expo's Add a Feature project. One represents the casual planner who is a local attendee. The other user represents the organized planner who is a non-local attendee. The personas organize their time differently, but their main goals are centered on making the most out of their time at Anime Expo in their way.
With the added feature, some requirements are Must-Have, Nice to have, Surprising and delightful, and Can come later. These are what I prioritized for feature:
I would like to add these Anime Expo’s app to further enhance a user’s convention and app experience.
To figure out how the features will be laid out, I created a user flow for:
I wanted to push an animated, fun design for Anime Expo. I dug deep by grabbing the mascots found in their merchandise shop!
Below, you can see my notes with my low-fidelity wireframes. I tried my best to maintain most of Anime Expo's design still. But, of course, adding a fresh flair helps achieve time efficiency.
To better see the features, I made mid-fidelity wireframes for the Calendar Share Option, Line Queue Tutorial, Joining the Line Queue, Event Conflict, and Calendar View.
Note: You will also notice some of the original Anime Expo app in some of mid-fidelity wireframes. It's for reference!
My goal is to help free up more time for the user, so they can be able to enjoy exploring more of Anime Expo!
See below for the features I added to my high-fidelity wireframes.
A line queue tutorial was made to introduce the users to the new features added to Anime Expo.
This walkthrough informs the user of the new updates while teaching the user how they can utilize these features to plan their convention weekend.
The tutorial highlights what areas the user should be looking at and the purpose of the design.
Events that allow the user to join the line queue will have details like:
Joining a line and saving time should be clear and simple, since the main goal is to free up time for a user!
To better recognize events booked simultaneously, I wanted an icon that alerts the user of it. Users can:
On top of seeing event conflicts, users should be able to see if there is a line queue they can join. This way, they can account for potential waits or fill up their day with a different event.
For the calendar aspect of Anime Expo's app, I added:
The calendar view helps a user visually see what their schedule is like and recognize conflicting events faster.
Surprisingly, there wasn't a calendar-sharing option before. Adding this feature would help users who are trying to coordinate their schedules better to do so with a click of a button.
Also with a click of a button, users can sync their calendar to their phone or Google Calendar.
Press play to see the added features for Anime Expo's app.
I did a usability test for my hi-fi wireframes with 6 participants. All tests were conducted online via voice chat and screenshare.
Before testing, I wanted to be sure to obtain more context of my participants. I asked questions that centered around:
The usability test consists of gathering interaction responses and thoughts for the following tasks:
Line Queue Tutorial
Join a Line Queue
Managing Event Conflicts
Sharing/Syncing Calendar Events
Toggle the Calendar View for My Agenda’s Events
The participants were also asked to rate the tasks they had just done on a scale of 1-5. Their feedback will help me see if the added features are helpful and easy to understand without further clarification.
Note: The scale of 1-5 has 1 = poor experience to 5 = very positive experience
The participants expressed that the added features would be helpful in planning their next Anime Expo trip. It would incentivize them to download and use the Anime Expo app more.
Their impressions and ratings were:
This project allowed me to explore what designing for the entertainment industry would be like. I had fun creating fun graphics to try to reflect the brand. I learned more about looking into design guidelines and how prototyping can enhance the user testing experience. Auto Layout and the Switch Overlay tools are powerful!
I cross-referenced several other convention apps to help create the features for this project, and even went as far as going into Anime Expo’s current merchandise to gather inspiration for the mascots I made for the graphics. Prioritizing was a big push during this project to avoid overwhelming myself with the deliverables.
It was also neat to have positive feedback about how many users wished Anime Expo’s app would be like this. This insight also told me how valuable user ratings were for seeing the success off new additions. Overall, this project was colorful and fun!