MOVIEPASS: UX Case Study
ABOUT MOVIEPASS
Moviepass is a movie theater subscription service that allows users to watch movies daily at a discounted rate.
THE CHALLENGE
To better understand Moviepass users, identify their pain points, and propose a redesign to improve their experiences.
DISCOVERY
6/6 users validated that the updated design changes have made the app easier to navigate and use.
The Design Process
I used a 5-step framework for this challenge:
Research
Guerrilla Usability Testing
To discover where users were struggling while using the app, I conducted usability test throughout San Francisco. I specifically chose guerrilla testing because it is cheap, quick, and can reveal important insights with just 6 users.
I gave each person three tasks to complete within the movie app:
- Book an e-ticket at theater in a different city later tonight
- Find a new movie you’d be interested in watching, and invite to watch with a friend
- Book a ticket for the 11:30 AM showing of “ A Quiet Place” at a theater within 5 miles of San Francisco
I asked 5 MoviePass users to conduct these tasks (and a few others) on the current app. Some of the responses we got were:
“ The app zooms out too much, I can’t find its location feature useful.”“ I am not convinced to watch the movie just by reading the synopsis. I need more information...”“ I don’t want to go out of my way to watch a movie. I only watch movies at the theater near my house”
Synthesize
I used affinity mapping, an information organizational method, to identify each user’s pain points and insights.
Findings from Users
I recorded observations and comments made by users during their interviews. Each colored post-it/column represents a different user.
Define the Pain Points
Using the affinity map, I identified and categorized to determine the most important issues to the business and its users.
Base on the study, here are the 5 urgent issues:
1. The need for standard information ( reviews, genre, trailer, cast list) before deciding watching the movie
2. Most frequently used locations saved in “ Favorites”
3. Sort and filter movies and theaters
4. Share movie informations with friends before making decisions
5. Search movies at the map view
Understanding the User
It's important to understand your users, and their motivations. To dive a little deeper, I used USMO (Users, Situations, Motivations, and Outcomes) and Job stories.
From there, I created one provisional persona to help guide the design process.
Ideate
Task Flow
I analyzed the existing task flow for booking a movie to better understand where in the process users are having trouble.
Lo-Fi Sketches
I sketched multiple options for each screen, continually referencing the target audience, company mission, and my objectives to make booking tickets easier and to reduce confusion.
Base on the research findings, I prioritized three main objectives
An easier way for users to find their favorite movie theater
The ability for users to share crucial information about the movie: movie title, time, and location.
Easier navigation by adding filter system
Prototype
Color
For this redesign, I used Moviepass’ original color palette to align with its brand and style.
Icons
I made extra icons for the new functions added to the app using Moviepass’ branding colors.
Hi-Fi Sketches
From my Lo-Fi sketches, I took the best ideas and created Hi-Fi mockups. Below are the screen comparison side by side.
Animated Prototype
Once the high-fidelity screens are completed, I created animated slides to show the changes I made to improve usability and decrease users’ confusion, thurs increasing conversions.
Review of the movie
80% of surveyed users are not convinced by the short synopsis. They want to know the rating, genre, trailer, and cast list of the movie.
Favorite Location
The favorite movie locations would have priority when searching.
Filter System
Filter movies by time, location, and ticket types. Most people say those features are important when deciding on a movie.
Share with Friends
People would like to share movie information, location, and time when making plans.
Search Movies on the Map
By clicking on the movie location, a pop-up window would display the play time of the selected movie.
Interactive Prototype
Throughout the process, I received feedback from users by putting screens into Marvel and having them click through to make sure the flow made sense. Here is a clickable prototype!
Validate
Key Takeaways
1. Users would like to see the movie reviews, ratings, ad general information.
2. Understanding what is important to your users (what to emphasize and not to emphasize) will create a seamless and more pleasant experience.
3. Users look to our product to make their life easier. Using the filter and sort function will efficiently find information.
After Thoughts
Going out there and testing the app, have forced me to consider the average user’s pain points and how I should address them. For example, many users immediately type in the movie name on the location search bar. As a long term user of the app, I knew exactly where I had to go within the app, but putting myself in the shoes of other users forced me to undo these assumptions.
As designers, we continuously strive for designs that are “ more intuitive to use”. I sincerely hope Moviepass keeps up the good work and makes the product easier to use for all.
Finally, I am happy to say that all of the new users are interested signing up for the Moviepass after testing out the app.