OVERVIEW
BACKGROUND
Heracine is an up and coming movie theater in San Francisco that lets customer buy snacks in advance or during the movie. Not only do they ensure the quality of the serving and the snacks, but they also offer competitive pricing. Heracine hopes to attract and retain customers who wants enjoy undisturbed movie experience with great good food.
GOAL
Allow HeraScene's customers to buy and schedule snacks in advance or during the movie.
PROBLEM
Most customers usually arrive on time or late and do not therefore have time to spare to browse for snacks. Other than that, some people with certain disabilities have difficulties to stand up, go outside and back inside, and sit back down.
DURATION
February 2022
MY ROLE
UX Designer - from conception to finalizing payment.
MY RESPONSIBILITIES
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.
USER PAIN POINTS
TIME
Busy young adults & adults who don’t have time to browse for snacks, or those who have physical limitations.
ACCESSIBILITY
Platforms for buying mid-movie snack are limited and most of them aren’t equipped with assistive technologies & language options
IA
Text-heavy menus in apps are often difficult for the eyes.
I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users I’m designing for and their needs. A primary user group identified through research was busy young adults and adults who want flowers at a specific time.
This user group confirmed initial assumptions about HeraScene’s customers, but research also revealed that time was not the only factor limiting users from buying snacks. Other user problems included limited budget, knowledge of the service, interests, or challenges that make it frustrating to get a desired snack.
PERSONA:
JAC HUYNH
Problem Statement: Jac is a retired architect movie lover who has developed arthritis symptoms which makes it difficult for him to walk or stand up.
IDEATION
Before I started sketching I already had a pretty good picture in my head on how I wanted the website and mobile app to look like, so the design came to life pretty quickly.
INITIAL UI DESIGN AND WIREFRAME
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups.
The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mockups needed refining.
The first usability study revealed that users didn’t immediately know where to click. The second usability study revealed that users thought the cart button’s placement was confusing as it’s aligned with the movie instead of the snack options.
HI-FI PROTOTYPE
The final high-fidelity prototype presented cleaner user flows for checking out and scheduling an order. It also met users preferences to place the cart button with the snack options instead of the movie playing.
ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS
1
Provided access to users who are vision impaired through adding alt text to images for screen readers.
2
Easier-to-navigate buttons and icons for universal understanding.
3
Option to switch languages for user whose first language isn’t English.
RESPONSIVE DESIGN
The designs for screen size variation included mobile, tablet, and desktop. I optimized the designs to fit specific user needs of each device and screen size.
TAKEAWAYS: IMPACT
The website and app make users feel like HeraScene really thinks about how to cater to their needs and preferences.
One quote from peer feedback: “As someone who has difficulty with constantly standing up and sitting back down, using this service helps a lot! I would definitely regularly go to this establishment instead of the other.”
TAKEAWAYS: WHAT I LEARNED
While designing the healthcine app, I learned that the first ideas for the app are only the beginning of the process. Usability studies and peer feedback influenced each iteration of the app’s designs.
NEXT STEPS
1. Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed.
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2. Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need.