Live Events
Ethnographic Research

Role

UX Researcher III
Project Lead

Methods

Observations
1x1 Interviews
Surveys
Concept Testing
Usability Testing

Tools

Ownership

Kick-off & Alignment
Protocol & Script Creation
Execution & Moderation
Data Analysis & Synthesis
Presentation & Shareout

Team

1 Product Manager
3 Designers
2 Support Researchers

Overview

The Challenge

Pollen curates music travel experiences across Europe and North America, which of course takes a lot of coordination. My team was tasked with building a tool to support customers throughout the journey so we asked How might we help and support customers throughout their journey with us?

The Process

I wanted to first gather users’ needs and pain points, organize these insights into an ethnographic model of how users behave and feel, and then conceptualize these solutions in an iterative way. This study consisted of exploratory and generative methods that would produce foundational systems and artifacts.

The Solution

As a team, we were able to build, test, and introduce a smart itinerary, a gamified get-ready section, interactive maps, and an in-destination guide.

Foundational artifacts such as journey maps and personas were also born from the data synthesized in this study.

5

Countries Represented

34

Diverse Participants

4

New Features Developed

Starting with Scope

When this project landed in my lap, the main focus was on helping customers plan ahead of the trip and get around during the trip. Because this initiative would produce solutions that would span beyond just the one event we were working on (Tiesto: The Trip @ Cancun), I took the team a step back to understand the context of what we wanted to provide and the values we were striving for. A quick brainstorming workshop I led gave us our product values, with “Planning” and “Wayfinding” as building blocks in the overall solution.

This gave us a larger picture of what we were building: an optimized source of truth.

Combining Ethnographic Methods

After determining requirements with the team, I chose a series of methods and touchpoints throughout the event where those methods can be conducted. The main goal was gaining foundational and generative insight around user behaviors and needs.

Observations gave us a sense of the context and users’ behaviors in-the-wild, while interviews and surveys captured in-depth experiences and attitudes. Additionally, concept/prototype tests gave us a look at how our designs might be used in-situ.

How Might Users Plan:
Remote Interviews + Concept Test + Workshop

Prior to takeoff, I conducted remote 1x 1 interviews with 16 participants from 5 different countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Colombia) on their planning process. As part of the discussion, I led a workshop activity where they chronologically rearranged the various tasks that we were building features for, with room for additional tasks we might not have planned for. These were then aggregated into a general mental model of how customers plan their trip. A timeline of 5 steps was emerged, which will evolve into the journey map.

At the end of each session, I also included a short concept test on the prototypes of the digital app solution designed by the team, focusing on the features that might solve for the tasks in the workshop.

Timeline Workshop

Timeline Aggregate

How Might Users Get Around:
Observations + Intercept Interviews + Surveys

After preparing my team of designers and researchers with a field guide of how-to’s and best practices, we set out for data collection. We observed at box offices, hotel lobbies, and club venues and conducted intercept interviews and surveys intermittently in exchange for drink tickets. We identified areas of opportunity around transportation, hotel information, schedule and set times, etc.

With some of our pre-recruited participants, we were also to do some usability testing on the in-destination app that was prototyped and validated in the pre-destination interviews.

All of our notes were inputted into Dovetail and organized into an affinity map to surface themes that we could then highlight with pictures and quotes from our observations.

Synthesizing with a Tagging Taxonomy

With so many micro pieces of data captured, I wanted a systematic way of organizing the details into topics/tasks and attitudes/sentiments that can then be quantified by frequency and intensity. I created a tagging taxonomy with a logic system that can be used by other team members and for future projects.

Since this tagging taxonomy was built in Dovetail, which housed our repository of research projects, the standardization made it easy to look for data on specific topics across projects.

Delivering Strategic and Tactical Artifacts:
Journey Map + Prioritized Recommendations

The aggregate timeline from the pre-destination interviews and the affinity map of notes from the observations and intercepts gave rise to an early-stage journey map I built that was widely-shared and socialized among the product team. The idea was that this could evolve with each research project at an in-destination event.

I also delivered a report highlighting the various themes and the resulting product recommendations. It was organized by timeline (taken from the journey map) and prioritized by frequency and intensity of the insight.

Highlights

There are 6 key phases in the prior to the start of the event: Pre-Trip Logistics, Travel Preparation, Destination Research, Deciding What To Do, Purchasing, Securing Pollen Items
The Pollen app must release provide pertinent information in each phase:
- Pre-Trip Logistics → Ticket Details, Destination Airport Info, Lodging Options (Hotel & Room Types)
- Travel Preparation → Travel Checklist (Passport, Visa, COVID Info)
- Destination Research → Local Guidebook, Transportation Options
- Deciding What To Do → Itinerary
- Purchasing → Add-On & Excursion Marketing
- Securing Pollen Items → Wristband & App Registration
Based on these phases, the experience product team released the following features:
- a gamified get-ready section for phase 1 & 2 (Pre-Trip Logistics & Travel Preparation)
- an in-destination guide for phase 3 (Destination Research)
- a smart itinerary and interactive maps for phase 4 & 5 (Deciding What To Do & Purchasing)
- a streamlined wristband registration for phase 6 (Securing Pollen Items)

“Having these things on the app would have definitely helped me with everything going on, especially when I'm off my face.”

~ In-Destination User

Final Thoughts

It was fun to work with a true startup, building each process with the intention that it would set a tentative precedent, and I really poured myself into finding a rhythm that was impactful to the stakeholders and customers but also sustainable and nurturing for our team. Sadly, working for a startup can also be a curse. My time with Pollen came to an abrupt end when the company collapsed into administration, following the exit of a key investor. All of that aside, I’m excited to bring the researcher that I’ve become to similar companies - those that strive to change lives and build memories. Whether it’s chatting up a drunk stranger or spending late nights talking to customers halfway around the world, my wild time at Pollen was unforgettable but I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Other Pollen Projects

Cruise Event Purchase Flow Usability

One of the most exciting projects for Pollen was Project Ocean, which was to be a curated music travel experience on a cruise with a major headlining artist and an island takeover. This was a new challenge for the design team however, because there were several nuances to consider when coordinating a cruise experience. With a preliminary prototype, we evaluated the usability of the cruise booking flow to find issues and errors that differentiated this process from our typical flow. Using the Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE) method to quickly turnaround user feedback, our designers were able to fine tune the flow in preparation for launch.

Concept Prototyping

User Testing

Task Success/Pass/Fail/Critical

Affinity Mapping by Screen

Insight: Pay Options

Overall Learnings

Marketing Add-On Activities

A high-value objective for our leadership was boosting purchasing in app. Earlier in 2022, our team released the option to purchase additional add-on activities to customers’ bookings and I was tasked with measuring the shortcomings of this experience. To start, we pulled data from Mixpanel showing the steep drop off in the purchase funnel and determined some preliminary hypotheses. I then surveyed customers, supplementing the data with further interviews, to collect initial context and causes. In collaboration with the designers and copywriters, we iteratively tested different touchpoints of the add-on purchasing experience, determining when and how add-ons should be marketed and sold.