Roadie - Organising and Operating Concert Tours
Project Background:
This project was part of my masters program that used IDEO’s design thinking process to solve the problem of group travelling and coordination. I decided to focus on bands and entertainment groups, who need to coordinate throughout a tour. You can view a section of the finished prototype in Invision here (Invision Prototype).
Problem to be solved:
Concert tours are the biggest revenue stream for musicians and bands. However, there is not an application available for musicians to efficiently manage concerts throughout a tour, resulting in things such as missed flights, incorrect gear for a show and not paying band members. This application aimed to allow each persona involved in a concert tour affectively complete their tasks and easily communicate with each other.
Personas:
Through the Empathise mode of the Design thinking process three distinct personas were identified in a music tour. The key players in a music tour are a band owner, a band manager and band member. Below are some more details into each persona. The prototype was designed based on the biggest pain points of each persona discovered through the research phase.
Prototype
Paper Prototype
Using insights gathered in the Emapthise mode, the key pain points were Defined, which allowed for a paper prototype to be designed in the Ideation mode. The key tasks were identified for each persona. The Band Owner wanted the ability to check their upcoming gig and have the option to rent equipment specifically for that show. The Band Manager wanted to perform all logistical tasks within one app, such as booking flights or paying band members. The Band Member wanted to enjoy the tour and experience all the amazing cities they visit. Below is a sketch of ideas for the home screen and how a user might be able to rent equipment while on the road.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframe
As the ideation continued, the application moved into the wireframe stage where the features needed for each task to be completed were developed. Below is a wireframe for a band manager trying to book flights for the band.
High Fidelity Screens
Below is a selection of the screens in high fidelity. First, are the final screens from the paper prototype above, which is a the finished home screen and band owner trying to rent equipment for a specific show. Next is the screens in high fidelity of a band manager finding and booking flights for the band.
High fidelity screens of the home screen and equipment search.
High fidelity screens from the mid fidelity wireframe.
Final Prototype
As the project moved through to the Prototype and Test modes of the Design Thinking process a lot of user testing took place. This iterative process allowed the prototype to develop quickly and efficiently as feedback from both core users and experts in design guided the final design process. The valence method of research was very effective at this stage as the emotional response of users was captured to identify what features provided the most value and what features needed improvement and further iteration. Below is a video of each persona performing the most valuable tasks on the Roadie application.