As part of Google's UX Design Certificate, I designed a conceptual app to make booking cinema tickets a seamless and rewarding experience. Through user research, I identified key frustrations with current systems, including complex interfaces, limited time for completing bookings, and minimal incentives to switch from in-person to digital platforms. My goal with Spotlight is to address these pain points by focusing on personalisation, simplicity, and rewards, creating a user-centered design that prioritises ease, transparency, and engagement.
The challenge was to create a cinema booking app that simplifies the user journey, enhances personalisation, and offers clear incentives for digital bookings. Currently their isn't enough incentive to use cinema booking app as oppose to in person.
To address this challenge, I followed the Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test strategy. I wanted to tackle this by developing user flows which enabled users to book tickets as well as have an incentive to use the app.
I defined the target audience as people aged 18-55 , who lived in suburban areas but only go to the cinema a few times a year. All of them like going to the movies with someone else maybe friends or family.
I began with a short screener survey to identify users to interview. I received a variety of responses. of those responses, I could see that there were a number of features users would like to see. For example, easy seat selection, fast checkout, loyalty rewards/discounts and also group booking.
After analysing survey responses, I conducted five user interviews to gain deeper insights into their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around cinema visits and ticketing apps. My goal was to uncover common frustrations and identify potential design opportunities.
Key Findings Personalisation is a must – Users dislike irrelevant movie recommendations.“I would love a personalised feature for a cinema ticket app! I hate it when it shows me horrors, and I hate horrors!”
Accessibility considerations – One user with epilepsy shared that the unpredictability of cinema environments (e.g., flashing lights in trailers) can make the experience nerve-racking.
Frustration with complex interfaces – Users felt current apps were cluttered and difficult to navigate, making booking a tedious process.
Lack of incentives to use apps – Many users preferred buying tickets in person unless they had a reason (like rewards) to use an app.
‘‘I don’t want something overly complicated. If the app is simple and easy to use, I’m more likely to use it regularly.’’
‘‘I think a point system would be good. It would make purchasing tickets worth it. I’m not overly bothered about going to the cinema as I can use apps like Netflix or whatever and watch from home. But introducing a reward/point system would more likely encourage me to go, if I know I’m getting more out of the experience.”
I began with a short screener survey to identify users to interview. I received a variety of responses. Maicey is a 24-year-old insurance broker who leads a busy lifestyle, seeking a cinema ticket app that’s both quick and rewarding, with a focus on features like preference filters for a personalised experience. Hardeep, an IT technician with a family, also values a fast ticket-booking process but is especially drawn to the idea of earning rewards, which would motivate him to use the app for family movie outings. Together, they both prioritise efficiency and the ability to gain benefits from their ticket purchases, making convenience and rewards the key drivers in their app usage.f those responses, I could see that there were a number of features users would like to see. For example, easy seat selection, fast checkout, loyalty rewards/discounts and also group booking.
Using FigJam, I created empathy maps for Maicey’s persona, focusing on the full range of the user experience she would experience when ordering through a cinema ticketing app, to further empathise with my persona
