Introducing EventMate, a one-stop-shop platform I created to connect and support customers and local small businesses in an effort to transform event planning into a seamless, transparent and consistent experience.
Take a look at this PDF for more supporting research and my product strategy →
December 2022
The Challenge
Connection is fundamental to our existence as people - our happiness, our mental health and our lives. The pandemic intensified this fundamental human need, as in-person events were prohibited. Now that we’re in the wake of the pandemic, people are even more eager to connect in-person again, but that desire is sometimes outweighed by how cumbersome and complex it is to plan an event.
I recently offered to plan a small work dinner, which opened my eyes to how difficult and time-consuming it is to plan even the simplest of events. It was incredibly frustrating to research venues, wait to hear back from them, communicate with restaurant hosts, keep track of all conversations and files, make sure deposits and final payments were sent on time and somehow stay organized throughout all the back-and-forth.
It got me wondering how people could possibly plan weddings and other large events without hiring a professional event planner to do it all for them. With the world at our fingertips, why should planning an event be so difficult?
My Role
I conducted all research, UX/UI design and product strategy for this project.
Main Tasks
Desk Research
Customer Interviews
Product Strategy
UX/UI Design
Usability Tests
Key Deliverables
Personas
Affinity & Ecosystem Maps
Journey Map
Wireframes & Prototypes
Design System
The Solution
EventMate is a one-stop-shop that seeks to transform event planning into a seamless, transparent and consistent experience by creating a centralized location that provides users with the tools, partnerships and resources needed to bring meaningful moments to life.
Customers can search for, compare and book local vendors that fit their budget and style, while managing their event’s progress in EventMate’s Planner. The Planner features a customizable dashboard that tracks all event details, vendors and statuses, along with intuitive planning tools and templates for budget trackers, checklists and vision boards. Customers can also access their calendar, EventMate Inbox, guest lists and reporting capabilities through the Planner. Customers earn EventMate points with every booking, which can be used towards future in-platform bookings and purchases. For customers wanting additional support, EventMate partners with professional boutique event planners that can be booked in-platform.
On the flip side, EventMate provides vendors with a cost-effective solution for marketing, lead generation and organization. By automating manual processes such as managing inquiries, invoices and contracts, EventMate reduces the time, money and effort spent on administrative tasks. Vendors also have access to the Planner, including reporting capabilities and a customizable dashboard to track all customer bookings, details and statuses.
Timeline & Methodology
This project was limited to a 16-week timeline, broken out into two 8-week periods.
Weeks 1-8
With the EventMate product vision in mind, my first step involved market research and a competitive analysis to understand the event planning space and see if there was a platform that could really do it all. Next, I conducted user interviews to dig into how customers and vendors feel about and approach event planning. After analyzing my findings, I created several data representations (i.e. ecosystem map, affinity map, personas) to paint a picture of the current state and highlight opportunities that EventMate could take advantage of. I also shaped EventMate’s overall product strategy by creating value proposition canvases, risk analysis and mitigation strategies, roadmaps, success metrics and a business model canvas.
Weeks 9-16
Given the breadth of this project and its time constraints, I decided to narrow the scope of my design and research to the customer side of EventMate’s experience. Picking a “favorite child” was difficult, but I believed that nailing the customer side was a higher priority and would add more value long-term since customers will make up the majority of EventMate’s potential users. Vendors simply need to make the decision to sign up for the platform and list their services, but customers need to be guided through myriad decisions that fit their specific needs to create a more tailored and personal experience. Taking a deep dive into customer needs would enable me to shape the way vendors connect with them and the platform for a more user friendly experience. I took all my learnings from desk research and user interviews to conceptualize EventMate’s solution, starting with a journey map and then moving into lo-fi wireframes for key customer journeys.
Background
“I need a tool where I can link all the things I have booked and automatic status updates so I don’t have to go on 10 different platforms and check in with all my vendors separately. They don’t have their own platforms to update statuses and people have to call them all the time. It’s overwhelming for the business and the people that are calling them waiting to get through.”
“I want something to store everything with me. Sometimes my issue is organization and I would love to have everything in one central location without me having to do that.”
Customers
Individuals who want to plan events for their friends, families and colleagues
For-profit corporations, non-profit organizations and educational institutions
People looking to support local, eco-friendly and minority-owned businesses
Vendors
Small businesses looking to generate leads, streamline manual processes and increase marketing efforts
Local, eco-friendly and minority-owned vendors that provide products and services to boutique personal events
Merchants looking to recuperate COVID-associated business losses
Target Audiences
Event Planners
Boutique event planners looking to generate leads, streamline manual processes and increase marketing efforts
Event planners with experience planning birthdays, weddings, themed parties and corporate events
Event planners with existing vendor relationships that are interested in developing new vendor partnerships
Pre-Interview Assumptions
People are eager to host events, but they are overwhelmed by the amount of time and research it takes to plan them
Since COVID-19, people are more mindful of supporting small businesses
People want more transparency with vendors to determine if they’re the right fit for their needs
It takes multiple platforms to plan an event, manage event progress and stay organized throughout the process
Small businesses are struggling to keep up with the current increase in demand for event-related services
Small businesses want to invest in additional marketing efforts, but don’t have the time or money to do so
User Interviews
Research Plan
Click here for my user interview research plan, including research goals, screeners and interview scripts for customers and vendors →
Findings
Trends Across Audience Segments
Participants enjoy the creativity involved in planning an event and being inspired by unique ideas
Participants are moved by the emotional experience of bringing an event to life and are motivated by the reaction of their guests, knowing they helped create something truly memorable and unique
Participants find event planning to be very time-consuming and have difficulty staying organized throughout the process
Participants are frustrated by event-related communication, specifically the time, effort and inconsistency
Participants need a centralized location for event planning
Participants want more customization, process automation and platform integrations
Key Takeaways: Customers
Customer participants want a centralized location when planning their events
Customer participants struggle with organizing the moving pieces of an event and are frustrated by how long it takes to research, plan and coordinate with vendors
Customer participants lack trust in customer reviews and certain vendor pages
Customer participants want more transparency with vendor pricing while planning events
Key Takeaways: Vendors
Vendor participants would pay for a new platform to help with organization, communication, contracts and process automation
Vendor participants find the amount of manual processes involved in planning any event to be cumbersome
Vendor participants are seeing a major demand increase as COVID restrictions lift, as their businesses are noticeably busier this year compared to last year
Vendor participants want to increase their marketing efforts, but can’t due to a lack of resources
Opportunities
I built a journey map for the customer persona during week 9, which is when I decided to focus on this audience segment for the remainder of my project timeline. My journey map, along with learnings from user interviews, helped me identify opportunities for EventMate to address user pain points, including the following features:
An interactive quiz that customers can take for personalized event ideas and recommendations based on their preferences
A customizable vision board for customers and vendors to create and collaborate on to ensure alignment on desired event goals
Comments, ratings and photos for all vendors to facilitate customer decision-making
Vendor badges to showcase eco-friendly and minority-owned businesses
Preferred vendor lists on each vendor page to cut down on time involved in research
Average response rate, pricing and key contract clauses on all vendor pages to improve transparency
A reliable budgeting tool that allows for customization and real-time updates
Pre-made and customizable checklists for different event types so customers can tailor them to their needs
Consistent and agreed upon communication method(s) set by customer preference
I then used my journey map to create lo-fi wireframes for key customer journeys:
Search for a vendor
Submit a vendor inquiry
Check in on event progress
Ideation
Lo-Fi Wireframes
Mid-Fi Prototype
Research Plan
Usability Tests
Click here for my usability test research plan, including research goals, a screener and usability test script for customers →
Customer Feedback
Participants enjoyed the event inspiration section and want to explore this further
Participants liked the variety of filters to narrow down their search results
Participants said saving inquiry responses will save them time when submitting multiple inquiries for a vendor category
Participants enjoyed seeing their budget, guests, vendors and quick links to planning tools in the EventMate Planner
Areas for Improvement
Participants expected more event types to be featured in the homepage carousel
Participants provided alternate nomenclature suggestions for certain filters to make them clearer
Participants expected more visuals on the vendor page
Participants were confused by the page numbers on the vendor inquiry
Participants felt they might not be prepared to answer all questions in the Desired Services section of the inquiry
Participants wanted the success notification after submitting the vendor inquiry to be more prominent
Participants expected the Planner icon to be more prominent in the top navigation
Participants were overwhelmed by the activity bar on all pages of the Planner
Participants were confused by the difference between “Invite a Friend” and “Share Event” buttons
Solutions
Final Design
Research
Interview customers who have hired an event planner
Interview professional wedding planners and vendors in additional verticals
Conduct usability tests with vendor participants
Next Steps
Design
Continue wireframing and prototyping all customer features for MVP
Develop wireframes and prototypes for vendor and event planner user journeys
Create wireframes and prototypes for EventMate mobile app experience
Strategy
GTM strategy, including a website to educate future stakeholders, vendors, customers and employees on EventMate’s product, services, mission and commitments
Determine membership packages for all user groups
Set the revenue percentage EventMate will take from each platform booking