RESEARCH

Over the course of 5 months I interviewed over 30 millennials and 15 theatre producers/ frequent attendees to better understand why millennials weren’t making a regular habit of seeing shows.

From my research I found three notable insights: (1) people have to plan a full day out to go to the theatre, (2) millennials are alienated by the etiquette of the show environment, and (3) there’s a sharp transition into and out of the show experience that tends to overwhelm and underwhelm the user respectively.

From the additional interviews, I found that avid theatre-goers were fans of the Playbill magazine as a post-show memento, but felt it could do a more effective job of engaging new theatre-goers with its established outreach.

PROTOTYPE

With the aforementioned insights in mind, I used Figma to prototype an app and storyboard to better connect users to the end-to-end theatre experience (i.e keep them engaged in the show from point-of-discovery to months after the show).

The app iterations consisted of several functionalities, from AR theatre building tours to sheet music access. Using these Figma wireframes, I went on to test them on users.

USER TESTING

I conducted rapid prototype testing sprints for 3 weeks, constantly iterating the product layout based on user feedback and testing them on the next user. Through this process, the product was refined to the smallest detail, and the flow of frames was catered to the needs of both millennial and non-millennial theatre-goers.

Playbill+, a redesign of the classic Playbill magazine, is the combination of an app and physical collectable that centralizes the end-to-end theatre experience, engages users in the theatre community, and provides a tangible memento.

PRE-SHOW

When you purchase your ticket, you can scan a QR code to access you very own Playbill+!

You’re immediately immersed in show-related content, with options to go behind the scenes and see the making of the set, connect to Spotify and listen to the soundtrack, or even plan your show day months in advance.

DAY-OF-SHOW

The Playbill+ doesn’t want you to feel you don’t fit in with the audience, so it sends you tips to follow before the show (see left-most image), so that your day is better-planned and you don’t feel alienated by the formality of the occasion.

If you show up early you can also make use of AR Tour (right image)- a feature of Playbill+ that lets you scan different parts of the theatre building and learn about it’s history.

POST-SHOW

Finally, frequent theatre-goers love collecting physical Playbills as mementos of the show they saw, but were often frustrated with the bulkiness of the booklet and the excess number of ads present. So the Playbill+ Collectable is a single-page collector’s item given to every audience member after the show. The Collectable has the cover of the show you just saw on the front, and personal message from the cast on the back.