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Five days to the next app.

A design sprint for the Sympla buyer app, from complaints to a tested prototype.

Head of Product Design · Sympla · July and August 2023

Sympla buyer app design sprint cover
01

The problem

The buyer app had a complaint problem before it had a feature problem. Store reviews, app CSAT, sign-in data and a week of help center tickets said the same things: purchases that failed, slow loading, a help center that did not help, weak search, and painful refunds.

Day 1 · What buyers were telling us

Technical

  • Hard to complete a purchase
  • App errors
  • Slow loading
  • Social login failures

Support

  • Problems not solved
  • Help center that does not help

Features

  • No personalization
  • Weak location filters and search
  • Few payment options
  • Missing event information

Experience

  • Complex interface
  • Hard to use
  • Frequent bugs

Purchase

  • Ticket purchase problems
  • Payment errors
  • Refund problems

Sources on the board: app store ratings and reviews (iOS and Android), app CSAT, app sign-ins, and one week of help center tickets.

02

The call

Before the sprint, everyone voted on the same list of ideas through three lenses: financial return, delight, and relevance to the buyer journey. Three votes per person per lens. A "My account" with a benefits program won financial return and delight, and came first overall, followed by a Sympla wallet and recommendations based on preferences.

The vote · Same ideas, three lenses, three votes each

Financial return

What earns more?

  1. 7"My account" with a benefits program
  2. 7"My account" with a Sympla wallet
  3. 6Better home filters

Delight

What delights buyers?

  1. 13"My account" with a benefits program
  2. 8"My account" with a Sympla wallet
  3. 6A friendly chatbot that recommends events

Relevance

What matters on the journey?

  1. 11A wallet with refunds built in
  2. 9Cache and preloading
  3. 9Recommendations from preferences and behavior

Overall: 1. "My account" with a benefits program. 2. "My account" with a Sympla wallet. 3. Recommendations based on preferences.

03

The sprint

Five days, designers, engineers and the GPM in the room. Day one, pains and goals, then the theme. Day two, the new flow, drafts and a service blueprint. Day three, the interfaces and the test script. Day four, the prototype and a usability test. Day five, the results.

We redrew the happy path from a personal home to the wallet, with refund request and resale inside the flow, and drafted a benefits program: what earns points, what points buy, and where coupons fit.

  1. Day 1

    Pains and goals, then the theme

  2. Day 2

    The new flow, drafts and a service blueprint

  3. Day 3

    The interfaces and the test script

  4. Day 4

    The prototype and a usability test

  5. Day 5

    The results

Days 2 to 4 · The happy path, redrawn

  1. Personal home
  2. Search by name
  3. Event page
  4. Log in
  5. Buy
  6. Refund request
  7. Open the ticket
  8. Resell
  9. Wallet

In-app support, nice to have

The concept file · Sections

  • OnboardingDone
  • HomeDone
  • Artist, venue and producer pagesDone
  • Sympla bag (wallet)Done
  • Event pageDone
  • Consumption pageHot
  • Sympla PassDone
  • Sympla ClubIn progress
  • CommunityIn progress
The original voting board from the sprint
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