How Young Adults Discover

Events - UX Study

Bringing user research into a new startup environment.

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How Young Adults Discover Events

Situation:

In Summer 2021 I joined a design team creating a new social events app which connects young adults to events happening in their area.

Research Plan:

I decided to conduct a research study that identifies the habits and pain points of event seekers, in order to restructure the product design around providing value to their event searching experiences.

Market research
Online Survey
Qualitative Interviews

Market Research:

I dove into competitor research and evaluated event planning apps and also social media apps, which both serve as competitors for a social event app. Having an understanding of what other social media and event apps are like, helped us begin to establish how the new app could differentiate itself from competitors.

Quantitative Surveys

After learning about competitors, I surveyed a group of 70 GenZ and Millennials. They were asked how they typically go about finding local events and larger events. We found that they mainly discover events through passive means like browsing social media or word of mouth, rather than google searches and ticket selling platforms like Eventbrite.

Rather than making people look for opportunities, people prefer when opportunities find them.

Convenience > Direct Searches

Key Insight

Interviews:

Next I lead qualitative interviews in conjunction with the marketing team in order to better understand how different potential users are currently finding events. We interviewed ten selected potential users about their social media and event finding habits. From here, we were able to identify pain points where other event-searching apps are failing to deliver.

Social Media & Events Habits

In order to design an event planning app, you have to know when users would use certain features. So I sorted the interview data into categories based on when each potential social app feature would be used surrounding an event.

Relevant Trends in Social Media

According to our survey and interviews, Facebook is losing favor with young adults.

By trying to do so many things, facebook sacrificed utility and usability.
Younger generations prefer Instagram & Snapchat for posting event pictures.
Users assume Facebook Events doesn’t have the types of events users are looking for, more closed-group oriented. Lack of user optimization.
70% of participants never posted an event using Facebook Events .

With the user research I conducted, the company has made tremendous strides to reorient their product design around the needs of their potential users.

Rather than designing based on assumptions, they now use research to support design decisions.The marketing team has also shifted their focus into user research to better understand how to promote an event-finding social media app to young adults.

Final Takeaways:

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Summarizing Findings:

A social media platform dedicated solely around discovering and sharing experiences has yet to be fully realized.
An app like this will combine the personal convenience and networking features of social media with the direct search and discoverability of event-finding apps.
It can provide direct value to customers offering them personalized opportunities and experiences based around their networks and interests.

Is it my best option?

Sponsored ads can target specific users based on their unique interests and preferences.

Who else is going?

Users want to attend events that their friends and social networks are interested in. Especially for smaller events.

Who am I bringing?

Users more likely to attend events with friends, and discover events through their local networks.

Insights:

I identified three common questions people take into consideration when deciding what events to attend.

Problem:

When I was introduced to the team, I quickly discovered that there hadn't been any research done on the problem space. UI designers and developers had already begun working on designs based on assumptions, but nothing had been done to evaluate the needs of potential users.