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To redesign and improve the AMC Theatres app to make it more user-friendly, enhance the overall user experience. The AMC Theatres App is the portal to everything AMC. Buy tickets, get information about the movies you want to see, access your AMC Stubs rewards and make A-List reservations. The goal is to identify any usability issues, paint points, and areas for improvement in the app's sign-up process.
DURATION
12 Weeks
TEAM
Solo Project
ROLE
User Research
Usability Testing
UI Design
CHALLENGE
A long and complicated sign-up process involves numerous steps. This results in user friction, as individuals may find it time-consuming to complete the registration.
ROADMAP
Methodologies
I started by reading reviews on the app in the app store. Then I conducted quantitative and qualitative testing.
Quantitative testing:
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Measured task completion time. (during the usability testing)
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Measured participants’ perception of usability (satisfaction ratings through questionnaires and rating scales)
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Conducted questionnaire to ask users to rate their satisfaction, ease of use.
Qualitative testing:
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Observed their interactions with the sign up process, listen to their feedback, and ask open-ended questions to gain qualitative insights into their experiences.
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Think-aloud protocol: Asked users to vocalize their thoughts and feelings as they navigate the sign up interface.
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Conducted open-ended questions to ask users at the end.
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A/B comparison between original and new.
Participant Profile
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10 participants
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50% male, 50% female
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Age range between 20-45
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5 participants used the AMC Theater app to book movie tickets.
- Watch movies at AMC theaters at least 1x/month.
- Book movie tickets on AMC app at least 1x/month
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5 participants who have never used the AMC Theater app to book movie tickets.
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2 participants do not have experience with buying movie tickets online.
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100% IPhone users.
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Inclusion factor: participants with poor eyesight (2 with farsightedness and 8 with near sighted)
User-Journey
I drafted an anticipated user map to visualize the stages of user engagement. This delineates each phase of the user sign-up process from start to finish and allows me to troubleshoot issues on a step-by-step basis.
Design and Evaluation Metrics
Throughout my research and usability testing, I realized that beyond the number of steps in the registration process, there were many other factors contributing to its length. Issues related to navigation, such as the Visibility of Key Features and Color and Readability, added to the complexity of the sign-up process. Users needed more time to navigate through the app.
Data Visualization
Insights from Research
I chose to focus on the two most important insights:
Efficiency- Streamlining Sign-Up: This is the most significant because it directly affects user attraction and retention. Simplifying the sign-up process is essential for increasing user engagement.
Learnability- Visibility of Key Features: Ensuring that essential features like "My Tickets" and "My Rewards" are easily accessible is the second most significant insight. These features likely play a vital role in retaining users and encouraging their continued use of the platform.
Redesign User Flow
current
new
Early Sketches
The process begins with my initial ideas wireframes, then moves to low-fidelity, and finally to the high-fidelity prototype.
Low-fidelity Prototype
I then brought my idea to an interactive digital low-fidelity prototype and brought it to usability testing again to collect feedbacks.
Main Findings from Prototype Testing
#1 Efficiency
The quantitative data shows a 57.53% decrease in users' task completion time compared to the original app testing. Additionally, users rated high ratings in significant percentage found the process easy to start and finish. That means the reduction of steps in the sign-up process and additional options, such as social media sign-ups, significantly reduced the time and effort required for users to register. This led to a notable improvement in task performance, with users completing the sign-up process more quickly and with greater ease.
#2 Learnability
The quantitative data shows a 87.37% decrease in the percentage of users struggling to find the key features compared to the original app testing. By making essential features like "My Tickets" and "My Rewards" more visible, users found it easier to navigate and utilize key functionalities. This improvement positively impacted task performance as users could quickly access and engage with these features without unnecessary complexity.
#3 Consistency
The consistent user journey, with a straightforward sign-up button at the beginning and a clear "Join Now" stepat the end, minimized user confusion. This clarity in the process improved task performance, as users could follow a logical sequence, reducing the likelihood of errors and frustration.
#4 Accessibility
The graph shows that the percentage in ease-of-use of users doesn’t increase much compared to the last testing. The percentage is still in the middle. That means it still remain a point of concerns. The absence of theme options significantly affected users with vision impairments. Without theme options, users with vision impairments faced challenges in customizing the interface to suit their specific needs, such as choosing high-contrast themes.
Original app testing
Prototype testing
#5 Satisfaction
Some participants found that separating "Now Playing" and "Coming Soon" categories on distinct pages complicated user interaction and hindered task performance. The evidence shows in the quantitative graph that users are not 100% satisfied with the app’s layout. Users had to navigate between different sections to find relevant movie information, slowing down their interaction with the home page and diminishing the efficiency of the experience.
For the insights, I will focus on insights that received some concerns and suggestions about the flow and especially the interface from the summative data analysis.
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Accessibility Enhancement: The absence of diverse themes is highlighted in the research findings. The goal is to enhance accessibility and allow users to personalize their experience according to their preferences.
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Optimized Home Page Interface: I want to address user preferences for a more streamlined and user-friendly home page, allowing users to quickly access relevant movie information without navigating between different sections. The goal is to enhance efficiency and satisfaction in interacting with the home page.
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Icon Management and User Interaction: Design updates in this category aim to streamline the user interface by removing unnecessary icons and enhancing interaction elements. The goal is to reduce user confusion, enhance clarity, and improve overall usability.
Final Design
REFINEMENT 01
The current app has a long sign-up process, including 5-8 steps. The new sign-up process is now significantly shorter, achieved by reducing the number of steps. Furthermore, users benefit from additional options such as signing up with social media, making the entire process faster and more streamlined.
REFINEMENT 02
The initial design lacked a specific 'Sign Up' button, forcing users to navigate through the app to find; a confusing 'Join Now' button and lengthy descriptions for each category at the beginning. I improved it by incorporating a clear sign-up button at the beginning and choosing membership options at the end. With shorter descriptions, users now only read more details when they want to.
REFINEMENT 03
The initial app included unnecessary buttons on the main navigation bar, with important features being hidden. The new design now has key features such as "My Tickets" and "My Rewards" made more visible and accessible, ensuring users can easily find and use them, improving overall learnability.
REFINEMENT 04
Initially, some users might find the absence of multiple themes for the platform challenging when reading content presented on a dark background with white text exclusively. I improved it by offering multiple themes, consolidating the "Now Playing" and "Coming Soon" movie categories on a single page to further enhance user-friendliness and accessibility.
What I learned
This project has been a transformative journey for me. In the formative phase, I relied on theories and initial ideas about user needs. However, as I entered summative research, direct engagement with users became the focal point. As I conducted research tests and engaged with users, a significant shift occurred. The direct feedback and experiences shared by users shaped my understanding. Seeing how users actually use the platform, hearing what they like or find challenging, brought a depth to my understanding that I didn't have before. The back-and-forth of designing, testing, and improving, all based on real user experiences, has been eye-opening and has really influenced how I approach creating a design that truly works for users.
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