Designing an event management app for festival staff
Project Overview
I got thrown into a challenging situation at Pollen - merge two event management apps aimed at completely different user groups (box office staff and support crew) with zero user research and tight deadlines. So I designed the best version I could with the information available, then flew to Cancún during a 3-day electronic music festival to test everything with real users in high-pressure scenarios. Turns out watching people use your designs while managing crowds of festival-goers teaches you things no usability test ever could.
Role
Solo designer on the Experience Operations team - I owned everything from initial designs through to field research in Cancún, Mexico to working with developers on delivery.
Brief
Merge two existing apps - Pollen Scan and Experience Operations - into one tool that worked for both box office staff and support crew. The challenge was serving two completely different user groups with one interface.
Project summary
When I joined Pollen, they had two separate apps for managing live events. The Pollen Scan app let support crew scan guests into live events and check guest lists. The Experience Operations app helped box office staff handle wristband issues and booking queries.
My job was merging them into one app that worked for both groups - which was tricky since support crew needed simple scanning tools and the ability to track venue capacity while box office staff needed access to detailed customer data and event specific information.
Understanding the brief
The brief was simple: "merge these two apps." But nobody could explain why. I had some basic questions - what problem are we solving? Do users actually want this? What's the evidence this is a good idea?
Turns out we were working off assumptions and stakeholder opinions with no real foundation. I knew I needed to understand the "why" before designing anything, but there wasn't time for proper research. So I had to design the best version I could with the information available, then validate it in the field.
The screens on the left are from the Pollen Scan app, and the screens on the right are from the Experience Operations app.
The assumption
The team's working assumption was: Some features are duplicated, so merging apps will save users time by putting everything in one place.
But we had no evidence this would actually help users or make business sense. I wanted to validate this before designing, but tight deadlines meant I had to work with what we had.
Our users
The app needed to work for two completely different user groups:
Support crew - stationed at various entry points, scanning guests into different zones, keeping track of venue capacity, and viewing guest lists.
Box office staff - were found at the event box office, handling wristband issues (activating and replacing them) and checking traveller booking information.
The problem? We knew almost nothing about how either group actually worked day-to-day, what frustrated them, or whether merging apps would even help their jobs. This is exactly why I needed that field research trip.
Designing before researching
I had to design without proper user research due to tight deadlines - not ideal, but sometimes that's reality. I worked with what I had: assumptions from before I joined and input from colleagues who'd been to events.
I shared designs constantly with other teams and hunted down anyone who'd seen how events actually worked, since I hadn't been to one yet myself.
Design proposal
I proposed merging the Pollen Scan into the Experience Ops app, as the latter was the more complex.
The tricky bit: support crew (mostly contractors) needed to be granted scanning access but not access to the whole app. There was a lack of trust regarding their willingness to follow proper procedures and prevent unauthorised access to the venue. So, I designed two entry points to wristband scanning:
Via 'Set up scanner' from the homepage - This flow assumes that a manager is setting up a device and handing it to a member of the support crew.
Via the events tab - This flow is intended for managers who want to easily navigate the app's scan functionality and other features.
My hypothesis: restricted access for support crew and full access for managers = both groups get what they need without security risks.
Key screens
I redesigned the entire app using the new design system. Here's how I solved the two-access-level challenge:
Manager set up flow
Managers tap "Set up scanner" and hand locked-down devices to support crew. Navigation disappears and back buttons get disabled so support crew can't escape the scanning flow.
Manager access
Managers can reach scanning via the Events tab while keeping access to everything else.
Note: I had some concerns around the accessibility of certain text colours which I raised with the design system team.
In destination research
I got the chance to fly to Cancún for field research during "Pollen presents Tiësto, The Trip" - a 3-day electronic music festival. Perfect timing to finally meet our users and test my designs in real festival chaos.
Research goals
Watch staff actually use the apps
Understand how in-destination staff currently use Pollen Scan and the Experience Operations app.
Understand users real daily tasks
what frustrates them, what works well, how they actually get things done during events.
Validate whether merging apps made sense
show my designs to users and see if the concept held up in practice.
Methodology - mixed methods
👀 Observations
Watched box office staff and support crew handle real customers during the festival.
🗣 Short unstructured interviews
I asked members of staff questions to gain more insight into what we were observing.
🔬Concept testing
Showed my app designs to get immediate feedback
I captured everything through notes, voice recordings, and videos, then organized it all in Dovetail.
Snapshot of our users
Box office staff
Location: Main box office (shared with Mandela), multiple hotel box offices
Responsibilities: Wristband queries, general enquiries
Staff: Mix of full-time staff and contractors
Devices: Mobile (iPhone) and laptop or iPad
Tools: Experience Ops app, Excel spreadsheet with traveller information, google form to track enquiries
Communication: WhatsApp
Support crew
Location: Entry points into events and zones
Responsibilities: Counting guests into events, general enquiries
Staff: Contractors
Devices: Mobile (iPhone), manual clicker, walkie talkies
Tools: Catchphrase (mobile briefing and communication platform)
Communication: WhatsApp
The key insight: both groups were juggling multiple tools and apps to get their jobs done, which made the case for consolidation stronger.
This is the hotel box office. It was only open on day one of the experience when guests were checking into hotels.
This is the main box office. This box office was open for the whole of the experience and this is where I did most of my observations, short unstructured interviews and concept testing.
You could find support crew at various entry points into venues and zones e.g GA zone, VIP zone. This shows the VIP gated area at Mandela Beach. A member of the support crew manages this entrance.
This is another club we partnered with called “The City”. You can see there are various levels of the venue representing different ticket prices. Support crew could be found at the entry points of these zones checking guest wristbands and clicking them into these areas.
High level findings and recommendations
Watching people use the app in festival chaos revealed some crucial insights:
Box office staff skip instruction screens - they're too busy dealing with frustrated customers and already know the instructions
The permission model worked - staff understood why access was restricted and didn't fight it.
Everyone wanted more information - there was a want to provide staff, especially support crew, with as much information as possible.
Simple beats complex - staff loved how clean the Experience Ops interface was compared to their usual tool juggling.
The merge concept tested well - people immediately saw the value of fewer apps to manage.
Support crew wanted to contribute - they asked for ways to leave notes about issues they encountered.
Research limitations
This was guerrilla research - I talked to whoever I could find during a busy festival. I observed and interviewed staff as they worked rather than in controlled conditions, but it gave me real insights I never would have gotten in a usability lab.
Impact and handover
The Cancún research changed how the team understood our users. The engineers were particularly interested in the findings - it reassured them that our design direction made sense for real working conditions.
My contract ended before I could iterate on the designs, but I left the team with detailed research findings and recommendations.
Reflection
This project taught me how to design effectively with limited information, then validate smart assumptions through field research. I also learned how to gather insights across a large organisation spanning multiple time zones - a skill that proved crucial when I needed context and feedback from colleagues who'd actually seen events run.
The biggest lesson: sometimes designing first and researching later can work, as long as you're strategic about validation.