Event Management System

UX, Workflow Design, Strategy

Role

UX Designer

Year

2023

Client

SolaaX

Duration

Freelance, 6 months

About

The Client

SolaaX is an AI-Driven Event Experience Platform. A comprehensive SaaS solution transforming large-scale event management through:

  • AI-powered attendee analytics & marketing automation
  • Customizable venue operation workflows
  • Integrated hardware/software ecosystems
  • Real-time data visualization dashboards

The platform serves high-profile conferences, international summits, and major entertainment venues through its unique Solutions-as-a-Service model. My UX work focused on optimizing cross-platform user journeys between their web admin tools and native mobile apps used by event staff and attendees.

The User

Big event organizers and venue owners like the Formula 1 Dubai. This is a white label solution that should be usable by customers and events of all sizes worldwide. The platform was designed to support multiple roles from customer support to venue/event management. Event lifecycle, from ticketing, marketing to managing food and beverages of a venue.

Facilitation of additional products and addons were also part of the system (e.g. complementary mobile applications for visitors, venue managers, consumption).

The Challenge

Platform Features

  • Large-scale ticketing
  • VIP hospitality services
  • Comprehensive logistics coordination
  • Fan engagement initiatives
  • Corporate sponsorship management
  • Real-time analytics and reporting
  • Advanced scheduling tools

Key Issues

  • Overwhelming User Interface
  • Undifferentiated high number of options
  • Product Design roadmap in development
  • Ineffective onboarding process
  • Inconsistent design elements and terminology
  • Text-heavy interface

I landed in a thriving event season of Formula 1, experiencing live real-time dashboards with massive data on all aspects of the event. I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out the workings of this event management domain, with such a commited team.

Stage 1

Research and Ideation

Invest, Understand, Conceptualize

Getting the full picture

It was critical for me to understand the full scope of the platform and the types of user roles we have to support. I faced challenges like limited user insights and oftentimes feature creep. I worked methodically to get clarity and define areas of improvement.

Collecting & Examining Information

Performed a thorough review of client documentation and tested the platform from both experienced and first-time user standpoints.

Investigated help desk archives (since there was limited direct access to B2B end users) to uncover recurring user issues and frustrations.

Stakeholders interviews.

Competitor & Field Analysis

Mapped out other event management solutions to identify best practices for high-complexity, large-scale events (e.g., F1, conferences).

Conducted an in-depth analysis of key competitors (such as Cvent, Eventbrite, Bizzabo and Aventri).

Evaluated the market positioning and unique selling propositions of each competitor to identify gaps and opportunities for my client.

Initial Observations & Quick Wins

Proposed “low-hanging fruit” improvements: small navigation tweaks, contrast enhancements, more intuitive button placements, and better copywriting.

Recommended hiding or removing under-used features to reduce clutter and cognitive load, at least for non-admin users.

Key Insight

The platform’s complexity and breadth of features had grown beyond what the original UX structure could support. This highlighted the need for a careful reorganization of user journeys and role-specific interfaces.

The wide range of features require a steeper learning curve for users compared to more focused solutions.

User-Centered Design Approach

Low resolution visualisation of functionality mapping. Showcase breadth of capabilities and complexity.

This stage focused on gaining a comprehensive understanding of the product, end users, and business goals. By analyzing the existing platform, investigating user insights, and conducting stakeholder interviews, a solid foundation was laid for identifying key issues and areas for improvement.

Stage 2

Design Workflow, Usability Issues

Establish working methodology and bring people onboard

Setting up Design Structure

Establish a consistent design approach and encourage cross-department collaboration despite limited internal resources.

Design Standards & Documentation

Drafted UX guidelines to centralize decisions and design rationale, ensuring continuity even when team members changed.

Set up a framework for consistent visual style, terminology, and role-based user flows.

Solving existing usability issues

Prioritized issues based on complexity and impact.

  • Platform structure and navigation changes.
  • Feature mapping and regrouping.
  • Improved readability and information clustering.
  • Enhanced table functionality and user-specific presets.
  • Introduced onboarding section.
Mockups of navigation bars, before and after

Mockup of navigation bars of the platform before and after.

User-Centered Design Approach
User-Centered Design Approach

Low resolution visualization of platform structure redesign based on streamlining navigation.

Bringing Stakeholders onboard

  • Conducted presentations to show the findings, discuss strategic vision, and promote the importance of a unified user experience.
  • Encouraged the creation of a product ownership role in-house to manage feature prioritization and balance stakeholder input.

Parallel Adjustments During F1 Season

  • Worked closely with the service team in real-time to track user issues as they emerged on the live platform.
  • Gathered post-event feedback to pinpoint the most critical areas for improvement and feed those insights into the upcoming redesign.
After Screenshot

Some early prototypes

Before Screenshot

Example of interface styling.

The platform's extensive feature set, while showcasing its capabilities, presented challenges in user navigation and increased the need for support resources. Formalizing a design workflow and clarifying feature sets became crucial.

Showcase

Introducing Ticketing Module

Enhancements, Improvements, Conceptualize

Working on a new ticketing module

Integrate a robust ticketing solution with dynamic pricing and a user-centered approach. Introduce features in an iterative manner, in sync with the development efforts.

Digging into Ticketing Requirements

  • Transform business objectives and potential features into cohesive user scenarios.
  • Explored possible options and factors that can affect the concept of dynamic pricing (e.g. seat selection, bundles, offers).

Prototyping & Iteration

  • Produced wireframes and prototypes to spark weekly brainstorming sessions, contributing to UX culture within the company.
  • Discovered roles and responsibilities required in the process, enabling the team to assign effectively resources.

Realization, Artifacts

  • Documented all findings, user flows, and prototypes to ensure business continuity.
  • Bootstrapped the Design Documentation for the overall system.
sum-up

Reflection and Future

Spark ideas, inspire, design for impact

Through a combination of strategic design thinking and tactical improvements, I bootstrapped a number of UX initiatives to improve scalability and usability of the overall system.

Modular Platform Design

Proposed a "Lego-like" platform allowing easy addition or removal of features, enhancing scalability and adaptability.

Role-Based Onboarding

Introduced integrated, structured onboarding specific to each user role, addressing the high-stress, fast-paced nature of event management.

Customizable Dictionary

Suggested an integrated, customizable dictionary to standardize industry-specific vocabulary and reduce misunderstandings.

Visual Anchor Points

Replaced text-heavy interfaces with strategic use of icons and visual elements to improve orientation and user recall.

Presets for Table Filtering

Enhanced table functionality with improved filtering and role-specific column presets, allowing users to access relevant information quickly.

Feature Map

Platform holds a number of different tools and services. Suggested an interactive map approach on showcasing available features.

These innovations can directly address user pain points such as information overload, steep learning curves, and inefficient navigation. By emphasizing research, stakeholder alignment, and iterative prototyping, I helped lay the foundation for a more scalable and adaptive platform—particularly critical for large-scale events like F1 Dubai.

Outro

Takeaways

Results, skills, tools, insights

Overall this great experience helped me grow in a domain that I was entirely unfamiliar. Event management systems are very facinating and complex and present great challenges from the UX perspective.

Techniques

  • User Research
  • Concept Development
  • Mocks
  • Digital Transformation
  • Personas
  • Data Management

Tools

  • Figma
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe XD
  • Material Design