Sruthi Mohan

PROJECT DETAILS

PHASE 1: DISCOVERY

BACKGROUND 

RESEARCH STATEMENT

To understand what drives audiences to attend classical dance concerts in Austin. To figure out the needs of this demographic and to see if their needs have been met and what needs to be done to increase viewership and community engagement.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

I used 2 very commonly used research techniques i.e. conducting personal interviews and an online survey. While it was an interesting exercise, it also was one that gave me a lot of insights into people’s expectations.

PERSONAL INTERVIEW RESULTS

I interviewed 5 people, both men and women who have had attended past events conducted by Tat Tvam Asi. The age group of this group varied from 25 – 50. Some of them have been long term residents of Austin while the others had just moved in. Everyone was employed and had a fixed income every month. All of them had children except two individuals. 

“What we like about Tat Tvam Asi’s Shows”

All 5 of the interviewed candidates enjoyed the following about Tat Tvam Asi’s shows:

1. Varied choices in classical styles of dance 
2. The Artists who were selected to perform 
3. The short and crisp format of the programs 
4. The beautiful music
   

“Room for improvement”

The interviewed candidates had the following suggestions for enhancing their overall experience:

1. 3 of the interview candidates felt that the pricing of the master class workshops offered by the artists were too expensive
2. They all expressed the need to be informed of upcoming shows at least 3 months ahead of the show
3. Discounted pricing for seniors
4. New themes that were more socially relevant

All of the 5 interviewed saw value in promoting classical dance here as they felt it was important to keep culturally relevant art alive. They all felt it made them feel “happy, relaxed, in a meditative mood, closer to my roots” etc.

ONLINE SURVEY RESULTS

I conducted an online survey, using Survey Monkey, in an attempt to reach out to a more diverse audience.

Here are the results of the online survey.

Heuristic Competitive Analysis

I chose 8 local organizations to conduct a heuristic competitive analysis. I felt it was important to conduct a thorough study into the landscape of classical dance and other performing arts in Austin. These organizations are very actively involved in promoting art and culture in Austin for the last couple of decades.

Here is the detailed Heuristic Analysis project Report

SUMMARY 

Many people responded positively towards classical dance in Austin, but they also pointed out that classical dance can only be enjoyed if you had a background in dance or another associated art form. They wanted workshops and other educational methods to be employed to increase accessibility and widen the reach of classical dance. Many of the artists that I interviewed outside the United States also expressed their concerns about dwindling audiences worldwide. 

I see a need to educate audiences and increase the viewer base by reaching out to younger and more diverse crowds. Traditional methods of marketing these events do not seem to bring any new people into the shows.

PERSONAS

Understanding the audience

Personas answer the question, “Who are we designing for?”

After going through the interviews that were conducted, I came up with these personas as representing Tat Tvam Asi’s potential customers and clients.

Persona 1 – Narthaki Rama ( Professional Classical Dancer )

‘Anyone can become a dancer. You have to train intensively for years with dedication. But a dancer becomes an artist only when you can choreograph and conceptualize using the vocabulary of dance. This takes a lifetime of sincerity to your art to achieve’

Goal – It is very important for Rama to popularize classical dance. She wants to make it available for not just the elite but for anyone who is ready to learn under her. She offer free lessons to those interested but who cannot afford tuition.

Concern – The lack of funding for classical arts from corporate sectors. Changing audience tastes for faster and more street style dancing is also taking younger audiences away. Rama also wants to increase her reach via social media. She uses Facebook currently.

Personal 2 – Riya ( College Student majoring in Computer Science )

‘I wish I knew of traditional dance teachers around my university’

Goal – Riya makes it a point to attend all the classical dance shows that comes to Austin. 

Concern – Riya is frustrated about how far the show venues are from her dorm. She is dependent on others for rides. Transportation costs  adds up to her show budget. 

Persona 3 – Sophia ( College Student majoring in Dance )

‘I feel I can make a unique place for myself in the field of classical dance’

Goal – Sophia hopes to continue her passion for dance and make a successful career as a professional dancer.  

Concern – Sophia is concerned about the inhibitive costs and lack of performance opportunities in her chosen career track. 

Persona 4 – Krishna ( High School Student ) 

‘I Love Dancing!’

Goal – Krishna hopes to win awards at the local dance competitions for which she is training very hard. 

Concerns – Krishna has a lot of homework and finds it very hard to juggle time between all her school responsibilities. She often misses dance concerts because they conflict with her school schedule. She is also dependent on her parents to fund her dance related activities.

Persona 5 – Lakshmi ( Pediatrician & Mother ) 

‘I’ll do anything to make sure that my girl gets to train under the best dancers today’

Goals – It is very important for Lakshmi that her children are very connected to their traditions. She is willing to adjust her schedule to make sure that her children pursue excellence in classical dance. 

Concerns – Lakshmi is concerned that her daughters do not get enough performance opportunities around Austin. She also wants to plan her calendar months ahead in time so that she can attend all the classical dance events that come to Austin. 

Persona 6 – William ( Philanthropist ) 

‘I enjoy classical dance more now that I can understand the gestures and movements better. The connection took some time to be made but now that’s its made I’m hooked!’

Goals – William wants to attend more classical concerts to challenge and improve his understanding of the art form. 

Concerns – William is frustrated about the dearth of quality in the work of some of the local dance companies’ productions. He fears that if people are continuously exposed to mediocre work they will not get the opportunity to understand and appreciate the nuances of fine art.

MVP FEATURES & USER STORIES

I wrote down all the issues that the users faced and then proceeded to work in the order of steps as listed below:

1. I identified all possible pain points of the users (acc to the individual personas).
2. I then made buckets of common pain points across the different persons
3. I created user stories around those issues

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Here is the spreadsheet that details all the MVP Features & User Stories

OPTIMAL SORT STUDY ANALYSIS

SIMILARITY MATRIX ANALYSIS

The following conclusions were made from the Similarity Matrix study

• Between 88 – 100 % of the participants grouped all cards related to ticketing together. 
• More than 50% of the participants grouped ticket purchases that involved calling / using cash/ using Paypal / home delivery with cards related to parents and senior citizens. Perhaps this implies a demographic inclination towards purchase patterns within specific age groups. 
• Predictably, cards related to the goals, history of TTA were grouped together.
• Surprisingly, only 22% of the participants grouped ‘Find the rating of the organisation’ with ‘Make a donation to TTA’. I would have imagined that everyone would want that information together in a single grouping. 

DENDROGRAM ANALYSIS

The following conclusions were made from the Dendrogram study

• The home page should contain easy access to videos from all the shows. It seemed to be a natural conclusion from the participant groupings.
• There was clear grouping for every card that was related to learning about the artists and their lifestyle and how to become one yourself. 
• There was a clear grouping for every card related to ticketing

Detailed analysis may be found here :  Online optimal card sort analysis

CONCLUSIONS FROM THE CARD SORT ANALYSIS :

From the results of the Optimal Sort Study that was conducted, it is evident that the following groupings have to be very clearly organized on TTA’s website:

• Homepage – With video content from current, upcoming and past shows
• Social Media – FB / Twitter / Instagram 
• The Art of dance – A section with content related to dancing and dancers 
• Tickets – Purchase options
• Connect – With easy access via phone, email and social media for customers queries 
• About – The Tat Tvam Asi Story 

USER FLOWS

User flows demonstrate the steps that need to be taken by the user and the business to accomplish their objectives. This is very important while designing the flow of information across web pages.

Here are the 3 scenarios I felt were crucial user flows.

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PHASE 2: DESIGN

WIREFRAMING & PROTOTYPING

WIREFRAME PROTOTYPE : ROUND 1

After analyzing all the results from the above studies, I decided that Tat Tvam Asi will benefit from having a website to cater to the needs of its demographic. While an app is definitely functional it might not be the right fit at this point in time. 

Here is the Wireframe prototype that was developed for this project.

PHASE 3: VALIDATION

USABILITY TEST

Once the basic website was created, I put together a usability test plan.

Usability Test Timeline

The search for ideal test participants begin

I published a ‘fun’ list of qualities that I’d like to consider while screening for my test participants.

TTA Usability test script

I then wrote a script to be read out to test participants prior to testing. The purpose of writing out the script was to ensure that everyone knew the goals of the study and to make sure that the testing environment was calm and purposeful. This gave everyone, including the tester, an opportunity to ask questions and enter the testing phase in a relaxed manner.

Task List 

The task list was used to instruct each participant while carefully making notes of their actions during the test.

Here is the testing plan and script document 

RESEARCH EVALUATION REPORT FROM THE USABILITY STUDY

SUMMARY

6 users took part in the usability study – 4 adults, 1 high schooler and 1 middle schooler. The test was conducted in my office at my house, in Austin, for 4 people. 2 adults took the test in an office, in a theatre in New York. The average time for completing the study took between 15 – 25 minutes. All participants were from varied backgrounds. They were all tech savvy and were very comfortable about the concept and using devices for checking out information presented online. Their professions ranged from being students to being an engineer, a show curator, a show producer and a doctor. All participants were familiar with classical arts and theatre. They are regular show goers.

FINDINGS

All participants found it very easy to navigate between pages. They spent considerable time looking at various photos and visual content such as videos posted on the site. One participant found it difficult to purchase the ticket because it was set to ‘call / text the organizer for the tickets‘. She seemed very hesitant to make the contact. Everyone else preferred to text the organizer than call directly. Everyone asked for online options to purchase the tickets and also seemed to prefer to buy the tickets at the door than make a direct connection with the organizer. This tells me that having online purchase options using credit / debit cards or PayPal will be an essential feature.

All participants were interested in reading about the show and the artists. There seemed to be a genuine interest to know more about the artist. From this observation, I see value in adding a section that links an interview or other informational content about the artist to this site.

The show producer and curator gave some personal comments that included the need to have a blog so as to build the brand. They feel that stronger connections will be made with the viewers, by sharing personal anecdotes and behind the curtains insight. 

Overall everyone found the website visually appealing. Surprisingly they all read through the entire ‘About’ page. I was under the impression that it might be the least visited but I was proved wrong!

ACTION ITEMS

Based on watching the participants of the usability study, I have realized that I have to incorporate the following changes:

1. Add online payment options
2. Add interesting content about the artist
3. Change the layout of the website from a single page layout to multiple pages
4. Add a blog section
5. Update the Upcoming Shows page every week

Here is the Research Evaluation Document

CONCLUSIONS

In the months that followed the initial wire framing exercise, it was decided that the ticketing feature will be rolled out in 2019. The need to build the brand via Facebook and Instagram also became very apparent for Tat Tvam Asi’s continued success especially since these social media platforms provide easy and affordable access to publicizing shows and building brand loyalty. I went back into research mode and conducted further studies to improve the site organization and learn more about social media marketing needed for Tat Tvam Asi.

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Images from yet another round of physical card sort. What is UXD without its iterative processes? 

WIREFRAMING PROTOTYPE ROUND 2

I decided to try out Abobe XD for prototyping the new design for Tat Tvam Asi’s website. 

Check out the Adobe XD wireframe prototype here

After conducting an in-depth study of the various factors that drive Tat Tvam Asi and its patrons I designed the final design for the webpage and did the web development for Tat Tvam Asi’s website and strategized brand building on its FB and Instagram pages. This was quite an interesting experience for me as I had to learn a lot on my own!

Check out TAT TVAM ASI’S WEBSITE HERE

LOGO DESIGN

DIGITAL SUCCESS

Improved performance metrics were recorded with the launch of the new webpage and strategic social media campaign that followed.

Has the research goals been achieved? 

To understand what drives audiences to attend classical dance concerts in Austin.

It is pretty clear from the interviews and various studies conducted that people really care about keeping classical dance alive. Most of them saw value in supporting the work of artists. People who attend classical shows are deeply connected to the art form and have some sort of personal relationship with it. They engage with it in meaningful ways.  

To figure out the needs of this demographic and to see if their needs have been met.

It was clear that certain areas such as early announcements of upcoming  shows made a huge impact in the increase of attendees. The main reason included a surprising factor such as the venue of these shows were often too far or expensive for them to commute to. A list of needs and pain points were duly noted and work is in progress for finding solutions for these.

What needs to be done to increase viewership and community engagement.

I found out that by actively engaging the dance community using social media we were able to create a rich, interactive experience that substantially increased viewership and brand loyalty.

TAT TVAM ASI is a work in progress.

Using extensive research and UX principles a simple yet powerfully engaging and content driven website was designed to align and create excitement about Tat Tvam Asi’s goals to promote classical dance in Austin. It was important to create a digital space where they could interact with and educate potential customers. I’m thrilled about being able to extend the experience of watching a live program into a virtual space where further learning about the art form will continue to happen.

I’m currently interested in ongoing opportunities and look forward to working with you. Write to me at sruthi@sruthimohan.com