productDesign NXNE

The Brief

NXNE 2024 Official App

NXNE is a five-day music festival taking place every June in Toronto since 1995. From emerging talent to extended last calls at the most popular sweaty club/bar, NXNE is the premier destination for bands, innovators, artists, and most importantly: fans of all of the above.

The updates on the NXNE official app have been suspended since 2019 due to the Covid. As the event in 2023 achieved tremendous success, the client wanted to reboot the app for the 2024 upcoming event.

My Role

UX Design
AR Developing

Project Type

Team Project

Deliverables

Fully functional Figma prototype
Scannable AR experience

Tools Used

Figma
Blender
8th Wall
Genie - Luma AI

The Challenge

Client Expectation: To make the NXNE app play a vital role in revenue and traffic generation.

Research Process

1. How Can We Cover Stakeholders' Different Priorities

As event attendees

Discover new music and artist
Find the right(music) venue
Schedule the night

As artists

Receive more exposure
Make sure that they get more followers and increase their plays on music streaming apps

As vendors

Get more traffic by the exposure to the event
Make sure that customers will visit the venue again

So, the product is better to meet this criterion..

It should be an organic entity that seamlessly connects every user segment while streamlining the data collection process.

2. Competitor Analysis

* Targeted competitors: Similar events will be hosted in Toronto from May to July 2024.

Luminato

Weakness: This event not only promotes musical artists but also other artists like dancers, puppeteers, theatre etc.
Strength 1: There is an option for people to donate to the event.
Strength 2: You can be a member to earn exclusive rewards and other offers.

Toronto Jazz

Weakness: This event is only for Jazz performers.
Strength: Some events are free.

Yonge Dundas Square

Weakness: This is not exactly an event but there is no other like this platform to book in the area for various events.
Strength: Tourism attraction area, venue with high recognition.

So, we can do this to stand out..

Be attentive to music lovers: With no competitors dedicated to hosting music festivals for all types of enthusiasts, we’ll ensure their needs are met with empathy.
Develop a rewarding system to drive downloads: Meaningful rewards are essential to competing with free events.

Design Solution

Delivered a reward-based, gamified experience on the NXNE app tailored to the diverse needs of stakeholders.

1. Capture venues

Scan venue QR codes to “claim” it to your team during each event day. The goal is to capture the most locations to win. Members of the winning team will be entered into the grand prize draw.

It benefits to

Client: Revenue generation by selling more festival passes and attract more traffic to the festival vendors.
Vendors: Making sure that customers will visit the venue again
Attendees: Find the right(music) venue and schedule the night.

2. Collect to Win Rewards

AR Badges earned upon captures. The individuals who have extra badges everyday will receive special gifts.

It benefits to

Client: User acquisition/retention by incentivizing users to choose NXNE over other events.
Vendors: Making sure that customers will visit the venue again.

3. Exclusive Playlist

Four teams in branding colors come to play. The winning team get the performing artists' SoundCloud playlist a day early; losers get it later.

It benefits to

Client: Brand recognition by Increasing social media engagement and showcasing the vision of music discovery to artists and event attendees.
Attendees: Discover new music and artist.
Musicians: Receiving more exposure. Making sure that they get more followers and increase their plays on music streaming apps.

AR Experience Developing Process

1. Coding + AI Generation

Building the AR experience via the webAR platform 8th Wall, I worked with HTML and JavaScript to enable a 3D model in a real-world environment.

The initial 3D object was generated by Luma Genie AI as a placeholder.

2. 3D modeling and texture editing

Blender was used to create the badge model, as well as remapping the UV to get the accurate texture.

3. Publishing the project with a scannable QR code

Replaced the placeholder model with the final one. Added rotating animation as the final touch. A QR code was generated upon publishing.

Final Design

1. Group Activity: Effectively bring traffic to the event

Capture-the-flag mini game

Go to the marked locations on the map and scan the in-store QR code to capture it! The location’s colour will change to match the team with the most captures there! Locations reset every day, so go revisit them once a day!

Benefits

Increased foot traffic from users.
Opportunity to be given the “spotlight” as a specific location that must be visited for individual rewards.
Users are given a means to find them more easily through the map.

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2. Individual Activity: Promotes buying of full-event passes

Collecting Daily Competition Rewards

It's ok if you're in a losing team, the fast players to collect all 3 daily badges - from specific locations - can win daily prizes! Players that collect all 15 daily badges will also be entered in the grand prize draw!
‍

Benefits

Igniting attendees’ passion for the discovery of music and camaraderie through fair competition.
Enhanced experience with NXNE app for exclusive information about musicians and their music.
Fair competition as participants winning by either method will be entered into the grand prize draw.

3. The Reward: Artists get more attention

Early Access to Artists' Soundcloud Tracks

At the end of every day, the team with the most captures for the day will get early access to a SoundCloud playlist with samples from tomorrow's performers. The result can be found in your account page.
‍

Benefits

Complete public exposure plan attracts more musicians to the event and helps reinforce loyalty.
Musicians get more attention on their music through the curated SoundCloud playlist that everyone gets.
Artists can also participate in the competition and earn rewards.

Reflection

If I Had More Time...

1. Gathering More Comprehensive Venue Traffic Data

With more time, I would focus on collecting detailed traffic data for venues during regular days and previous NXNE festivals. Comparing this data would provide valuable insights into how the festival impacts foot traffic, and how we can utilize digital solutions as an add-on.
Moreover, understanding the nuances of venue traffic during the festival would help in making data-driven decisions. For example, if certain venues consistently see lower traffic during specific times, route suggestions on the map could guide attendees to visit the venue to increase foot traffic.

2. Creating More Engaging AR Experiences

I would also invest time in developing more engaging AR experiences, specifically by transitioning from QR code tracking to image tracking for promoting products at venues. Image tracking offers a seamless and immersive user experience, making interactions more intuitive and visually appealing. This approach would enhance the overall event experience without significant financial investment.

The Brief

NXNE 2024 Official App

My Role

Project Type

Deliverables

Tools Used

The Challenge

Client Expectation: To make the NXNE app play a vital role in revenue and traffic generation.

Initial Thinking

Who are our target users

What might be our research methods

Research Process

1. How Can We Cover Stakeholders' Different Priorities

As event attendees

As artists

As vendors

So, the product is better to meet this criterion..

2. Competitor Analysis

Luminato

Toronto Jazz

Yonge Dundas Square

So, we can do this to stand out..

Design Solution

Delivered a reward-based, gamified experience on the NXNE app tailored to the diverse needs of stakeholders.

1. Capture venues

It benefits to

2. Collect to Win Rewards

It benefits to

3. Exclusive Playlist

It benefits to

Design Process

Wireframe

Moodboard

AR Experience Developing Process

1. Coding + AI Generation

2. 3D modeling and texture editing

3. Publishing the project with a scannable QR code

Final Design

1. Group Activity: Effectively bring traffic to the event

Capture-the-flag mini game

Benefits

2. Individual Activity: Promotes buying of full-event passes

Collecting Daily Competition Rewards

Benefits

3. The Reward: Artists get more attention

Early Access to Artists' Soundcloud Tracks

Benefits

Reflection

If I Had More Time...

1. Gathering More Comprehensive Venue Traffic Data

2. Creating More Engaging AR Experiences

Let's Talk :D