Holding onto new users through event discovery

iOS • USABILITY CASE STUDY • 2 WEEKS

Company

Challenge

Opportunity

Cue is a social calendar app that allows users to connect with real friends, share what they're up to, organize events, or discover what’s happening nearby.

From guerrilla usability testing, I learned that users struggled to find the discovery option. Once there, they are shown too many calendars to choose from, making it hard for them to follow and access events.

I redesigned the discovery page and optimized the information architecture to reduce user error by 80% during the event discovery process and help retain new users.

FINAL RESULTS

Discover events without endless scrolling

Cue needed to make its calendars easier to navigate. If users can fill up their in-app calendar faster, Cue has more opportunities for them to access the app through notifications, as well as more chances for users to invite and message their friends. I'll address pain points individually below.

PAIN POINT 1:

PAIN POINT 2:

PAIN POINT 3:

Users unable to find discover section

Users must browse Cue's entire list of calendars to find what they want

Calendars too broad, nobody wants irrelevant events on their feed

Before: "Discover Calendars" hidden behind a tiny unlabeled filter button

Before: Users had no way to categorize calendars shown, making them unable to see which calendars might be interesting or cut the list to a manageable amount

Before: Users only allowed to follow broad topics, such as all NFL games vs. specific teams

After: Discover section given its own icon; filters moved to top right of calendar feed to follow a more familiar mental model

After: Tabs and side-scrolling categories  allow users to scan options more quickly

After: Broad calendars broken up into list view, "SEE ALL", and more precise topics

RESEARCH INSIGHTS

Key Takeaways: Discovery shouldn't be blind

• Users expect search functionality on pages with large lists
• White space and large images aren't helpful if it doesn't make long lists easier to scan
• Filters were seen as redundant compared to tabs, as Cue doesn't currently have enough tags for content or variety of content to merit them – people follow calendars rather than individual event dates

User Flows

CURRENT USER FLOW

REDESIGNED USER FLOW

VALIDATION TESTING

Holding onto users by letting them find what they want

I tested a clickable prototype on 5 users to see if my solution had any merit.

LESSONS LEARNED

I learned that if a business hires me and I only care about the end user, I'm just a user advocate – not a designer. Cue is only 3 weeks old on the app store, and I struggled to find solutions that could both grow their userbase (for network effects and raising more funding) and be implemented on limited manpower.

First, I needed to push for a feasible solution to event discovery that wouldn't require significant development time as they build out their social features. Second, I needed to find a way to help them retain users that didn't have friends on the app in order to reach critical mass.

By focusing on user engagement and keeping the top of their user funnel from dropping off, calendar discovery is a pragmatic solution to support first adopters.