Case Study · 04
A UX design project for a movie ticket booking app — enabling movie lovers to browse, select seats, and book tickets digitally, eliminating queues and physical tickets entirely.
2
Usability Study Rounds
3
User Pain Points
2
Competitors Audited
0
Queues Needed
The Project
StoryTalkies is an online platform for booking movie tickets at specific theatres. Chosen as a sample problem statement to learn Adobe XD and take a complete grasp of the end-to-end design process.
The goal was to enable all movie lovers to select and book tickets in advance without waiting in queues — giving users freedom to choose the movie, preferred date and time, and specific seat. Digital tickets eliminate the need for physical printouts entirely.
"StoryTalkies is an app enabling movie lovers to book tickets without waiting in queues."
Movie Discovery
Browse latest releases, upcoming films, and trailers from nearby theatres.
Seat Selection
Choose your exact preferred seat from an interactive theatre map.
Date & Time Picker
Select your preferred show time and date in a single streamlined step.
Digital Tickets
Receive soft-copy tickets instantly — no printing, no queues at the counter.
User Research
Surveys and interviews were conducted with college students and working adults, with a focus on the tech-savvy generation. Questions ranged from how often they watch movies, to how far in advance they plan, and what frustrates them most about current booking methods.
The user group confirmed initial assumptions — the young generation strongly prefers digital booking and soft-copy tickets over standing in queues for paper tickets.
Pain Points
01
Waiting in Queue
Waiting in queue to get tickets consumes a lot of time and is exhausting — especially for popular films and weekend shows.
02
No Seat Choice
Seat selection in the queue-based system is random — the chances of getting preferred seats are very low.
03
Hard to Find Info
Information about upcoming movies at nearby theatres and show timings is scattered and difficult to find quickly.
User Persona
Shiply is an undergraduate student who loves watching movies with friends. She needs an app to check ticket availability and book in advance — so she and her friends can show up at the theatre stress-free with their seats already secured.
User persona — Shiply, undergraduate student and frequent movie-goer
User journey map — Shiply's current booking experience
Competitive Audit
Potential competitors were evaluated to understand user pain points with existing products, and to identify what users might expect from a new solution.
B
BookMyShow
Strength: Covers movies plus other events in nearby areas.
Weakness: Too many screens in the booking flow — affects experience.
Opportunity: Use AI/ML to predict and recommend movies for customers.
J
JusTickets
Strength: Specific filters make selection easy; available across many cities.
Weakness: No language selection; limited theatre availability.
Opportunity: Include more theatre options to improve customer choice.
Design Process
Drafting iterations on paper first ensured that elements making it to digital wireframes were well-suited to address user pain points. The home screen prioritises showing the latest and upcoming movies along with their trailers.
Paper wireframes — layout iterations for key screens
Digital Wireframes
Screen designs were continuously grounded in feedback and findings from user research — every decision driven by real user needs rather than assumptions.
Digital wireframes — home, movie listing, seat selection and booking flow
Low Fidelity Prototype
A low-fidelity prototype was created from the completed digital wireframes to test the primary user flow — browsing movies, selecting seats, and completing a booking — before committing to high-fidelity design.
Low-fidelity prototype — end-to-end booking user flow
Usability Study
Two rounds of usability studies were conducted. The first guided the transition from wireframes to mockups; the second used a high-fidelity prototype to reveal what still needed refinement.
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Navigation Issues
The plan new event option was unclear. Reaching back to the home screen was complicated. Vendor selection was confusing.
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Customisation Needed
Users wanted to add multiple bookings simultaneously, and wanted more customisation options for themes and preferences.
Refine the Design
Early designs placed seat selection and date/time on separate screens. After usability studies, these were combined into a single screen — making the process far more streamlined for customers.
Before
After
Final Mockups
The final mockups reflect all iterations from research and usability testing — an intuitive, frictionless interface that makes booking a movie feel effortless.
Final high-fidelity mockups — home, movie details, seat selection, and booking confirmation
Takeaways
★
Impact
The app makes users feel like their needs are truly taken care of. From peer feedback: "The app designs made it so easy to plan my events! I would definitely use this app."
✎
What I Learned
Designing StoryTalkies confirmed that first ideas are only the beginning. Usability studies and peer feedback shaped every iteration — great design is a conversation with real users.
Next Steps
Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed.
Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need as the platform expands to new cities and theatre chains.
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