Client confidentiality prevents sharing specific artifacts and impact metrics, but the following overview provides a representative look at my process and the results achieved. Please reach out for a verbal walk-through if you’d like to learn more.
The Challenge
A national cinema chain sought to gain a clear understanding of how their digital touchpoints (websites, mobile apps, and in-theater kiosks) compared to those of their leading competitors for delivering a seamless user experience.
With a shifting landscape post pandemic and recently introduced features, the client was looking to identify gaps and opportunities across channels to improve usability, strengthen loyalty, and increase customer satisfaction.
Approach
This began as a UX-focused benchmarking study, but insights quickly revealed that the opportunities extended beyond interfaces to the end-to-end service experience.
Methodology: 4-week remote diary study across two major metro areas (East and West coasts)
Participants: Regular users of digital retail platforms (to reduce device onboarding time), each assigned to one of three digital touchpoints:
- Website
- Mobile App
- Kiosk
Participants engaged with both the client’s and competitor’s digital platforms to complete typical tasks, such as purchasing movie tickets and ordering concessions, then logged their experience in real-time while completing the tasks.
Each diary entry included:
- Task ratings (used as qualitative indicators, not as quantitative data given the small sample size)
- Freeform reflections, highlighting moments of delight or friction
- Screenshots, photos, or videos for visual context
In parallel, an expert UX review was conducted across all platforms. Together, these streams of data surfaced not only digital usability issues but also systemic, service-level breakdowns, that impacted the overall customer journey.
Output
- Rich and in-depth Competitive UX & Service Design Assessment across brands and touchpoints (physical and digital)
- Moviegoing User Journey Map providing a framework for future design and research efforts
- Annotated Expert Review Deck highlighting friction points and design pitfalls at both digital and service layers
- Strategic Recommendations, that extended beyond UX quick fixes to service improvements (e.g., concession pickup flow, signage, staff handoffs)
Impact
- Provided the client with its first UX benchmark in several years, especially useful after several untested updates
- Highlighted key competitive gaps and missed service opportunities, as well as competitor pitfalls to avoid and places in which the brand could surpass
- Surfaced high-impact quick wins (e.g., clearer kiosk wayfinding, accessibility tweaks) alongside service-level fixes (e.g., concession pre-order pickup process)
- Informed product roadmap and operational priorities, reframing the work from a UX evaluation to a service design initiative
*As a newcomer to the organization, the client shared that this work gave him a deep understanding of both the competitive landscape and his own company, providing valuable insights into his team, user experience, and offerings.
Reflections
Insights and learnings for future practice:
- Personalization in assignment: Assign participants to digital touchpoints based on their preferred moviegoing planning style (spontaneous at a kiosk vs. planner ordering ahead online) to match real-life behavior more closely, rather than digital touchpoint experience in other settings
- Geographic and brand diversity: More cities and a broader mix of cinema brands and types (e.g., smaller chains) would provide additional nuance
- Post-diary interviews: To dive deeper into “why” behind patterns and emotional responses uncovered in the diary entries (note, originally proposed but client resources did not allow)
I’m glad I advocated for conducting a short interview prior to the diary study, since it built rapport with the participant and set them up for success by having them complete a practice task with real-time coaching
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/grayscale-photo-of-empty-seats-7234213/
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/cinema-seats-with-popcorn-in-a-cup-7234229/