MeetUp Spaces Presentation

MEETUP
GARY HENKLE
DAN YANG
GRACE HONG
SPACES

OWNER
HAS VENUE
NEED GUESTS
ORGANIZER
HAS GUESTS
NEED VENUE
CURRENT SITUATION

BUT
I DON’T KNOW YOU EXIST
AND
YOU DON’T KNOW I EXIST
CURRENT PROBLEM

WE CAN
EXIST
AT
MEETUP
SOLUTION

OWNER
PROMOTE venue
SEARCH for events/organizers
CONTACT event organizers
COORDINATE booking events
ORGANIZER
PROMOTE needs for venue
SEARCH for venue
CONTACT venue owners
COORDINATE booking venue
GOALS TO CONNECT
YES
YES

SPACE OWNERS:
• MEETUP IS UNSURE OF WHETHER OR NOT TO CHARGE THEM
• MEETUP IS UNSURE OF WHETHER OR NOT THEY CAN CHARGE ORGANIZERS A
BOOKING FEE.
ORGANIZERS:
• MEETUP CHARGES THEM AT DIFFERENT LEVELS BASED ON THEIR NEEDS.
• THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR FINDING/BOOKING THEIR OWN SPACE.
• THEY CAN CHOOSE TO CHARGE GUESTS ATTENDING EVENTS.
GUESTS:
• MAY OR MAY NOT BE CHARGED WHEN ATTENDING EVENTS.
ASPECTS TO CONSIDER

PROCESS
SURVEYS
TOPIC MAPPING
INTERVIEWS
PERSONAS
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
SKETCHING
REITERATION
WIREFRAMING
PROTOTYPING
TESTING X 2
REITERATION X 2
CURRENT PROTOTYPE
NEXT STEPS

• In the last 6 months, how many professional and social group events have you attended?
• In the last 6 months, have you paid to attend any professional or social group events?
• Where have you attended professional or social group events?
• In the last 6 months, how many professional and social group events have you organized?
• In the last 6 months, how many times have you rented out your property/space for a
professional or social group event?
• What apps/website have you used to create/attend professional or social group events?
SURVEY QUESTIONS

VERY ACTIVENOT AT ALL
Attending Events
Organizing Events
Renting Event Space
50 Participants Surveyed:
10 Interviewees Chosen
ACTIVE
to
VERY ACTIVE
Interviewees
SURVEY
RESULTS

TOPIC MAPPING
Setting the foundation for interview questions

FIELD RESEARCH
• Interviews took place throughout New York City
• Contextual Inquiry done of Local Events and Small Event Venues
• Deeper insight to pain/pleasure points of Organizers and Venue Owners

AFFINITY MAPPING
(INFORMATION EXTRACTED FROM INTERVIEWS)
• PAIN/PLEASURE POINTS
• OVERLAPPING THEMES
• EXISTING VOIDS
• POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITIES

KEY PHRASES
FROM AFFINITY MAPPING FOR PERSONAS
WORD OF MOUTH
IS VIEWED AS RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY.
LAST MINUTE PLANNING
HAPPENS REPEATEDLY AND IT CAN BE FRUSTRATING.
LOCATION MATTERS
LOCATION AFFECTS GUEST ATTENDANCE.
LEARNING CURVE
NEW EVENT/NEW VENUE REQUIRES TRAINING.

ORGANIZER
FIND VENUES THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH,
FROM THEIR OWN KNOWLEDGE AND PREVIOUS
EXPERIENCE WITH VENUES,
ONLINE SEARCHES, AND COLD-CALLING.
OWNER
FIND INTERESTED PARTIES THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH, THIRD-
PARTY LISTING SITES, AND COLD-CALLING.
PAIN POINTS
FROM AFFINITY MAPPING FOR USER STORIES

Age 28
Director of Student
Programming at
Hilly Mountain College
ZANE
HMC
WANTS: Zane wants to improve the quality of events hosted at HMC. He
would like to connect the varying student organizations at HMC with currently
trending speakers and popular entertainment to promote more engagement
on campus. He wants to build a relationship with hosts/agencies so that
coordinating future searches/bookings goes smoothly and quickly.
NEEDS: He needs a convenient way to search and contact these interesting
speakers and popular entertainment. He also needs a way to ﬁlter through
and screen groups that are looking to book venues within the HMC campus.
EXPECTATIONS: Zane is expecting to gain a list of excellent candidates for
guest speakers and entertainment to contact/book that have been reviewed
by other organizations.
POTENTIAL OBSTACLES: He may potentially be overwhelmed by the large
number of options and have trouble narrowing down his choices. He could
also be overwhelmed by the work involved in coordinating multiple events
simultaneously. There is also the possibility that he will ﬁnd only a small
selection that aligns with the reputation of HMC.
POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES: He could save time and energy during his
search for speakers/entertainment and establish long-lasting relationships
with quality hosts/agencies.

Age 40
Associate Manager of
LaBraka Museum
MICHELLE
WANTS: Michelle wants to maintain a strong relationship with her current
vendors. She would like to increase the diversity of guests and groups who
attend LaBraka events. The increase in staff hirings due to large weekend
crowds requires additional staff training.
NEEDS: Michelle needs a way to reach a larger and more diverse audience.
She also needs to find a way to prioritize guests and maximize existing space
for the busy weekends.
EXPECTATIONS: Michelle expects access to a wider audience. She expects
a way to manage guests and minimize overflow on weekends while gaining
attendance on weekdays.
POTENTIAL OBSTACLES: Michelle acknowledges that people might not want
to come out on weeknights. Additionally, LaBraka has a solidified image in the
community and diverse audience groups may be not be aware of LaBraka’s
efforts to change it.
POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES: A wider and more diverse audience for the
museum. Opportunity to keep fill the venue on weekdays while maintaining the
weekend crowds.
LaBraka

Age 32
Interior Designer of SPAM
Architecture
VINCENT
WANTS: Vincent wants to book a venue at the last minute, usually about ﬁve
days or less before the event is to take place. He would like the venue to be
able to accommodate a large party of guests, one that feels familiar and
comfortable to him, and he doesn’t want to exert any extra effort because of his
busy schedule
NEEDS: When planning an event, Vincent needs face to face interaction with a
point person at the venue, one who is willing to do a lot of hand-holding
throughout the process. While generally comfortable with technology, when in a
time-crunch he works better with a low-tech solution. In the absence of a point
person, he would need a reservation system that is simple and requires as few
steps as possible.
EXPECTATIONS: He expects the venue owner or salesperson to guide him in
a friendly and non-aggressive manner, with no hard sells or ﬁnancial pressures.
The location needs to be close to his friends and family in a yuppie
neighborhood, and he would like the venue to have nice amenities. He doesn’t
mind if other parts of the venue are open to other guests while his event occurs.
POTENTIAL OBSTACLES: No venues that meet his expectations are available
at the time he needs them. Bookings are more expensive when made at the last
minute.
POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES: Access to an online directory of venues where
he can search for last-minute availability.
SPAM

KEEPING ALL THREE PERSONAS
IN MIND, WE LOOK TO PROVIDE…
VISIBILITY TRANSPARENCY SIMPLICITY
for owners
and organizers
on meetup.com
in owner
and organization
goals and
communication
in owner
and organization
ﬁnding each other
and maintaining
communication

ANALYSIS
FOCUSED ON THE FOLLOWING:
• FEATURE OFFERINGS
• PRIORITIZATION OF SEARCH FILTERS
• PAGE LAYOUTS

COMMON AND DISTINGUISHING FEATURES
FOUND AMONGST COMPETITORS

DISCOVERY
PATHS
AND
SEARCH
FILTERS

SEARCH
FILTERS
PRIORITIZED
Venue Type
# Attending
Budget
Date
Price
Size
Image
Venue Type
Price
Inquire
Inquire
Inquire
Image
Image(s)
Map
Map
Favorite
Favorite

Adding Extra Button to Homepage
Subcategories

Display of ﬁlters: sliders, checkboxes, calendar

Adjusting User Flow of Owner from Homepage

QUESTIONS
BALANCING SIGNIFICANCE OF NEW FEATURE (PROVIDE SPACE) WITH MAIN
PURPOSE OF EXISTING SITE.
INITIAL HOMEPAGE WIREFRAMES

REITERATION
PROVIDE BUTTON LESS SIGNIFICANT THAN EXISTING BUTTONS: FIND, LAUNCH
EDITED HOMEPAGE WIREFRAME

REITERATION
COPY EDITED, BUTTON MOVED TO TOP RIGHT CORNER, BUTTON IS
SMALLER- MORE ALIGNED WITH BRAND GOALS
CURRENT HOMEPAGE WIREFRAME

INTENTIONS:
• Provide user with a dashboard to
give control of Meetup experience
VERSION 1: VENUE OWNER DASHBOARD
USER TESTING:
• Too focused on external viewers
• didn’t act like a dashboard
• “Listings” confused some users
• “About” seemed unnecessary

CHANGES:
• Simpliﬁed to “Bookings” and “Messages”
• Removed “Listings” to Header
USER TESTING:
• Messaging notiﬁcations caused confusion
• “Bookings” is odd wording
• Still a lot of information about yourself

CHANGES:
• Simpliﬁed information displayed about user
• Moved to Header
• “Bookings” changed to “Booked Events”
• More prominent notiﬁcations in messages

NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE READING GROUP
New York, NY
Founded May 6, 2007
ORGANIZERS
Bonnie
John
Glenn
Sid
Tammy
PHillip
INTERESTS
Performing Arts
Theatre
Performance Acting
Acting Workshops
Literature
Play Reading
Members
Upcoming Meetups
Past Meetups
Calendar
Group Reviews
Group Rating
GROUP PHOTOS
835
12
294
42
EVENT PHOTOS
UPCOMING MEETUPS PAST MEETUPS
JOIN GROUP
VENUE NEEDED
SEND INQUIRY
NY Shakespeare
Reading Group is
currently in need of
two large event
spaces for the
month of April to
showcase modern
performances by
John Glenn & Tasia
Jakobsen.
MORE DETAILS
NY Shakespeare Reading Group is currently in need of two
large event spaces for the month of April to showcase
modern performances by John Glenn & Tasia Jakobsen.
… more.
… more.
… more.
… more.
NY Shakespeare Reading Group is currently in need of two large event spaces
for the month of April to showcase modern performances by John Glenn & Tasia
Jakobsen.
… more.
VENUE TYPE:
VENUE SIZE:
MAX CAPACITY:
OTHER VENDORS:
Jakobsen.
… more.
VENUE TYPE:
VENUE SIZE:
MAX CAPACITY:
OTHER VENDORS:
ORGANIZERS
Bonnie
John
Glenn
Sid
Tammy
PHillip
INTERESTS
Performing Arts
Theatre
Performance Acting
Acting Workshops
Literature
Play Reading
ABOUT US
GROUP DETAILS
VENUE NEEDS RATINGS & REVIEWS
Jakobsen.
… more.
VENUE TYPE:
VENUE SIZE:
MAX CAPACITY:
OTHER VENDORS:
Jakobsen.
… more.
VENUE TYPE:
VENUE SIZE:
MAX CAPACITY:
OTHER VENDORS:
SEND INQUIRY
SEND INQUIRY
NY Shakespeare
Reading Group a
collective of
actors, writers,
comedians,
musicians, artists,
and dancers that
are interested in
getting together
to read
Shakespeare's
plays out loud
and collaborate
on performances.
FOUNDED
May 6, 2007
NEW YORK, NY
835 MEMBERS
UNUSED WIREFRAMES - 1

New York, NY
Founded May 6, 2007
ORGANIZERS
Bonnie
John
Glenn
Sid
Tammy
PHillip
INTERESTS
Performing Arts
Theatre
Performance Acting
Acting Workshops
Literature
Play Reading
Members
Upcoming Meetups
Past Meetups
Calendar
Group Reviews
Group Rating
GROUP PHOTOS
835
12
294
42
EVENT PHOTOS
UPCOMING MEETUPS PAST MEETUPS
JOIN GROUP
VENUE NEEDED
SEND INQUIRY
NY Shakespeare
Reading Group is
currently in need of
two large event
spaces for the
month of April to
showcase modern
performances by
John Glenn & Tasia
Jakobsen.
MORE DETAILS
… more.
… more.
… more.
… more.
Jakobsen.
… more.
VENUE TYPE:
VENUE SIZE:
MAX CAPACITY:
OTHER VENDORS:
Jakobsen.
… more.
VENUE TYPE:
VENUE SIZE:
MAX CAPACITY:
OTHER VENDORS:
ORGANIZERS
Bonnie
John
Glenn
Sid
Tammy
PHillip
INTERESTS
Performing Arts
Theatre
Performance Acting
Acting Workshops
Literature
Play Reading
ABOUT US
GROUP DETAILS
VENUE NEEDS RATINGS & REVIEWS
Jakobsen.
… more.
VENUE TYPE:
VENUE SIZE:
MAX CAPACITY:
OTHER VENDORS:
Jakobsen.
… more.
VENUE TYPE:
VENUE SIZE:
MAX CAPACITY:
OTHER VENDORS:
SEND INQUIRY
SEND INQUIRY
NY Shakespeare
Reading Group a
collective of
actors, writers,
comedians,
musicians, artists,
and dancers that
are interested in
getting together
to read
Shakespeare's
plays out loud
and collaborate
on performances.
FOUNDED
May 6, 2007
NEW YORK, NY
835 MEMBERS
UNUSED WIREFRAMES - 1
Intended for Groups to show Venue Owners that
they are interested and looking for event venues.
SIDEBAR
MORE DETAILS Button
SEND INQUIRY Button
VENUE NEEDS Tab
RATINGS & REVIEWS Tab

UNUSED WIREFRAME - 2
Intended for Venue Owners to search and ﬁlter
for Events posted by Organizers
HIDDEN FILTER BAR:
-FILTER SLIDERS
-DROP-DOWN CALENDAR
-DROP-DOWN CHECKBOXES
MAP
FEATURED EVENT
MESSAGE BANNER
RATINGS

UNUSED WIREFRAME - 3
Intended for Venue Owners and Organizers to
ﬁnd Guest Speakers to collaborate with via
Directory format
INFORMATION
CONTACT INFORMATION 
CHAT OPTION

PROTOTYPE
http://invis.io/DY2Q1604P

MOVING FORWARD
• EXPANDING DIRECTORIES
• LEGAL & FINANCIAL CONCERNS
(NATIVE PAYMENT OPTIONS)
• INCORPORATING VENDORS
• AFFILIATE MARKETING & STATISTICS

GARY
HENKLE
DAN
YANG
GRACE
HONG
“NEIGHBORS GETTING TOGETHER… “

OWNER
I have a venue for your events and guests.
I need events and guests for my venue.
ORGANIZER
I have events and guests for your venue
I need a venue for my events and guests.
VENUE
CONNECTING NEEDS AND GOALS

SURVEY OF LOCAL EVENT STAKEHOLDERS

TOPIC MAPPING
Setting the foundation for our User Interviews

TOPIC MAPPING
Personas emerging already: GUESTS, HOSTS, VENUE OWNERS

KEY QUESTIONS
FROM USER INTERVIEWS
-Can you describe the last event you were at?
- What was the process for securing a space for an event?
- The steps, the cost, the responsibilities?
- Why do you host events?
- What services/apps/tools did you use to host an event?
- What were the reasons for using those particular tools?”
? ? ?

-What problems did you run into when trying to find space for an event?
-How did you find organizers to fill your event space in the past?
-What problems did you run into when trying to find organizers?
FIELD RESEARCH

STARTING TO
SEE …
• PAIN AND
PLEASURE POINTS
• OVERLAPPING
THEMES
• VOIDS &
OPPORTUNITIES

EXPLORING KEY PHRASES FOR PERSONAS
WORD OF MOUTH
IS VIEWED AS RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY.
LAST MINUTE PLANNING
HAPPENS REPEATEDLY AND IT CAN BE FRUSTRATING.
LOCATION MATTERS
LOCATION AFFECTS GUEST ATTENDANCE.
LEARNING CURVE
NEW EVENT/NEW VENUE REQUIRES TRAINING.

ZANE
MICHELLE
VINCENT
P
E
R
S
O
N
A
S
• Last Minute
• PlanningOrganizer
Owner
• Learning Curve
• Learning Curve
• Word of Mouth
LaBraka
SPAM
Owner
Organizer
HMC

ZANE
Owner/Organizer
• Director of Student Programming
• Hilly Mountain College
Age 28
Experience working in
Special Events and recently
joined HMC 4 months ago.

WANTS:
• TO CONNECT STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS WITH TRENDING
SPEAKERS AND POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT.
• TO FILL VENUES ON CAMPUS TO GENERATE MONEY FOR
STUDENT PROGRAMMING.
NEEDS:
• A CONVENIENT WAY TO SEARCH ORGANIZATIONS.
• TO FILTER GROUPS LOOKING TO BOOK VENUES.
POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES:
• SAVE TIME AND ENGERY.
• ESTABLISH LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS WITH GROUPS.
ZANE’S STORY

KEEPING IN MIND OUR
VISIBILITY FOR ALL
TRANSPARENCY BETWEEN
SIMPLICITY FOR ALL
KEEPING THEM IN MIND, WE LOOK FOR …

FINDING
COMMON AND
DISTINGUISHING
FEATURES
AMONGST
COMPETITORS
=
=
=
E
F
Y
E F
Y

UNDERSTANDING
THE DISCOVERY
PATH OF EACH
COMPETITOR
SITE
=
=
=
S
E
A
S
E
A

Venue Type
# Attending
Budget
Date
Price
Size
Image
Venue Type
Price
Inquire
Inquire
Inquire
Image
Image(s)
Map
Map
Favorite
Favorite
S
E
A
BASED ON
PLACEMENT,
SIZE, AND
NAVIGATION
SEARCH
HEIRARCHY
DISCOVERED
OF EACH
COMPETITOR
=
=
=
S
E
A

FOCUS of Initial
Sketches
MODIFY existing
homepage
NEW search
button(s)/ﬁlter(s)
CREATE
subcategories

REITERATE
User Flows
*ISSUES:
Homepage
-Find a venue
-List a venue
-Owner dashboard

- How do we prioritize space and venue owners?
- How do we stay true to Meetup’s primary prioritization?
- Started by having equal priorities

- Meetup prioritizes guests and event organizers ﬁrst
- Understand what the site is based on vs a feature of that site

Venue Owner Dashboard V1
Intentions:
- Provide user with a dashboard to give control of Meetup experience
User Testing:
- Too focused on external viewers
- didn’t act like a dashboard
- “Listings” confused some users
- “About” seemed unnecessary

Changes:
- Simpliﬁed to “Bookings” and “Messages”
- Removed “Listings” to Header
User Testing:
- Messaging notiﬁcations caused confusion
- “Bookings” is odd wording
- Still a lot of information about yourself
Issues to Address:
- Prioritize information provided to user, not about user

Changes:
- Simpliﬁed information
displayed about user
- Moved to Header
- “Bookings” changed to
“Booked Events”
- More prominent notiﬁcations
in messages
http://invis.io/DY2Q1604P

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