Birmingham Hippodrome
Insights and outcomes from observed user testing
We recently carried out some observed user testing of the Birmingham Hippodrome website. The goal of this work was to better understand how online visitors go about selecting performances. Our findings informed a series of changes to how performances were displayed and filtered on the Hippodrome website.
The challenge
During a strategic review (a process we run periodically for our clients to review the performance and effectiveness of their website against organisational objectives and priorities), the Hippodrome team reported some anecdotal feedback of audiences finding it difficult to decide which performance to attend – particularly during longer show runs.
The solution
We really wanted to understand which factors were contributing to the decision making process when selecting performances, in addition to discovering whether the length of production runs influenced differences in user behaviour. So we conducted some observed user testing that helped improve the user experience.
Formed key research questions
Which information is of most importance to users when trying to find a show they’d like to attend and does this information change depending on the length of the run?
How do users feel about and utilise performance filters and does this change depending on the length of the run?
How do users specifically go about selecting dates for longer running shows?
Developed online scenarios
The tests took place online via zoom, where the participants were asked to share their screen and narrate what they were thinking, seeing and feeling throughout.
Identified the problem
There was a clear correlation between the length of show run and the complexity of decision making – the longer the run, the more decisions the user had to make. Most frequently this represented a motivation to find value for money and not ‘miss out’ on a potentially better value ticket (the perception of ‘good value’ varied between testers – the price was weighed up against aspects such as date, time of day, seat location and the number of tickets being purchased).
Made informed improvements
So we changed how performances are displayed and filtered on the Hippodrome website. Our improvements were designed to ease the decision making process.
The prominence of the ‘Book Now’ CTA was increased, enabling users to quickly move through the performance selection process when appropriate e.g. one night shows or productions with shorter runs
users were given the ability to search productions by specific dates or date ranges
a more comprehensive filtering system was created allowing users to find shows which fall into multiple categories e.g. genre, date and access provisions
the scroll depth for longer running production pages was significantly reduced so that users can better see availability across a performance run and easily navigate their way between show dates
If long running productions are a common occurrence at your venue, we would recommend taking the time to invest in some observed user testing of your own to see how you can go about simplifying the decision making process and increasing your chances of conversion.
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