WedPlan App Design Process

Challenge: Available wedding planning apps are not directly connected to wedding venues. This creates a gap in information and requires couples to do more work to determine planning needs and progress.

Goal: Design a wedding planning app that partners with and allows wedding venues to customize the planning process for their clients.

Research

I conducted interviews to understand what couples were worried about or hoping to learn from their wedding venue about the wedding planning process. I also interviewed already married couples to find out their paint points with their venue during the planning process.

User Pain Points

Communication

Couples were frustrated by poor communication with their wedding venue. Concerns included slow response rates, unclear or confusing responses, and lack of organization.

Availability of Information

Couples need to be able to easily access information about their wedding venue, including packages, services, costs, to-do items, and more.

Organization

Couples want an organized process. They want to be able to see the details of their event so they know what has been done on the venue’s end and what they need to do.

Cost/Budget

Many couples are on a tight budget and need to be able to find affordable options for their wedding. Venues can help by providing suggestions at different price points.

“Our wedding venue had poor communication. It wasn’t clear what they offered, and it was difficult to find out the costs of everything and how much the extra things would be.”

— Nick, 31, just married

“I am hoping [the venue] can answer my questions and help me understand how the whole process works. I already have an extremely busy schedule, so keeping things organized is a must!”

— Reena, 27, newly engaged

Personas

Ideation

Early Concept

I used paper wireframes to iterate on various designs for the homepage, keeping in mind user pain points and the overall project goal.

Digital Wireframes - Version 1

I wanted to keep the design clean and simple while making sure navigation was intuitive and seamless.

User research indicated that users want clear, easily accessible information. These wireframes aim to achieve that goal by providing detailed information with clear visual hierarchy.

The central call to action on each page provides easy access to the user’s ultimate goal.

Digital Wireframes - Version 2

Review of initial wireframes revealed that the design was more tailored to a public-facing website that couples might view before they book a wedding venue. It wasn’t addressing user pain points identified in our research specific to the wedding planning process.

I iterated on the wireframes to create a more customized planning experience to better meet the user’s needs. The app is now customized for the couple’s event and includes various planning features as well as specific event details.

Prototype Testing

I conducted moderated usability studies to test the low-fidelity prototype. I also asked users to complete a system usability scale after completing the user test. Both of these methods aimed to identify user pain points to guide design insights.

View Low-Fidelity Prototype

Usability Study Themes

1

Users are confused about where to find information, specifically between the planner, resources, and event details pages.

2

Users want more simplicity and more intuitive organization so they can more easily find information.

3

Users want easier access to frequently used features like contacting their venue coordinator.

Key Insights

Combining the planner and resources pages will remove the confusion users experienced due to the overlap of the content in these sections.

1

Adding subsections within larger categories will make it easier for users to find information. This will provide better connections between pages and sections to make navigation more intuitive.

2

Adding a pop-up page for contacting the venue coordinator will make it easier for users to call or message directly from the home screen.

3 Iteration

Key insights were used to design high-fidelity mockups. The updated prototype went through another moderated usability study to determine remaining pain points and guide final improvements.

View High-Fidelity Prototype (Mobile)

Design

I wanted to keep the design simple and colors neutral, so that users could envision their own wedding style while using the app.

Final Mockups

Responsive Design

I built low-fidelity wireframes to test out page formats for desktop version of the WedPlan app, using the mobile designs as the foundation for a mobile-first solution.

Critique Session

I held a critique session with peer designers to gain feedback and suggestions for refining my desktop designs. Below are the insights I implemented into the high-fidelity mockups:

Create a login page
Better utilization of space on the “Your Event” page; take advantage of the wider screen size

High-Fidelity Desktop Mockups

View High-Fidelity Prototype (Desktop)

Next Steps

1

Continue building out remaining app pages. Consider adding additional features that users expressed interest in, such as a guest list, RSVP tracker, calendar, and search feature.