OHANA
Mobile App Design
OHANA
At a Glance
Ohana is a mobile app design created to help EDM (Electronic Dance Music) event goers have a platform to sell and buy tickets in a safe maner. I have friends who frequently attend these events and my motivation was to create a product that would help them out. I wanted to give my friends the luxury to buy and sell tickets conidently without a second thought.
| Case Study
Solo Project
| My Role
UX/UI Designer, research, branding, wireframing, prototyping, user testing
The Problem
Informal Channels Dominate Ticket Resale, Despite Trust Concerns
Solution
Knowledge is Power
Interviews
| Timeline
4-6 Weeks
Safety and Verification is the Priority
Legitimacy and safety are the most important metrics for users
| Tools
Figma and Figjam
Currently, there is no platform built specifically for safe ticket exchanges between users. When my friends look for tickets, they usually turn to group chats or Facebook groups. These methods work due to the size of the communities, but eventually, you’ll see posts asking for a “legit check” — or worse, warnings like “Don’t trust this person, I got scammed.” While ticketing platforms like Ticketmaster and AXS offer official resale features, they often come with added markups and fees due to their business model.
OHANA. A mobile app that enables peer-to-peer EDM (Electronic Dance Music) event ticket transfers. The product is user-driven, promoting safe transactions through identity verification and transparent transaction history.
Every user has a public profile that provides a provides a more detailed look into thier history and identification. OHANA aims to inspire confidence in all transactions made on the platform
***Move to end if applicable
***Solution section maybe not necessary? Show the solution in the case study. Seems like it is a rehas of interview section
Safe Doesn’t Need to be Slow
OHANA provides users with essential information immediately, allowing them to get to the party faster.
OHANA provides multiple ticket listings with critical information at your fingertips. We do the verification so the users can get to the fun.
In order to arrive at the above solutions, I first conducted interviews to understand the concerns that users face when buying and selling EDM tickets through a 3rd party transaction. The 5 individuals selected have diverse career backgrounds and attend EDM events 1-2 times a month.
When asked what platforms they used for third-party transactions, all participants unanimously turned to Facebook—specifically, rave-focused Facebook groups and group chats. They found this to be the easiest way to reach their target audience. All five participants were members of EDM-related communities, along with their friends, which added a perceived layer of security during transactions. The most consistent concern across all participants was being able to tell whether the other party was a scammer or a legitimate buyer or seller.
The main concerns that came up during these interviews could be summed up Safety and Trust Principles
Safety and Trust Principles
Competitor Analysis
Following the interviews, I performed market research to find products that fit the needs described by the participants. I eventually found 4 products that each solved a different concern: Facebook, Ticketmaster, AXS, and TIXR.
User Persona
For the personas, I combined a few characteristics from the users I interviewed and also applied personalities from a few of my raver friends. I sometimes have difficulties coming up with a believable persona, but I felt this method helped me humanize this procedure.
User Flow
Putting the Ideas to Work
The design process begins with hand-drawn wireframes, progresses to a low/mid fidelity digital prototype, and ends with a high-fidelity design with brand colors included. In this section, you will see how I approach solving user needs at every stage.
Digitizing the Sketches
Next, I brought my sketches to Figma with a low/mid fidelity prototype. I worked my way through the app by designing the critical stages in my user flow. In this stage, I created multiple concepts of key screens and showed them to potential users to receive feedback.
Inspiration
When I think of raves, I’m reminded of 3 day music festivals. Especially EDC Las Vegas, which feels like the mecca of EDM events. Starting at 5pm and ending at 5am, it’s a surreal experience living life in reverse. Entering at sunset and dancing until sunrise with half a million like-minded people is something you need to experience to understand. That’s why my mood board is inspired by the bright, cheerful, and energetic colors, framed by the hues of sunset and sunrise. Although they are opposites, these events complement each other beautifully.
Branding
Final Designs
Prototyping
User Testing
After creating my high fidelity wireframes and applying my design kit, I proceed with the user testing phase. The test was broken out into # of distinct tasks:
Log in and find someone selling a “Flosstradamus” Nightclub event ticket;
Locate the main profile of the trusted seller;
Get in touch with them and purchase their ticket.
Iterations
Based on the results from the testing, the following iterations were made:
The profile quick view, accessible from the ticket listing screen, was a key screen in the design. Critical design updates included in the first iteration include verification features like a direct “proof of purchase” button and a purple ring around the profile photo to indicate passport verification by the other party. This version was used for the first round of user testing. Based on feedback, visual updates were made for clarity- text added below the profile photo and a tutorial modal was introduced to explain the verification ring. The “red flag” warning was enlarged for visibility, but only appears when a user has a report, to avoid unnecessary negative signaling.
60% of the users stated that having an explanation of the ID score would help them decide which sellers they would rank higher as trustworthy.
Final Prototype
40% of users had trouble finding the event through my designed scrolling method. To address that, I included a working category divider to streamline the search. In addition, there is a filter option where you can sort chronologically.
Reflection
I really enjoyed working on this project, especially because it’s rooted in a community I’m personally connected to. Many of my friends attend EDM events, and I'm part of the same circles, so it was fascinating to observe the different ways people verify others before making a transaction. When designing the user flow for this project, it felt like I was creating something to personally help my friends.
The goal of OHANA was to create a peer-to-peer ticket exchange where all the verification tools—identity checks, transaction history, and proof of purchase—exist in one place. I wanted users to feel confident enough to hit the "purchase" button without hesitation. Based on the feedback I received during testing, I believe that goal was successfully met.
Looking back, I would have included more users who are not too involved with third-party ticket purchasing. In the interview phase, this would have provided good data as to what unfamiliar users would look for in these transactions and could provide a deeper understanding of the information architecture. The same reasoning applies to the user testing phase. If I am aiming for market expansion, new users are inevitable, and being able to design around their results would be invaluable.
Moving forward, I’d love to evolve OHANA into something more social—an app that not only facilitates safe exchanges but also helps users connect at events themselves.