SXSW London Mobile App
Designing a Scalable White-Label Event Platform for Thousands of Attendees
Introduction
Project Overview
The GA Mobile App is a white-labeled event platform designed to enhance attendee experiences at large-scale events. SXSW London served as our flagship client, validating modular architecture for future global events.
My Role
Senior Product Designer & Design Lead: I led the architectural strategy, owned the end-to-end design for SXSW London, and mentored junior designers to deliver under an aggressive timeline.
Context & Challenge
Large-scale events present unique challenges: thousands of attendees navigating complex venues, managing packed schedules, and seeking meaningful connections all while expecting a seamless digital experience. Our goal was to create a flexible, scalable solution that could adapt to any major event while delivering consistent value to attendees.
Recognition 🏆
The platform's innovation was recognized globally, winning Best Event Technology/Product/Service at the 13th Annual BizBash Event Experience Awards.
The Challenge
Navigation Confusion
Attendees frequently got lost in large venues, leading to missed sessions and a drop in overall event satisfaction.
Session Overwhelm
The massive number of sessions causes choice paralysis, making users feel lost without clear guidance on what to attend.
Networking Gaps
Lack of effective channels for connecting with like-minded attendees and building meaningful professional relationships.
Information Sharing
No efficient way to share session or venue details with friends on-site.
Performance Expectations
Users demanded fast, intuitive experiences but would abandon slow or complex interfaces.
Business Requirements
Create a white-labeled platform adaptable to different event brands while ensuring scalability for events with thousands of concurrent users.
Research & Discovery
Understanding SXSW
This was the inaugural launch of SXSW London, presenting both an opportunity and a challenge. Having no prior knowledge of the SXSW ecosystem, I needed to quickly understand what makes these events unique and valuable to attendees.
Deep-Dive Research Process
Analyzed SXSW Austin and Sydney event structures,
programming, and audience behaviors
Reviewed published statistics and demographic data spanning
multiple years
Studied attendee-generated content including vlogs, social
media posts, and reviews
Competitive Analysis
Mapped feature sets across SXSW Austin and Sydney apps to
identify core functionality
Identified successful UI patterns and engagement strategies
from similar large-scale platforms
Primary Research
Conducted targeted user interviews with past SXSW attendees
from Austin and Sydney
Created detailed user personas based on behavioral patterns
and motivations
Validated assumptions about user needs specific to the
London context
Key Insights
- Planning Behavior: Users actively build personal schedules, showing strong intention to plan ahead.
- Networking Priority: High interest in tools connecting like-minded professional attendees.
- Real-time Needs: Heavy usage spikes require a fast, intuitive interface that works under pressure.
- Context Switching: Frequent movement between sessions, maps, and social features.
Design Process
Strategic Framework
Vision Alignment: Collaborated
with stakeholders to align product vision with user needs and
business goals
Requirements Definition:
Translated research insights into clear design requirements and
success metrics
Iterative Design: Established
design sprints focused on core user journeys
Cross-functional Integration:
Maintained ongoing alignment with development and product teams
Design System Integration
Leveraged the GA design system throughout the project:
Design Tokens: Applied consistent
color, typography, and spacing tokens to allow for instantaneous global rebranding.
Component Library: Utilized
existing components while creating modular, event-specific patterns
Scalable Patterns: Developed
reusable templates for white-label customization
Impact: Reduced end-to-end delivery time by 90% transforming a traditional 4–8 week production cycle into a 3-day rapid deployment.
Execution & Delivery
Core Features Delivered
- Personal Schedule Builder: Intuitive session planning and management
- Interactive Venue Maps: Turn-by-turn navigation with real-time updates
- Networking Tools: Attendee discovery and connection feature
- Live Updates: Real-time session changes and announcements
- Social Sharing: Quick sharing of sessions and venue information
Technical Considerations
- Optimized for high-traffic scenarios with thousands of concurrent users
- Offline-capable core features for areas with poor connectivity
- Cross-platform consistency between iOS and Android implementations
Team Management
-
Established a "Sprint & Review" rhythm to prioritize work across multiple design cycles.
- Prioritized work across multiple design sprints
- Delegated tasks to junior designers while providing mentorship through daily design crits to maintain quality standards.
- Facilitated cross-functional design reviews and stakeholder presentations to ensure technical feasibility.
- Managed timeline delivery under pressure
Results & Impact
Pre-Launch Preparation
Strategic Planning
Defined comprehensive event tracking strategy to measure user
behavior and app performance
Established key metrics and success indicators before
launch
Set up analytics infrastructure to capture real-time usage
data during the event
Coordinated with stakeholders on monitoring and support
protocols
Launch Success
Post-Event User Engagement Analysis
Strong Performance Areas
Planning Behavior: Users
actively built personal schedules, demonstrating strong
intention to use the app as their
primary event companion
Networking Success:
Networking tools showed promising interaction with
high engagement rates, validating our
solution to the networking gaps problem
Optimization Opportunities
Search vs. Browse: Lower
engagement in explore/search functionality compared to
browsing behavior
Note-taking Features: Limited
adoption of session note capabilities, indicating
opportunities for future UX refinement
Content Discovery: Room for
improvement in helping users find relevant sessions and
experiences
Key Learnings & Reflection
"Each product I help shape, shapes me in return, refining how I think, see, and build what comes next"
Design Insights
White-label Flexibility
Creating flexible design systems that adapt to different brand requirements while maintaining usability requires careful balance between consistency and customization
Real-time Adaptation
Event apps must handle rapidly changing information and user needs, requiring robust information architecture and clear content hierarchies
Process Improvements
Early Alignment
Cross-functional alignment at project start prevented costly iterations and scope changes later in development
Mentorship Impact
Leading designers while delivering under pressure demonstrated that team growth and project success can happen simultaneously
Pragmatic Delivery
Launching a meaningful, functional product proved more valuable than delaying for theoretical perfection
Future Enhancements
User Experience
- Personalized session recommendations based on user behavior and preferences
- Gamification elements to increase engagement and exploration
- Enhanced offline capabilities for better performance in crowded venues
- AI-Powered Networking: More sophisticated recommendations based on attendee interests and LinkedIn profiles.