UX spotted at a Christmas play
Five ways a Christmas play beautifully used UX principles to rethink the end-to-end patron experience.
Last week I went to a Christmas play at a local church and I was blown away. The quality of the music, video, and costuming were all top-notch (not to mention the pyrotechnics, people flying on harnesses, and real donkeys and camels on stage!?). But even more than the talent that went into the show, I was incredibly impressed by the thought put into the entire patron experience, from end to end.
People have been extremely creative and careful in crafting every part of the show itself, but often neglect the experience surrounding the actual performance.
Christmas plays, and shows in general, have been happening for hundreds or likely even thousands of years. Throughout the ages, people have been extremely creative and careful in crafting every part of the show itself, but often neglect the experience surrounding the actual performance.
This church, however, did not take any bit of the experience for granted. From parking to finding a seat to waiting during intermission, the moments surrounding the show had just as much care and attention as the show itself.
User experience principles were being employed left and right, expertly applied to a live show rather than the standard software interface.
I realized that the things that impressed me had similar corollaries in UX design. User experience principles were being employed left and right, expertly applied to a live show rather than the standard software interface. I sought to document some of my favorite parallels.
#1: Hick’s Law ~ Parking spaces
Hick’s Law is a principle that indicates that the time it takes to make a decision increases with the number of choices. It’s best practice to reduce the number of options a user has in order to help them direct their decision-making energies to the appropriate places. This often means reducing choice when it’s not needed.
This show used Hick’s Law to guide their approach to parking.
Finding parking at a show can be a terrible pain, especially if the show is particularly crowded and you’re not exactly sure what parking is available or where to go. To alleviate this burden, the church crafted an entire parking infrastructure. This system was intricate, including a web of cones to guide people from different entrances into different areas, people with traffic control wands at every single junction, and every car guided to only one single spot.
As a patron, the parking experience became easy and seamless. We just followed the directions of the cones and parking attendants, gliding effortlessly into a spot and getting to focus more on the anticipation of the show rather than the stress of navigating the parking lot.
#2: Visibility of system status ~ Start time countdown
The first of Nielson’s ten UX heuristics is visibility of system status, emphasizing the need to make the state of the system available for users. This allows users to better understand what’s happening behind the curtain and make better decisions as a result.
The play showed a timer that counted down to when the show started, reducing any question of how much time a patron had if they wanted to go to the restroom or pick up that bag of cinnamon roasted almonds. It empowered the patron to take control of how they spent the minutes before the show, rather than operating with the worry that they might miss the beginning.
In addition to the ability to share system status with the patron, the countdown timer also created a sense of suspense. In the last minute before the show began, people were quieting down and looking toward the stage in anticipation, further building up the excitement when the lights dimmed and the show began.
#3: Personalization ~ Santa’s list
Making a system personalized for the user brings an extra level of delight beyond the generic experience. By delivering content that is specific and tailored, the user aligns itself more with the product and finds it more useful and enjoyable.
Before the Christmas show started, I saw Santa’s elf walking around and making conversation with different kids in the audience. He asked what they wanted for Christmas and wrote down their names on a scroll for Santa’s list. I thought this was a cute way to engage the kids before the show started, but it turns out the list would actually be used during the show.
Santa made his first appearance by flying down on his sleigh and greeted the crowd. After his cheery generic hello, he gave a special welcome to children whose names were on his list. This made the show feel customized for this specific audience and brought joy and delight to the families that heard their child’s name called out by Santa.
#4: Designing for user error ~ Intermission length
The most ideal error is one that doesn’t happen at all. But in the real world, people are prone to making all kinds of mistakes. Instead of designing only for the ideal scenario, it’s important to design with human error in mind. Make it easy to recover from mistakes, or build in buffers to the product where mistakes are frequently made.
The show’s program indicated there would be a 20-minute intermission. But when the intermission announcement came on, it indicated the intermission would only be 15 minutes. The countdown timer started ticking down from 15, but after it hit zero the show didn’t start again. Instead, a new screen popped up with a new 5-minute timer indicating there was a ‘brief delay.’ They had cleverly designed for human error.
The intermission was always meant to be 20 minutes. But since people are often late returning to their seats (thanks in part to those dreaded long lines in the women’s restroom), they set expectations of a 15-minute timer with a 5-minute extension in order to account for any last-minute holdups. Error was anticipated and mitigated.
And for the folks who got back to their seats early, they didn’t waste their time. They showed the countdown alongside a cute animated clip to keep the audience entertained.
#5: Anticipatory design ~ Pencils in the programs
Anticipatory design is a design approach that thinks ahead to what a user might want in the future and gives it to them right then and there. It minimizes the difficulty in completing the task the user has set out to do, making it easier to complete the overall process.
At the end of this play, the church asked the patrons to fill out an information card so they could get a better understanding of the audience who attended and follow-up if needed. However, people don’t always have writing utensils on them. Filling out a form becomes an inconvenience when it involves searching for a pen, and the extra effort may become a large enough barrier that they never complete the form at all.
This show anticipated the potential roadblock and designed a solution to solve it: gluing pencils to every single program, right next to the information card. The patron had minimal friction in getting what they needed, which made them more likely to actually fill out the form.
UX is relevant everywhere
Although UX design principles are most often cited in software contexts, its core insights remain relevant to experiences outside the screen. With the rise of design thinking and service design, the discipline is at an exciting time when we’re seeing design being valued in unusual industries like baking, insurance, and telecom. As technology rapidly redefines what service looks like in all industries, there is a growing need to put more thought and energy into the user experience at every step along the user’s journey.
Although UX design principles are most often cited in software contexts, its core insights remain relevant to experiences outside the screen.
It takes more effort to consider design at every touchpoint, which can make it a hard sell. Even so, it’s encouraging to see more and more places investing in design’s value, be it user engagement, enhanced customer loyalty, or even a Christmas show that brings its audience a greater sense of Christmas magic.
