Fandango.com Design Review

A design review of Fandango's website, specifically the ticket purchasing process, utilizing the characteristics of prior knowledge to better the customer's experience.

Fandango is a website that sells movie tickets, as well as provides other entertainment features. The main function that will be discussed here is the process of purchasing a movie ticket online. Although the demographic for movie goers, who can purchase tickets by themselves, can range from teen to adult to senior citizens, in this review we will be focusing on the older demographic of adults and senior citizens.

The current schema of going to the movies can be activated by a commercial on television. At that point the script continues with the user checking the timings of their chosen movie online and if there is a time that fits, driving to their theatre, and going to the ticket counter to purchase a ticket. Assuming the movie is available, they would then pay and get their ticket. The user would then take a seat inside the theatre wherever they please. However, with the advent of online ticket purchasing, the schema for going to the movies has been altered. Additionally, most theaters now have users pick assigned seating when they purchase their tickets, an aspect that was never part of the original movie going experience. This forces users to plan ahead when going to the movies because a last-minute purchase can result in a user either not getting a ticket or sitting far away from their companion.

In Figure 1 above, outlined in red, there are three icons which represent metaphors. The leftmost metaphor is ambiguous and it is unclear what the object and its use is, resulting in the metaphor failing to be advantageous. The other two metaphors are clearly recognizable as a cell phone and a printer, but with no clear indications of what they represent or if they can be interacted with. Clicking on these icons, a popup message explains that they signify the available methods to obtain your ticket: via a kiosk, phone, or printer. Having to explain a metaphor defeats the purpose of using one. By contrast, outlined in yellow in Figure 1 is a heart which is a metaphor that is easily associated with love. This recognizable metaphor and its proximity to the title makes it clear that its intended, and real, purpose is to save the movie as a favorite.

In Figure 2, outlined in red, there are three boxes which assist users in choosing how many and what type of ticket they need. On the right side of those boxes, there is a downward facing triangle icon. Historically within the context of computers, that metaphor indicates that there is a drop-down menu which will further assist the user in their ticket purchase by expanding to a list of possible selections. There are several aspects of online ticket purchasing that were previously not a part of the movie theatre script. Online ticket purchasing has shifted the responsibility of inputting ticket and payment information from the ticket teller to the customer, resulting in a mismatch in mental models. The progress indicator, outlined in green in Figure 2, is a successful addition which counteracts this mismatch and helps guide users through the ticket purchasing and payment steps.

Another increasingly popular change to the traditional movie theatre script is the ability for movie goers to choose their seating prior to entering the theatre, much like in the performing arts or on an airplane (Figure 3). Additionally, users are being time limited on the completion of their purchase. The countdown timer, though a good feedback indicator to this mental model mismatch, is not very visible because it is far off to the right of where the user’s attention is focused on the seating chart (outlined in red in Figure 3). I would recommend moving it closer to the "Pick Your Seats" header so that users are more aware of the change.

Figure 4 shows the categorization of movies by genre: action, drama, comedy etc. These categorizations allow users to make predictive inferences about what to expect when they select a movie. For example, a prototype model for an action movie could indicate high-speed chases, epic stunts, and fights, therefore users can infer that all the movies listed under the action genre would include most of those characteristics. However, outlined in red in Figure 4, the children animated movie ‘Smallfoot’ has been included in the action genre. In order to prevent any confusion, I would recommend moving ‘Smallfoot’ and well as any other children movies out of the action category and into the kid’s category.