Project Objective
Stellar was born during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to address the crisis in the live entertainment industry. With lockdowns in place and in-person events halted, the need for live entertainment shifted to virtual spaces. Stellar set out to bridge the gap between artists, venues, and fans by delivering a platform that would allow events to continue in the digital sphere. Stellar provides a Total Show Management System that empowers event organizers to:
• Create and manage events with ease.
• Sell tickets and merchandise through a seamless, customizable checkout process.
• Livestream events to global audiences across web, native, and OTT platforms.
• Engage with fans in real time, offering a unique dual-screen experience that allows viewers to watch on one device while interacting via chat on another.
As a foundational product, Stellar has not only addressed the immediate needs of the pandemic but has positioned itself as a long-term solution for hybrid and virtual live events.
Challenges
Stellar faced several challenges in its design and development, especially as a new product catering to a disrupted industry:
• Seamless Cross-Platform Experience: With events being streamed across web, mobile, and OTT platforms (tvOS, Fire TV, Roku, LG), we had to ensure a consistent and unified experience across all devices.
• Custom Branding for Organizers: To make the platform attractive to event organizers and artists, we needed to design a highly customizable interface that could reflect the branding of each unique artist or venue, while maintaining Stellar’s core functionality.
• Checkout Optimization: Given that many users would funnel into Stellar’s platform from artist and venue websites, we had to design a checkout process that minimized friction, keeping the path from event discovery to ticket purchase clear and straightforward.
• User Experience for Dual-Screen Interaction: Creating an intuitive dual-screen experience for users who wanted to watch on their TV while chatting on their phone or laptop posed an interesting design challenge, requiring seamless synchronization and a distraction-free interface.
Approach
Stellar’s early design was driven by intensive research into the evolving needs of the live entertainment industry:
• Understanding Pain Points: With live events shifting online, artists and venues needed a platform that could handle the entire process — from ticket sales to lives-treaming to post-event engagement. We conducted interviews with event organizers and artists to understand their pain points, particularly in relation to existing platforms like Zoom or YouTube.
• Benchmarking Against Competitors: Stellar differentiated itself by focusing on a holistic, integrated solution, whereas many competitors offered only a part of the event process (e.g., ticketing but no live-streaming, or live-streaming but no interaction tools).
Given the variety of devices Stellar would be streamed on, we focused on ensuring a consistent user experience across web, mobile, and OTT platforms:
• Unified UI: We designed a flexible and adaptive UI that scaled effortlessly from a mobile screen to a large TV screen, ensuring consistent functionality regardless of the platform.
• OTT Integration: Stellar allows users to watch events on TV through platforms like tvOS, Fire TV, Roku, and LG. The design includes a post-purchase login code system, allowing users to seamlessly transition their viewing experience from one device to another.
To make the platform appealing to event organizers and artists, we designed an interface that allowed for deep customization:
• Fully Customizable Event Pages: Organizers can create event pages that reflect their branding, from colors and logos to the entire user interface. This feature helps reduce the friction of site jumping, keeping users within a cohesive brand experience.
• White-Label Checkout: Stellar’s checkout process is customizable to match the branding of each organizer, ensuring a smooth transition from the event page to purchase, minimizing drop-off rates.
Since many users would arrive at Stellar’s event pages through external artist and venue websites, we focused heavily on optimizing the checkout flow:
• Immediate Checkout Experience: We designed the user flow to make it feel like users are already in the checkout process when they land on the event page. By reducing the steps required to complete the purchase, we ensured that users could quickly and effortlessly buy tickets or merchandise without confusion.
• Clear Path to Purchase: With every click, the user is guided toward completing the purchase, with clear CTAs, pricing transparency, and minimal distractions.
One of Stellar’s key differentiators is its dual-screen experience, where users can watch an event on their TV while interacting with others through their phone or laptop:
• Synchronized Chat and Livestream: We created a synchronized chat feature that allows users to participate in the event’s conversation on their phone or web browser while watching the event live on their TV. This dual-screen feature was designed to enhance the social aspect of live events, mimicking the in-person experience of enjoying a show with friends.
Barriers
1. Cross-Platform Sync Issues: One of the biggest challenges was ensuring that users could move between devices smoothly without disrupting their experience. To solve this, we designed a post-purchase login code system that allowed users to quickly sync their devices and continue watching without hassle.
2. Customizability Without Complexity: Giving event organizers full control over their branding without making the setup process overly complicated required a delicate balance. We solved this by creating a modular design system that allowed for easy customization of key elements, while keeping the overall structure intact.
3. Dual-Screen Usability: The dual-screen experience needed to be intuitive and easy for users to manage. We implemented real-time chat synchronization and ensured that the chat interface was non-intrusive, allowing users to engage without being distracted from the main event.
Outcomes
• Mass Adoption Across Platforms: Stellar quickly gained popularity as a comprehensive solution for live entertainment. It now operates across web, native, and OTT platforms, making it easy for users to access events from virtually any device.
• Seamless Checkout Experience: Our focus on creating a frictionless checkout process led to higher conversion rates, with users able to complete their purchases quickly and easily.
• Widespread Customization by Organizers: The ability for organizers to brand their event pages has been a huge success, with many artists and venues taking full advantage of Stellar’s customization options to create cohesive, on-brand experiences.
• Positive Feedback on Dual-Screen Feature: The dual-screen experience has been a hit with users, offering a novel way to engage with events from the comfort of their own homes.
Next Steps
• Continued Research and Iteration: As Stellar grows, we are gathering insights from user research and customer service reports to further improve the platform. We’re constantly iterating based on this feedback to ensure that Stellar remains at the forefront of live entertainment.
• Expanding Features: With livestreaming becoming a staple in everyday life, we plan to expand Stellar’s feature set to include more interactive tools for users and deeper integration with social media platforms.
Conclusion
Stellar was built in response to an industry crisis, but it has evolved into a lasting solution for virtual and hybrid live events. Through thoughtful design, cross-platform integration, and a focus on customizability, Stellar has become a leading platform in the live entertainment space, helping artists and venues connect with their audiences in new and engaging ways. As we continue to evolve the product, Stellar is poised to shape the future of live entertainment.
