Executive summary
Our client is an international ticket sales company that handles the sale of millions of event tickets annually. The company approached Helmes to develop a new custom event ticketing software aligned with its business goals and expansion plans.
The client wanted to modernize their tech platform, improve the user experience, and minimize the manual work needed to administer the platform. Their aim was to enable any event organizer to join the platform independently and start selling tickets in under 20 minutes without requiring assistance from the team.
We divided the multi-year development project into several stages based on different user groups. The new system would be gradually implemented, with both the new and old platforms running simultaneously during the transition period.
Before the development began, our in-house design team focused on user experience and service design to meet the needs of thousands of clients and millions of users. They mapped out the user groups, their pain points, and their goals. Then, they tested prototypes of the solution in multiple user testing rounds. Additionally, they also created a design system to facilitate the complex development process and maintain design consistency.
The first part of the new software launched with a sales module for handling transactions at different points of sale. This was complemented by a multifunctional reporting module that provided event organizers with a complete overview of their ticket sales.
The sales and reporting modules link the old and new ticketing software. The software utilizes user data from both systems, currently uploaded and stored on a cloud-based data warehouse, to facilitate a seamless transition.
The custom event ticketing software is a prime example of the development of a complex, business-critical Software-as-a-Service platform (SaaS) that has to cater to the needs of thousands of clients and millions of users. Below, we will explain how we tackled this challenge and outline the benefits of the new platform.
The problem: A legacy ticketing system in need of a rehaul
The client’s old ticket-selling system was outdated after more than two decades of use. The legacy system was complex and required a lot of manual intervention from the staff on behalf of the event organizers. Moreover, it lacked the necessary functionalities and needed updating from the design and user experience perspective. Additionally, a lot of technical debt had accumulated over the years, limiting its flexibility.
To support its rapid growth, the client envisioned a new custom event ticketing software that aligned with the company’s business development needs and expansion plans. The goal was to enhance user experience, streamline manual processes for staff, and provide event organizers with access to functionalities previously managed by the staff.
The client’s goal was to allow any organizer to register on the platform, add their event, and start selling tickets within 20 minutes. This process should be possible both online and at point-of-sale (POS) terminals without requiring any assistance from the team. Offering a complete self-service option represented a new direction for the company, as it had not been widely accessible to all its clients before.
The process: Designing the platform in collaboration with users
We split the development project into two major versions based on the two main user groups: small-event organizers and professional users with more complex needs (such as theaters, concert halls, sports venues with seating plans, season tickets, etc.). We defined the business goals for each version and the user groups using the service.
To ensure that the new ticketing system met their needs, we adopted a user-centric approach when designing the platform and the user experience.
Before the actual development work, our in-house design team mapped the user groups, their pain points, and goals in co-creation workshops with the client and interviews with potential users, following the jobs-to-done framework to identify their motives for using the service.
Next, we used a low-fidelity prototype to collect feedback in user tests, iterating the process several times. In the final step, we created high-fidelity prototypes and conducted another round of testing.
The process equipped us with important insights into the users’ needs and value derived from the service. We also discovered that some initially planned functionalities were not, in fact, relevant to event organizers and dropped them.
The approach also allowed us to simplify the design of the service, as our goal was for users to perform desired actions with a minimum number of clicks. We reached our target of users completing the event set-up process in under 20 minutes, while experienced users could do it in just five.
The benefits of a design system
We also developed a design system to streamline the complex multi-year development process. A design system is a collection of elements, tools, and guides that enables teams to design and develop products at scale while maintaining design consistency.
The client and our team collaborated closely to create the design system, with everyone making contributions. Designers, analysts, developers, and testers all agreed upon the details. To enhance the system’s usability, we transitioned it from Figma to the Zeroheight content management system, where design elements, rules, and code examples can be stored in one place.
As a result, the design system is easy for future developers to use, and being connected to CVI (Corporate Visual Identity), it is also a helpful resource for the marketing department.
The result: A custom event ticketing software for any event organizer
The new custom event ticketing software consists of four main modules:
- Sales: for booking and issuing tickets at the online marketplace and POS
- Reporting: for daily reporting and in-depth analytics
- Event: for creating events, administering tickets and prices, etc
- Admin: for administering the platform and assigning user rights and roles
The modular microservice structure makes it easy to update the system and opens up the possibility of using different technologies in different modules should it be necessary.
As peak sales periods tend to occur in short time frames, we paid lots of attention to the system’s scalability. As ticket sales are a public service operating 24/7 under public scrutiny, reliability and securing it against possible attacks is of utmost importance.
To ensure a smooth transition of the business-critical system, the old and new platforms were to work in parallel, so we also had to devise a way to bridge the legacy system with the new one.
A comprehensive sales module
The sales module was created as a comprehensive and user-friendly system for efficient ticket management, considering the diverse needs of its user groups.
This comprehensive module allows users to sell, book, exchange, or buy back tickets with ease. It supports quick and convenient management of all ticket and transaction activities. Tickets can be printed as hard tickets, in PDF format, or sent directly to the ticket buyer’s email address.
Since all views within the module are integrated, and a seamless and smooth navigation experience is created across the system, it results in a significantly streamlined ticket management process. By enhancing overall efficiency and simplifying complex tasks, the module delivers considerable value to users, optimizing both operational workflows and user satisfaction.
A powerful reporting module
The new event ticketing software aims to satisfy all event organizers’ reporting needs, from daily reports accessible with one click to advanced reporting for power users.
The reporting module includes daily and weekly reports detailing sales and refunds for staff using the sales module. In the dashboard view, event organizers can analyze ticket sales and revenue data. In the event view, it provides both organizers and venue owners with an overview of ticket operations and sales analysis. A detailed report view lists details of each transaction, for instance, for accounting purposes.
Thanks to the reporting module, users can now obtain relevant reports with one click, also from a mobile device. The data warehouse is connected to a BI solution, allowing more complex analytics and business intelligence for more experienced users.
Benefits
The new event ticketing software delivers a number of significant benefits compared to the old one:
- The intuitive design allows users to efficiently manage ticket sales, bookings, exchanges, and refunds with minimal training.
- Streamlined ticket management ensures that all ticketing processes are handled quickly, reducing wait times and improving operational efficiency.
- Flexible distribution options enable tickets to be printed as hard copies, generated in PDF format, or sent directly via email, accommodating various delivery preferences.
- Integrated system views provide smooth navigation and a cohesive user experience across all ticketing functions.
- Thanks to the powerful reporting module, the most relevant reports can be obtained with one click and from a mobile device.
- The data warehouse is connected to a BI solution, allowing more complex analytics and business intelligence for more experienced users.
- The central data warehouse connects the old and new ticket systems, allowing for a seamless transition to a new system.
- The cloud-based data warehouse offers a cost-effective, scalable, and secure solution.
Work with Helmes
The custom event ticketing software is an excellent example of how to replace a business-critical legacy system in line with the company’s business needs and expansion strategy while reducing the workload for the staff.
If you want to learn more about our experience in creating custom software solutions for international clients, please reach out to us.
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