Coachella

Coachella is about more than headliners, the App should be too

Role

Role:

Product Designer

Tools

Tools:

Figma

Date

Date:

Aug 2025

Duration

Duration:

6 weeks

So…what is the problem?

In 2025, over 250,000 people attended Coachella, yet fewer than 10% used the official app — even though every ticket package included a dedicated card urging attendees to download it for a smoother festival experience.

Reviews from users who have used the app (2025 version):

In the app store, nearly 50% of ratings are between 2 and 3 stars.
On Reddit, although there is no formal rating system, most posts express negative sentiment.

Why did you give up on the App?

We conducted comprehensive research to ensure that we fully understood why attendees ultimately chose not to use the app.

Let's take a look at two representative user personas and their end-to-end user journeys:

User 1: Jen (First-Time Coachella Goer)

"I want everyone in our group to be on the same page — no stress, no clashes, just a perfect weekend!"

Jen's User Journey

(Try it! It's interactive)

Pain point #1

Cannot export entire weekend schedule at once

Emotional Shift

Excited 🥰 → Slightly slow down 😞

Impact on user decision: Mild friction, but proceeds

Pain point #2

No interactive sharing or sync collaboration

Emotional Shift

Slightly let down 😞 → Disappointed 🙁

Impact on user decision: Unsure if it'll help, shares the static schedule with friends anyway

Pain point #3

Chaotic group coordination

Emotional Shift

Disappointed 🙁 → Overwhelmed 😩

Impact on user decision: Abandons the app for Google Sheets

User 2: Casey (Hidden Gem Digger)

"Coachella is my chance to discover new artists. I wish the app helped me dive deeper into the music."

Casey's user journey:

Pain point #1

Only social links shown in artist bio, no music embedded; has to switch to another app

Emotional Shift

Curious 🤓 → Disappointed 😑

Impact on user decision: Not sure whether to switch App to check the song

Emotion Analysis

The following is user's emotion shift at various stages.

Identifying key intervention points

Based on user journeys and emotional analysis, we identified several key moments in the journey where targeted design interventions are most needed.

Ideate

Low-fidelity

Intervention #1

Embedded Playlist
Each artist’s profile page features a built-in playlist, enabling users enjoy music without leaving the Coachella app.

Intervention #1

Embedded Playlist
Each artist’s profile page features a built-in playlist, enabling users enjoy music without leaving the Coachella app.

Sketch

Intervention #2

Invite Your Friends
Users can invite friends to co-create schedules by sharing a link directly from the app.

Intervention #2

Invite Your Friends
Users can invite friends to co-create schedules by sharing a link directly from the app.

Sketch

Sketch

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Intervention #3

Collaborative Schedule
For each performance, users can view the friends who are planning to attend.

Intervention #3

Collaborative Schedule
For each performance, users can view the friends who are planning to attend.

Sketch

Sketch

Sketch

Sketch

Intervention #4

Export all schedules at once
App allows users to export each-day schedules as individual images, making it easy to save and share with others.

Intervention #4

Export all schedules at once
App allows users to export each-day schedules as individual images, making it easy to save and share with others.

Sketch

Sketch

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Sketch

Mid-fidelity

Our Solution

Going to a Show?
Easy! double-click to add it to your schedule, and do the same to remove it. Prefer to just save it for later? Tap the heart.

Going to a Show?
Easy! double-click to add it to your schedule, and do the same to remove it. Prefer to just save it for later? Tap the heart.

It's Friendchella!
Want to plan Coachella with your friends? No problem. Just click the share button and send an invitation for them to collaborate on your schedule in the Coachella app.

It's Friendchella!
Want to plan Coachella with your friends? No problem. Just click the share button and send an invitation for them to collaborate on your schedule in the Coachella app.

Manage Conflicts
Several shows at the same time? Or your friends’ plans don’t match yours? We’ve got your back. Use Calendar View to compare performances side by side, and check each performance card to see which friends are going, so no one in your group misses a moment.

Manage Conflicts
Several shows at the same time? Or your friends’ plans don’t match yours? We’ve got your back. Use Calendar View to compare performances side by side, and check each performance card to see which friends are going, so no one in your group misses a moment.

Digging Hidden Gems
Coachella has always been the spot for uncovering great music (and the occasional good sh*t). Each artist profile comes with their genre and a playlist right inside the app — no more hopping anywhere else.

Digging Hidden Gems
Coachella has always been the spot for uncovering great music (and the occasional good sh*t). Each artist profile comes with their genre and a playlist right inside the app — no more hopping anywhere else.

Poor Network Onsite
Finished building your personal schedule? Export it as a beautifully styled wallpaper and set it as your phone background. That way, even with poor network on festival days, your plan is always right there.

Poor Network Onsite
Finished building your personal schedule? Export it as a beautifully styled wallpaper and set it as your phone background. That way, even with poor network on festival days, your plan is always right there.

Retrospective

This was an incredibly exciting design journey. Coachella is a truly special, large-scale festival with eight stages, where 5–7 performances often happen simultaneously. Because of that, beyond considering music and artist-related content, the schedule became one of the most important parts of the design.

The calendar view, in particular, took a great deal of thought. At first, we considered the same approach many competitors use — with each row representing a time slot and each column representing a stage — so users could see each stage’s lineup at different times.

However, this layout didn’t work well on mobile. The width of a phone screen can only fit about 4–5 stages at a time, meaning users would need to scroll horizontally 1–2 times to see all performances for the same time slot. This made it difficult to compare shows at a glance and slowed down decision-making.

User testing confirmed this. Users overwhelmingly wanted to quickly spot schedule conflicts without switching back and forth between horizontal and vertical scrolling.

So, we took a different approach: using time as the primary vertical axis, allowing all performances in the same time slot to be displayed together in one view. This made quick comparisons and choices far easier — and became one of the key breakthroughs in our design.

Coachella is not just about music — it’s about encounters, laughter, and unforgettable moments with friends. My hope is that this app helps festival-goers plan their weekend more effortlessly, savor each moment, and create lasting memories.

Boston /

19:38:10