Project Summary

As the lead designer for Ludo, a SaaS web application tailored for complex event management, my mission was to craft a user experience that marries simplicity with comprehensive functionality. The challenge was to offer a rich set of tools for event managers and users while keeping it simple and accessible

My Role

I worked closely with the founding lead developer and product manager to create simple, visually appealing designs for innovative and powerful features. I delivered practical designs and prototypes based on thorough research of users, patterns and competitors.

We validated these designs through user testing and open feedback loops, ensuring continuous improvement. But not too many loops considering the system needed to be ready for the event in both 2023 and 204.

Throughout the project I kept a close working relationship with the dev team using Slack and Jira to ensure smooth and clear handoffs from design to development.

Versatility & Scalability

Ludo was originally designed to manage the Sydney Royal Easter Show. However, its backbone is that it's a powerful beast of a system that combines comprehensive ecommerce, fintech, and event management functionalities.

During the design process it was important to consider all of the use cases for the system. Ensuring that Ludo’s functionality was streamlined and user-friendly so that users could navigate its extensive features without feeling overwhelmed.

Hands-on Feedback

The ultimate user feedback and research was through my own hands-on experience at the Sydney Easter Show (2023 & 2024) working directly with customer service reps and event staff - seeing and using the system in its intended environment.

One heavily used feature that needed improvement from the 2023 system was filtering. To optimise customer service and ultimately allow for smoother operations, filtering transactions needed to be precise, seamless and not slow users down in an incredibly fast-paced environment.

Design Driven Innovation

Working with such a talented team of developers and product managers (mathematicians, quantum-scientists, general all-round wizardry 🧙) meant there was plenty of opportunity for innovation throughout the product.

Some of my favourite features to work on and lead by design included:

Waypoint and path creation to offer customised event map navigation

Complex multi-tiered event structuring and management

Products, bundles, modifiers, and discount relationship setup and management

Reflection

This project was a huge learning experience for me. I'm super grateful for the chance to work with such a talented team on something so unique.Working on these types of projects with incredibly fast-approaching, non-negotiable deadlines really reinforces the idea that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to product design. There were countless instances where the "formula" needed to be dropped in order to collaborate, iterate and ship certain features with enough time for dev and testing.

Being there during the event was a highlight for me. Seeing all the quick, on-the-fly decisions we made come together effectively was incredibly satisfying. Obviously, there's always room for improvement and I'm looking forward to taking these learnings into the 2025 version of Ludo.