Event Assistant App

The Problem

Event check-in is notoriously chaotic. Long queues, stressed organizers, and day-of volunteers with minimal training created a poor experience for both staff and attendees. Existing tools required too much setup time and too steep a learning curve for temporary helpers.

The solution needed to be fast to learn, resilient under pressure, and require minimal onboarding — because at 8am on event day, there's no time for a tutorial.

Research

I interviewed staff at 5 different event organizations across a variety of event categories — from music festivals to corporate conferences. Sessions focused on the check-in workflow, pain points with existing tools, and what volunteers actually needed to do their jobs.

Research findings shaped the information architecture and user flows. I also conducted on-site trials at live events and led QA/UAT activities to ensure the app held up in real conditions.

Design Process

The initial prototype was designed for two user types: organizers and attendees. But testing revealed that the attendee-facing functionality was redundant — attendees just wanted to be checked in quickly, not use an app themselves.

I cut the prototype's screen count in half by eliminating the attendee flow entirely, then conducted additional validation testing to confirm the simplified experience was faster and easier for volunteers.

This is a case where the right answer was to do less — and the research made that clear.

Outcomes

• —Successfully launched on the Google Play Store
• —Featured in a TechCrunch article covering event technology
• —Post-launch iterations added in-app statistics for organizers to track check-in performance in real time
• —Volunteer onboarding guides were added to the app, reducing the training burden before event day