Help StageScan with a website redesign

StageScan

Established site. We provide personalised recommendations for London theatregoers on the shows they should see next. We do this by incorporating information they give us about shows they've liked in the past, reviewers they trust, and who their friends are, to produce personalised recommendations. We offer other functions including a "Queue" so they can keep track of shows and start to build their profile.

http://www.stagescan.com

Songkick.com provides a very similar service but for bands/live gigs. I like the clarity of their functions/menus, although I think the dark background is more appropriate for their "edgy nightlife" user for a theatregoer.

I also find 99designs to be pretty good, I like the way there is generally one very clear orange button to help you take the next step in whatever path you're on.

I like the clean look of Hunch.com, as compared to something like Yelp.com or Tasterater.com, although I think Hunch is trying to recommend on too many topics.

http://www.tastetheatre.com/ does an OK job of giving the user a lot of choice on the front page without it feeling too cluttered. I think it is probably too much though.

http://www.shelfari.com/ does a good job of walking users through the steps of building a profile and using imagery (bookshelves/books) which will appeal to their target user. http://www.goodreads.com does this well as well.

1) Home Page: Should communicate the main functions of the site to the user and get them to click a button to get started building a profile (whether or not those are the words used)

2) Recommendations (will also apply to Queue): Should present the shows the site is recommending in an engaging way that encourages browsing and action (adding to Queue, sharing with friends, buying tickets, etc. – though it does not necessarily have to offer all of these actions on this page.) Should have more visual elements (e.g. a picture for each play) than the current version.

3) Show Details: A template which presents information about every show on the site; it should present the information in an engaging, easy-to-read way that encourages action (adding to Queue, sharing with friends, buying tickets, etc.).

This design would then be propagated throughout the site so feel free to suggest new menus, etc as the mood strikes you. Features it would be nice to see throughout the site: Search box in upper right corner. And a box that notes “Your profile is 60% complete” etc like on LinkedIn or http://www.shelfari.com.

The site functionality is roughly where I'd like it to be, but the challenge now is to make it more attractive and user-friendly. I think this will require adding more images (probably as part of the site design and also as part of the dataset for each show). I also would like to make the site feel slightly more fun and exploratory, a trusted but lighthearted friend who likes what you like, rather than a database that is running rules to reveal data to the user.

The target audience is a moderate, casual or aspiring theatregoer who would like to go a bit more than he does, but is never quite sure he or she knows the best thing to see any given week or month. Our user split skews slightly female (60/40).

Also, as a side note, I am an experienced collaborator with freelancers; I have been working for the past several months with freelancers on vworker.com and have run over 20 projects with a 100% rating of 10/10. I know it's important for the project sponsor to be clear about project requirements, quick with feedback, and open to new ideas. I have four freelance team members I met through vworker and now work with independently of that site and I would be glad for the outcome of this project to be that the winning designer and I continue to work together.