Project Details
Team
Katie Kunesh, Ben Dyleuth, Quang Mai, Anastasiia Haioshko
Timeline
November 2025 - Present
Tools & Methods
User interviews, Competitive analysis, Wireframing, Prototyping
Role
UX Designer
Overview
MyStage is a community events platform focused on festivals and local venues across the Midwest. The platform helps organizers create events, manage logistics, and support ticketing while serving vendors, volunteers, artists, and fans.
This case study documents how our team reframed MyStage's early product into a clear CRM-first system for event organizers with a complementary mobile experience, designed to support festival planning, day-of coordination, and fan discovery.
The Challenge
Across the live events and festival industry, organizers are often limited by a lack of structure.
Festival organizers manage operations using spreadsheets, email, and multiple platforms with no central system. Large teams and manual processes make it hard to keep information organized, creating friction throughout planning and especially the day of an event.
MyStage's products were not initially positioned to solve these problems. Our mobile app offered live event data fans could find on competing platforms, and our CRM was underdeveloped and disconnected from the app.
Our goal:
Develop the CRM into a functional tool that solves real operational problems while building an ecosystem where festivals using our platform would naturally bring fans to the app.
Goals & Constraints
As an early-stage startup, we focused on establishing clear structure and direction so the CRM and mobile app would provide value to users while reinforcing each other within the ecosystem.
Product Goals
- Develop the CRM into a functional operational backbone
- Design based on real festival planning workflows
- Establish reusable UX patterns for future development
- Document decisions to support future iteration
Business Goals
- Help organizers create and manage events more easily
- Bring fans to the mobile app through festival partnerships
- Improve discovery and engagement on the platform
- Support long-term user retention through the ecosystem
User Research
Understanding the Users
We conducted interviews with local festival organizers to understand their planning workflows and operational challenges. Additional research with music event organizers and fans helped us understand the broader ecosystem and user needs across the platform.
Image: A virtual user interview with local festival organizers
Festival Admins
- Manage teams and schedules
- See data and updates
Artists & Vendors
- Participate in events
- Track schedule and payments
Fans
- Discover local events
- Navigate festivals quickly
Image: Persona of a festival organizer
Research Insights
Pre-event planning
- Coordinating large, rotating teams with no centralized system
- Applications scattered across multiple platforms
- Manual tracking of applications with constant updates needed
- Information living in many places with no single source of truth
Day-of operations
- Communication breaks down quickly
- Organizers rely on ad-hoc texting
- Staff and volunteers needing clear direction and status updates
- Communication with the public is monitored through many different channels
Public experience
- Festival information is difficult to find and navigate
- Fans wanting quick answers about schedules, vendors, and locations
Market Analysis
Where Existing Platforms Fall Short
We reviewed platforms across event discovery and festival management to understand the existing landscape and identify gaps.
Discovery
- Bandintown
- Dice
- SeatGeek
Management
- Eventbrite
- Eventeny
Image: Our team's competitive analysis notes
Key takeaways
- Most platforms optimize only for ticketing and discovery
- Event management tools often lack effective coordination features
- Festival organizers still rely on external tools to fill workflow gaps
Opportunity:
Build a platform that supports the full festival lifecycle while connecting directly to the fan experience through our mobile app.
Product Strategy
We reframed MyStage as two connected products, each serving a distinct purpose within the ecosystem.
CRM (for festival organizers)
The operational backbone
- Manage vendor, artist, and volunteer applications
- Track approvals and assignments
- Design event layouts and schedules
- Centralize event logistics and data
Mobile App (for festival attendees & fans)
The live festival layer
- Real-time event updates
- Quick navigation and mapping
- Coordination between volunteers and staff
- Fan retention post-event
The CRM manages operations while the mobile app activates that data for attendees. Organizers using our CRM drive fans to the app for information, while app users discover more events and stay engaged with the platform.
User Flows & UX Frameworks
To translate our research into design solutions, we developed workflows around how different users enter the system, and how organizers manage relationships with vendors over the lifecycle of an event.
Role-Based Onboarding Flow
The role-based onboarding flow mapped how festival administrators, vendors, and artists enter the system with appropriate access and functionality for their specific role.
Image: Role-based onboarding flows for festival admins and bands/artists
Vendor Relationship Lifecycle
The vendor relationship lifecycle flow documented the complete vendor management process using our interview findings. We tracked the organizer journey from application setup through post-event, identifying pain points and communication needs at each stage. This included coordination between organizers, their teams, vendors, and the public.
Image: A workflow diagram detailing a vendor manager's needs and pain points at every step of the festival lifecycle
Design Solutions
Design System
With a clear understanding of our market position and user needs, we developed a new visual direction that would differentiate MyStage while supporting both the CRM and mobile app.
Our direction: Neon, upscale, and clean. It feels energetic and modern without competing with event imagery or overwhelming complex workflows.
Image: The new style guide and component library for the mobile app
Using our user flows and research insights as a foundation, we designed solutions for three critical workflows that addressed the biggest pain points across festival planning, day-of operations, and attendee experience.
CRM Vendor Submissions & Status
Problem:
Festival organizers built application forms manually, reviewed submissions across emails and spreadsheets, and tracked approval status without a centralized system. This created constant administrative burden and made it difficult to maintain accurate records.
Solution:
A centralized application workflow that streamlines creation, submission, review, and approval. Organizers can build reusable application templates, track vendor status in one place, and communicate directly with applicants without leaving the platform.
Video: New CRM vendor submissions workflow
Communication Platform (Day-Of Event)
Problem:
Day-of coordination relied on scattered communication across texts, walkie-talkies, and group messages. Staff and volunteers had no centralized system for updates, making it difficult to respond quickly to changing situations.
Solution:
A mobile communication platform connected to CRM event data, enabling real-time coordination between organizers, staff, vendors, and volunteers during the event.
Image: Mobile communication platform for day-of coordination
Fan Navigation & Discovery
Problem:
Festival attendees struggled to find event information, navigate large venues, and discover vendors or performances that matched their interests. Information was often scattered or presented as static lists.
Solution:
A mobile-first discovery and navigation experience that lets fans search, filter, and explore events with an interactive map.
Image: Mobile communication platform for day-of coordination
Outcomes & Reflection
Through research, strategic planning, and iterative design, we accomplished several key goals for MyStage:
- Clarified product vision by reframing the CRM and mobile app as connected products within a unified ecosystem
- Grounded design decisions in real festival workflows through organizer interviews and user flow mapping
- Created a cohesive design system to build off of
- Developed functional solutions for critical pain points in the festival management lifecycle
This work gave the team a clear direction and reusable foundation for continued development.
Next Steps
With more time and resources, the next phase would focus on:
- Usability testing with festival organizers using live event data
- Piloting day-of communication features at real festivals
- Building CRM analytics and reporting capabilities
- Expanding mobile features for post-event retention and community engagement