OPERAHONGKONG | Kayu Cheng Portfolio

Make a comeback on opera
Getting millennials to become opera-goers by increasing familiarity

Team

2 UX Designers

Duration

2 weeks

My Roles

Primary research

Research synthesis

Concept development

Prototyping

Methods

Competitive & comparative analysis

User interviews

Survey

Affinity Mapping

Journey Mapping

User Archetypes

Cost vs impact analysis

Content strategy

Prototyping

Usability testing

Tools

Miro

Figma

Zoom

Slack

Google Suite

1-minute summary

Problem

Opera Hong Kong recognizes that many people who attend performances are from older generations. They want to attract millennials to attend the opera to maintain relevance in the community in the years to come.

Insight

By understanding the millennials’ perceptions and motivations, we found that opera was not on their radar. These millennials also shared a common trait: They feel anxious about trying new things unless they are pretty confident they will enjoy it and get their money’s worth. We called them Careful Critics.

Solution

We recommended a 3-step approach catered to Careful Critics with opera by creating a buzz, clarifying concerns and setting clear expectations. By providing more support and knowledge about what to expect, we hypothesize that millennials will be more willing to consider going to the opera as a form of entertainment.

Learning

UX is not only about an app/ a website that we should take a holistic approach to consider every touchpoint in the user journey. Avoid using real photos for early-stage usability testing because it will limit users’ imagination and might not be able to get real answers.

Full case study

“We want to attract Millennials to traditional opera at traditional venues”

Opera Hong Kong recognizes that the majority of people who attend performances are from older generations. They are concerned that they need to maintain relevance in the community in the years to come. Therefore, they are looking for a sustainable and long term solution to encourage millennials (aged 18-30) to attend the opera, specifically traditional operas at traditional venues, to preserve its heritage.

Kick-starting the project by talking to our users. We collected 80 responses from surveys and set up 7 in-depth interviews to understand initial attitudes and barriers for millennials going to the opera. 61% of the survey respondents have never attended the opera before. But, interestingly, millennials believe they will enjoy the opera if they go. It reflects that millennials do not shut the door on opera. There is something stopping them from taking a step forward. We identified 3 key themes:

Opera is not on their radar

The opera performance information never shows up in their news feed. They don’t know when it’s on. Opera probably is the last thing they can think of during their free time.

They feel opera is

expensive and exclusive

They have negative perceptions of opera. They are concerned if the opera is worth their money and are worried they won’t understand it when they get there.

Their decisions are driven by friends or other trusted sources

They emphasize social connection. They are more willing to try new things when it comes recommended, or they try it with a friend.

Driven by our research findings, we crafted an archetype that reflected our target user’s frustrations, needs and behaviours.

Meet Careful Critic who prefers staying in comfort zone, familiarity, security and safety.

Afraid to go outside comfort zone without reassurance and support
Need to be pretty sure that they’re going to enjoy the event before they commit
Won’t proactively seek out new events
Rely on recommendations from friends or trusted sources before trying something unfamiliar

They aren’t sure if they want to go to the opera

When one of their friends invites them to attend the opera, they hesitate to go. They are anxious because they have never been before. They have not heard much about opera and do not know what to expect.

The user journey map helped us better understand Careful Critic’s pain points and identified several areas of opportunity to improve the experience. These include:

The ease of finding performance information

Willingness and motivation to give opera a try
Continuous engagement building up to the event

We need a way to help Careful Critics feel more comfortable trying new things with less anxiety.

We believe by setting building awareness, clarifying concerns and clear expectations will help reassure them and then will be encouraged to the opera.

With about a million and one ideas on how we were going to do this, we considered the business objectives and which ideas held the most impact for the minimum cost and effort. This allowed us to phase out our approach depending on budget and resource availability.

A 3-step approach to increase comfort levels

#1 Creating a buzz

Using influencer and advertorial content to spark curiosity, build awareness and remind Careful Critics the opera comes well-recommended.

Through testing, we know:

The kind of influencer who posted it needs to be relevant to them - someone they look up to and follow.
There might be some interest in the 'luxury' element of opera, but on the same token, we've also gotten feedback that this is a turnoff for others.
Need to portray opera as accessible and open for everyone

#2 Clarify concerns and busting myths

We believe opera will become a hot topic after creating a buzz. In the meanwhile, we need to enlighten them that opera is for everyone by correcting negative impressions through advertorial and editorial content.

Through testing, we know:

They enjoyed highlighting promotions/offers on tickets.
Sparked their interest to purchase tickets

#3 Build confidence by setting expectations

Again, Careful Critics need to be pretty sure that opera resonates with them and their interests before they commit. Therefore, we let them feel the “vibe” by giving them a “sneak peek” on the website and event reminder email to reassure them.

We believe the above tactics will increase traffic to the Opera Hong Kong website. So, we tested different kinds of content on the performance page of the website with 4 users and found the most valuable content they looked for.

From usability testing, we found that users were more comfortable booking a ticket when they saw the following on the performance page:

Recognisable titles
The imagery of the performance, the audience,
and “the vibe”
Detailed descriptions of the opera storyline
and plot
Trailer highlighting sneak peeks, cast,
the storyline, etc.
Reviews and recommendations from critics

We also believe creating an “Opera 101” page to provide some basic and accessible information about how to attend the opera for first-time guests will set the expectations and relieve their anxiety.

Reminder email

In order to boost confidence and build anticipation for the opera, we need to provide more resources and information to help prepare Careful Critics for their visit. A Spotify playlist of the opera music and a downloadable PDF with production information, singers’ biographies and a synopsis will be included in an event reminder email and will be sent to them 2 days before the performance.

Careful Critics are more confident than ever about going to the opera now.

Piquing interest as hype builds
Increased willingness to attend as negative perceptions are dismissed
Anxiety relieved as they know what to expect in the performance
Equipped with the necessary information to properly engage with and enjoy the performance

Next Steps

Make a comeback on opera Getting millennials to become opera-goers by increasing familiarity

Make a comeback on opera
Getting millennials to become opera-goers by increasing familiarity