Tyneside cinema / UX re-design of digital offering

When: Dec 2009 to Mar 2010 / Where: Bristol & Tyneside

Tyneside cinema, one of the top 10 independent cinemas in the UK*, engaged One Big Field to help “Integrate digital with the core business”, “support & develop the community” and continue “organising great collective experiences”. We ran a successful research, strategic & user experience [UX] design stage for a new digital offering. And a real pleasure working with a team of people who are so passionate about their roles in taking this great cinema institution forward. The new website looks set to go live before the end of the year.

Key services

> Competitor & statistical analysis
> Brand experience strategy
> Ideation and innovation workshops
> User journeys, narration & task analysis
> Creating business, user & content requirements
> Leading requirements prioritisation sessions
> User interface [UI] solutions
> Prototypes and concepts
> Information architecture
> Interaction design
> Functional specification

“Working with One Big Field was great fun, also very productive and we have gained enormously in knowledge and I am sure will gain hugely in value for money and return on investment from the site we can now develop.” Mark Dobson, Chief Executive at Tyneside Cinema.

What we did

Working closely with the team [both on-site for workshops and presentations and remotely prioritising requirements] we were able to help shape Tyneside’s strategic digital aims, develop a clear set of prioritised business, functional and technical requirements and design a clear user experience that will take a successful, independent cinema business and integrate online into their offering.

Often when we say “successful” immediately one thinks of ticket sales, bums on seats and repeat sales. And Tyneside does have this type of success. But on entering this restored, period cinema [a very sympathetic £7M revamp of the cinema in 2006] you begin to realise that this business is focused on its local community. Just step into the wonderful Tyneside Coffee Rooms on the 2nd floor, been open since 1938. Entering this busy restaurant time slows down, other ways, older ways take control. And you find yourself realising you’re sat in a gem. One that you can understand the Tyneside team want, must protect. Or drink a cocktail from the circle bar and watch mainstream and arthouse films from leather sofas.

Workshop, scamps & wireframe examples from the project

The challenge

Towards the end of the project, we asked the stakeholders to tell us in their words what the project meant to them, what was at stake for the Tyneside cinema. Here’s what Holli and Johnny had to say:

“The redevelopment of our online presence will give us a way to better service the needs of our patrons, and provide a means to formalise some of the exciting relationships built through social networking – but inside our own brand. It will also challenge us to break the model of print-based programming and give us a more fluid, responsive and user-focused service, that will make us many more close friends.”
Johnny, Cinema Programme Manager

“We are deep in a world where technology, the virtual and the physical have come together and audience expectations are massive; to engage with us and to receive a fine online service. Their experiences in our building should be emulated online and we’re struggling to keep up. Our new website should therefore: enable greater audience engagement and participation; enable staff to have greater control of and input into the website, so that we can work spontaneously as well as strategically; make our rich programme (film and beyond the film) more transparent; and all building on our trusted brand.”
Holli, Cinema Projects Manager

And here’s the wonderful rub that is the Tyneside Cinema business [from a digital strategic perspective]:

• The pros
• One of the top 10 independent cinemas in the country [Guardian, 22 Jan 2010]
• A wonderful period cinema, very much cherished by its community
• A high repeat, core audience [that's 8+ visits to watch a movie a year]
• And a really switched on, focused management team

• The cons
• A very offline business model “get people in a dark, physical room to watch a movie” and “make sure they switch off every electronic device”
• A booking process focused around offline ticket sales
• And a mainstream view of independent cinemas that they’re frequented by the “Old, gay, weird or students”.

We loved the challenge! Across the project life-cycle [strategy, research and design] we were able to define and design a new online customer experience for Tyneside Cinema. We look forward to seeing the new website and continuing our relationship with Tyneside as they develop a strong digital offering at the forefront of UK independent cinema.

Need a similar service?

Get in contact and lets see if our services match your needs. We can offer a free 1/2 day consultation workshop to clients to review and discuss your needs. If we fit, then we can pursue a working relationship together.

*Referenced from the article: Top 10 independent cinemas in the country, Guardian, 22 Jan 2010