Project Overview and Goals
Instagram Events: Connecting communities through local experiences
I designed Instagram Events, an intuitive concept feature within Instagram, to empower residents in rural areas to easily discover upcoming gigs, explore local events, and browse nearby venues.
Goals:
Help users easily discover local events based on interests and location.
Improve ticket purchasing, RSVP, and reminder processes.
Enhance user engagement and retention by fostering social interaction around events.
Initially planned as a standalone app, research revealed that integrating event discovery into Instagram would create a seamless and accessible experience. This would leverage Instagram's engaged user base for social-driven events, especially as it is used by 86% of 16-24-year-olds.
The Problem
Young people in rural areas often struggle to find local events
In 2016, a NASAA Arts study revealed that rural residents, relying on fragmented communication channels, struggle to stay informed about local events.
By 2024, Virgin Media/O2 research showed that two-thirds of rural 16 to 24-year-olds were considering leaving their towns due to limited opportunities.
The challenges identified within the papers included:
Lack of accessibility: Local events were challenging to discover and poorly promoted.
Inconsistent tools: Residents relied on fragmented platforms, including Facebook, posters, and word of mouth.
Community isolation: Young people felt disconnected from local social opportunities.
The Solution
Instagram Events brings a unified solution by integrating event discovery, RSVPs, and ticketing into one seamless platform
Personalised event feed:
Discover events based on interests, location, and friend RSVPs.
Integrated RSVP and ticket purchasing system:
Users can select RSVP and ticket types, adjust quantities, and complete payments using saved payment methods without leaving the app.
Reminders for upcoming events:
Users can set personalised notifications for events they’re interested in, ensuring they never miss out.
Scope and Constraints
Understanding Instagram's ecosystem to deliver value
The scope of this project focused on designing a seamless way for users to discover, RSVP, set reminders, and purchase tickets for local events within Instagram’s Explore tab.
Key constraints for this concept project included preserving Instagram's navigation and visual identity, minimising disruption to the app experience, and utilising limited external resources, such as their official brand site and tools such as Mobbin for design references.
User Interviews
User insights highlighted the demand for a unified event platform
Building on the NASAA and Virgin Media/O2 findings, I hypothesised that a social-driven event feature could enhance accessibility.
I interviewed 12 participants aged 16–24, including students, young professionals, and casual Instagram users, all of whom lived in rural areas. I explored how they currently find local events, what challenges they face when planning with friends, and their opinions on the social and entertainment options available in their area.
From these interviews, three main pain points emerged:
Difficulty finding relevant events in one place.
Uncoordinated planning with friends.
Forgetting events after discovering them. One participant added:
"I usually hear about events ahead of time, but when the day comes, I forget all about them. Without any reminders, I miss gigs I was genuinely excited for."
A participant also revealed a preference for familiar solutions and avoided the need to learn a new app. They said:
"I don’t want to have to download and learn a new app just to find something to do."
With the challenges in mind, I asked:
How can we help young people in rural areas discover and attend local events more easily by integrating a social-first solution into the platforms they already use, such as Instagram?
User Persona
Introducing Sarah – The social explorer
To ensure Instagram Events meets the real needs of users, I developed a user persona that illustrates how users discover, plan, and attend events.
Sarah, 20, loves music but struggles to find local events due to fragmented discovery across platforms. She wants a seamless way to discover, plan, and share events with friends, aligning with Instagram Events' target audience.
Ideate
From concept to reality: Crafting low & high-fidelity designs
To translate insights into a tangible solution, I first created low-fidelity wireframes to map Instagram Events' user journey and core functionalities.
The wireframes represent the flow persona Sarah would take to discover, RSVP and purchase a ticket to an event, then offer her the opportunity to share the event with her friends and set a reminder so she doesn't miss it.
When designing the high-fidelity wireframes for Instagram Events, I ensured a seamless integration with Instagram’s existing UI and interaction patterns.
I followed Instagram’s design language to ensure visual consistency by using its iOS typeface (SF Pro), core brand colours, and common interface colours (blue, black, and white) in Figma, promoting content visibility and a cohesive user experience.
I designed custom components that replicate Instagram’s interaction patterns, such as swipe gestures and bottom navigation, to ensure a native and intuitive user experience.
Usability Testing and Iterations
Improving what matters: Iterations that enhanced the experience
Iteration 1
During design review, my mentor shared a valuable insight from the perspective of a first-time user:
“I think once the payment was processed, I didn’t clearly understand that I could view my upcoming events. I went back to the explore page and had to repurchase to get back to view my upcoming events.”
This highlighted a gap in the user journey: users lacked a clear next step after completing a purchase. Instead of confidently accessing their tickets, they risked repeating the purchase journey or making an error.
As a result, I iterated on the confirmation screen:
After purchasing a ticket, the user's primary concern may be, “Where is my ticket? Can I access it later?” Making “View your upcoming events” the primary CTA instantly answers that question.
I styled the page more prominently and added small ticket and calendar icons next to the ticket purchasing and calendar links for clarity.
Supporting text was added to reassure users that their ticket was saved and accessible at any time.
Iteration 2
During usability testing, a few users expressed uncertainty during the payment process. One participant noted:
“I wasn’t sure how many steps it would take to complete my payment.”
This feedback revealed a lack of clarity around the purchase journey, which led to hesitation and reduced user confidence during checkout.
To address this:
I introduced a progress stepper to the checkout screen. The stepper outlines the user's journey from reading about the event information to purchasing the ticket, helping manage expectations and reduce perceived friction.
Additionally, I greyed out the text for the sold-out ticket category to reduce cognitive load and guide user focus, ensuring users could easily identify unavailable options without distraction.
Iteration 3
Finally, users appreciated seeing which events their friends had RSVP’d to. However, several participants noted that their own RSVP status wasn’t clearly visible once the event was added to the 'Upcoming Events' tab. One participant said:
“I couldn’t tell if it’d automatically RSVP me once I’d bought the ticket.”
This created a gap in user confidence and made event tracking more cumbersome than it needed to be.
To address this:
The RSVP status was redesigned as a distinct button with improved colour contrast, making it easier for users to identify their attendance at a glance.
The overall information architecture was refined to create a clearer visual hierarchy, ensuring that the event name, date, time, and location are easily scannable.
To enhance clarity and visual feedback, icons were added next to the ‘View ticket’ and ‘Add to Calendar’ links. Additionally, text sizes were increased to improve accessibility and legibility across devices.
Results and Impact
Better engagement, clearer journeys
After three rounds of testing and iteration:
90% of the ten test participants successfully located and accessed their RSVP’d events without external guidance.
70% of participants said the updated RSVP status and confirmation flow made them feel more confident that their ticket was saved.
60% reported that the new reminder option would help them avoid missing events they were excited about.
Visual hierarchy improvements helped users identify the event title, date, and status within 3 seconds on average.
Reflection
Lessons learned
This project highlighted the value of designing within trusted ecosystems. By embedding the feature within the existing Instagram app, I created a seamless and intuitive experience for users without requiring them to learn a new app.
Small changes, such as clearer RSVPs, improved ticket confirmation feedback, and subtle visual tweaks, greatly enhanced usability. This highlighted the importance of conducting early user interviews in creating effective solutions.
Accessibility was another key takeaway. From font size to colour contrast, every decision contributed to a more inclusive, confident user experience.
I truly enjoyed completing this project and would like to thank my mentor and all the research participants for their assistance.