The WWE were looking to create an immersive fan experience to bring fans back into the stadium during COVID-19. Leading UX in the fan experience space has truly been a fun experience especially in these unprecedented times. With my background working at media networks and live broadcasting, these projects have been very interesting to me as I feel we are creating innovative technology to advance the industry forward.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced a pause in live events, the WWE continued to host shows behind closed doors without any fans. The WWE wanted to find a way to bring fans back into the arena through virtual reality. My role in this project was to design the responsive website that will be used for registering and entering into the live stream.
The WWE ThunderDome is a virtual experience where fans worldwide can virtually enter the arena via live video. This experience was awarded the Digital Prize at the Sportel Awards in 2020.
UX Designer
Product Owner
Product Manager
Engineering
Ongoing
Research to understand and empathize with user needs and behavior
Process maps
Brainstorm potential solutions to the pain points identified
Brainstorming, sketching
Design the interface to visualize the solution in various fidelities
Wireframes, Mockups
Test the design and iterate based on findings
QA Testing, user and stakeholder feedback
Fans first register for a spot on the WWE ThunderDome website when the registration is announced via WWE's social media platforms a few days before the live show. If they are lucky to have grabbed a spot, they receive a registration confirmation with a call time.
On the day of the show the fans will receive an email that includes a link to enter the live stream. One in the livestream, the fans see the program feed on their screen. On there fans can see themselves streamed on the LED screens in the studio which is also being broadcasted on television.
The WWE ThunderDome experience goes live for every Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown and WWE pay-per-view shows held once a month. For each show the website and emails have a different look that align with the production of each show.
As the user journey involves users using mobile and desktop for their interface, we needed to create a responsive design in the short time frame we had. WWE also has pay per view shows once a month where we create a new look of the website per show. Creating a responsive and modular design ensured that we can achieve a consistent experience for every show throughout the entire journey.
With fans worldwide registering for this event, and because these seats get to full capacity rather quickly, fans are rushing to get a spot during registration. On the day of the show when they access the link to the livestream, they are anxious to get in, as not all fans will be accepted given the seat capacity. Our design aimed to keep the user flow simple and frictionless.