Opera Australia:

Making opera great again

Overview

Opera Australia, the nations leading opera company, aimed to attract a younger audience, particularly Gen Z, amid the challenges amplified by the 2020 pandemic. The goal was to innovate and make opera more accessible and appealing to younger generations.

My role

UX Designer / Researcher

*Conducted user research and user interviews

*Created user flows, wireframes, and prototypes

*Facilitated user testing and refinement

Opportunity

Gen Z has limited exposure to opera, often perceiving it as elitist, expensive, and difficult to understand. Social influence plays a significant role in their decisions to attend events. The challenge was to make opera appealing and accessible to this demographic.

Solution

- Digital Education and Outreach -

Given the time constraints, I focused on enhancing Opera Australia's existing app by adding educational and interactive features to address the problem.

Approach

User research

*Conducted interviews and surveys to understand Gen Z's live music preferences and perceptions of opera.

*Found that peer influence is key, and many Gen Z individuals aren't aware of opera's relevance.

Initial Design Concepts

*Created a 'Learn' center for opera educational resources.

*Added a "Lessons" widget on the home page for quick access.

*Refreshed UI design, updating typography and layout while keeping the color scheme.

*Integrated gamification with progress tracking, badges, and interactive quizzes to boost engagement.

Proposed Solution

*Developed mid-fidelity mockups to visualize the new features and UX enhancements.

*Conducted user testing to gather feedback and refine the prototype.

Before: Opera Australia app

Sketches: putting pen to paper

Proposed solution

In the proposed solution, I transformed conceptual sketches into low-fidelity wireframes, providing a tangible visualisation of envisioned features and UX enhancements. These wireframes serve as the foundation for the app's redesign, outlining the layout, navigation, and key element placement.

Impact

User Feedback: Quotes from user testing

*High-School Teacher, 30: "I can see how useful this app would be in introducing my students to opera in an engaging way!"

*Music enthusiast, 22: "..makes me realize opera is more relevant to my interests than I thought."

*Event lover, 26: "I’d be way more inclined to dive into opera if I had this app. It’s fun, approachable, and all the info you need is in one spot."

Next steps

Collaboration with Educators

*Work with educators to enrich app lessons and gamification. Their expertise will ensure engaging, high-quality content aligned with educational standards.

Sourcing Creative Content and Videos

*Focus on sourcing creative content and videos to enhance the in-app experience, incorporating multimedia elements that appeal to users' interests.

Additional User Testing

*Conduct further user testing sessions to refine designs before handing them off to a UI designer. This iterative process ensures continuous improvement and validation of design decisions.