Inclusive Community Events
After completing my RYT 200 yoga teacher training in India, I started teaching yoga at a local studio. I quickly realized how exclusive and expensive the yoga industry had become!
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So, I started an independent yoga class at the local coffee shop, and was amazed to see the diversity and community that grew. I had discovered a formula: pay-what-you-can events at local businesses make mindfulness more inclusive!
Market Validation with a No-Code MVP
Using no-code tools, I created a system that connected other yoga teachers in town with local businesses that wanted to host their events, and a simple registration flow for attendees.
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My initial functional prototype validated the idea with 15 instructors, 10 local businesses, and 200+ active attendees.
The software architecture looked something like this...
Version 1.0
With this traction, I was able to bring on our CTO and lead developer, Chris. Together, using feedback from our early adopters, we built v1 of Good Elephant's web and mobile app.
Filling the Gaps
Our team of 8 gathered feedback from users on an ongoing basis, and prioritized our roadmap.
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We failed fast and forward, testing many different monetization strategies, marketing campaigns, and operational systems. Here are some examples of process maps and snapshots from our workshops...
Traction
With the help of volunteer City Leaders, over 4 years, Good Elephant expanded into Reno, Sacramento, Little Rock, San Diego, Denver, and St. Charles, MO. We connected 200+ event creators with 100+ local businesses, and grew the platform to 3k active users.
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Our loyal communities will fondly remember experiences with Good Elephant's passionate creators at their favorite local businesses.
Refining the User Experience
Below you'll find excerpts from the completed UX/UI design for V2 of Good Elephant's web and mobile apps, along with the customer feedback that drove those decisions.
Host Space Directory
This design, inspired by AirBnb and PeerSpace, helps event creators browse and rent host spaces.
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Customer Feedback
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Space owners consistently requested the ability to rent their spaces through our platform
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It wasn't clear enough to event creators which spaces were available when they needed them
Real-Time Attendance Tracking
This feature was a big differentiator when customers were choosing between Good Elephant and companies like MeetUp & Eventbrite. We tested thoroughly with our event creators at various types of events, including music festivals with 1k+ attendees.
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Customer Feedback
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Taking payments was cumbersome, so we streamlined the flow and removed redundant screens
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Glitches in our interface resulted in duplicate payments and confused customers, so we added a detailed confirmation screen
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Attendance lists needed to be simplified and refreshed automatically
Searchable Event Map
Customer Feedback
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This feature was consistently requested for multi-location events like art walks and mural festivals
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Users were excited about using our platform as a way to discover new local businesses in their neighborhood.
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Host spaces emerged as our biggest differentiator, so our emphasis shifted toward highlighting our locations
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Because most of our new users found us through their favorite event creators, we added powerful Algolia search functionality so they could quickly find the specific event they were looking for
Old Weekly Schedule
New Agenda Screen
Chronological Agenda View
This screen allows users to browse upcoming events.
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Customer Feedback
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Our old weekly schedule screen was cumbersome and forced users to search through upcoming dates, so we added a search feature and switched to a chronological list of events.
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Users wanted to be "in the know" about events, so we added a shortcut tab that only shows events happening today