A flexible, user-friendly ticketing interface built to serve the unique needs of nonprofit theaters, small venues, and cultural institutions, with a strong focus on accessibility, donation workflows, and centralized venue management.
Client: QED Software, New Zealand / Playtime, New York
Industry: Arts & Culture, Event Ticketing
Overview
Most off-the-shelf ticketing platforms are built for high-volume, for-profit entertainment. Playtime’s clients needed something different: a system that could handle both general admission and reserved seating, integrate with donor management tools, and reflect the values of mission-driven programming. Just as importantly, they needed a solution that lived inside the same ecosystem as their CRM, scheduling, and communications, eliminating data silos and context switching.
Scope of Work
- End-to-end UX design for ticket purchase and management
- UI design for seat selection, donation prompts, and pricing tiers
- Accessibility-first interface and responsive layouts
- Seamless integration with Playtime’s CRM, calendar, and WBS tools
Approach
We worked closely with box office teams, audience services, and development staff to uncover pain points in the ticketing journey. Many organizations were juggling multiple disconnected platforms for sales, contacts, and scheduling, increasing workload and risk of error.
The new ticketing flow prioritized clarity and flexibility:
- Custom seat maps for uniquely shaped or historic venues
- “Pay what you can” and donor-tier ticketing logic
- Mobile-first flow optimized for quick conversion
- Donation prompts and CRM-linked patron profiles
The interface was designed not just to sell tickets, but to become a natural extension of the organization’s day-to-day operations, with every reservation, seat, and customer record connected to a larger picture.
Impact
- Unified ticketing with contact records, space scheduling, and communications into one platform
- Reduced operational overhead and data duplication across departments
- Improved audience experience and increased revenue through more intuitive flows and donor-friendly features
- Empowered small and mid-sized venues with tools usually reserved for much larger organizations
Tools & Methods
Figma, FigJam, CRM integration, component-based UI system
