Go Fest ｜B2B Mobile Marketplace
Optimizing Vendor Onboarding & Experience
for Seamless Local Food Festival Registration.
OVERVIEW
The Go Fest App is designed to saves time, reduces errors, and increases overall efficiency for merchants who looking for pop up opportunities. It simplified the process from booking to closing a pop up, and the communication with event organizers
MY ROLE
Lead Product Designer
RESPONSIBILITIES
User research, problem definition, scoping & prioritization, design, testing, handoff, stakeholder management
TIMELINE
This project was an ongoing effort with several iterations that took place between April – October 2024
BACKGROUND
Transition to Self-Service
Leveraging my firsthand experience as a beverage business owner, I designed Go Fest to transform a chaotic, manual email-and-text workflow into a scalable, automated B2B digital marketplace.
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0-to-1 Digitalization: Replacing fragmented manual communication (emails, texts) with a centralized, all-in-one platform architecture.
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Two-Sided Platform Workflow: Connecting Food Vendors (who upload permits and book spots) directly with Event Organizers (who review and approve policy compliance).
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The Core Value: Accelerating the onboarding process and securing business verification to eliminate human error before the live event takes place.
Stakeholder Map
PROBLEM FRAMING
Inefficiency & Lack of Organization
Vendors:
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Information Fragmentation: Vendors struggle to find suitable venues due to heavily scattered information across disconnected platforms.
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Communication Inefficiency: Relying on back-and-forth emails and phone calls wastes critical operational time for busy owners.
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Lack of Centralization: The absence of a dedicated tool makes managing event schedules and bookings highly frustrating and disorganized.
Organizers:
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High Operational Cost: Organizers waste massive workforce resources by manually connecting with vendors one by one for every single event.
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Repetitive Information Delivery: Even with group meetings, significant time is lost repeatedly explaining event rules and onboarding details.
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Manual Policy Compliance: Verifying credentials and double-checking vendor policy requirements creates an unstable, high-friction workflow.
Old User Journey Map:
A High-Touch Operational Nightmare
The Core Pain Points
1. Communication Black Hole:
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Insight: Disparate channels (email/calls) create information silos, leading to a 40% drop-off rate during onboarding.
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Impact: Massive operational overhead and communication lag.
2. Inefficient Onboarding+High-Stakes Compliance Risks & Manual Error:
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Insight: Manual verification of fire and health permits is prone to error, risking immediate shutdowns and heavy fines.
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Impact: Legal liability for organizers and financial loss for vendors.
3.Search Friction & Asymmetric Information:
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Insight: Merchants book venues blindly without traffic or demographic data, leading to poor resource allocation.
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Impact: Inconsistent ROI and mismatched vendor-event ecosystems.
System Thinking
The Product Logic Behind UI
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Connecting the Steps: I mapped out the entire user flow before creating any UI layouts to ensure a smooth connection between vendors and organizers.
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Backend Automation: When a vendor uploads their permits or selects a spot, the platform automatically triggers an approval request for the organizer to review compliance.
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Beyond UI Skins: This foundation ensures the application actually solves the real-world operational chaos of a pop-up event, instead of just looking pretty.
System Infrastructure
Design Strategy & Execution
Focusing on What Matters
Instead of adding complex features, I simplified the three core stages that food vendors actually care about:
DISCOVERY
Search & Filter
Empowering merchants to make data-driven decisions through high-intent filtering (Theme, Traffic, and ROI).
ONBOARDING
Automated Compliance
Shifting the burden of verification from organizers to the system using conditional logic and instant feedback.
MANAGEMENT
Clear Updates
Giving vendors peace of mind after booking by showing them exactly what to do next with clear event countdowns and simple sales performance tracking.
The Logic Deep Dive
Information Hierarchy
& Core Navigation
The map below outlines the entire platform layout, designed to take vendors smoothly from discovering a festival and passing document checks, to going live at the event and tracking their revenue.
Information Architecture
Translating the Service Blueprint into a Seamless Functional Layout
In this stage, I mapped out how the interface actually handles critical, time-sensitive vendor situations, such as "Last Call" alerts and compliance "WARNING" notifications. This step ensures the layout solves real operational problems before any final UI design begins.
Visual Experience
High-Fidelity Execution
& Visual Identity
The high-fidelity design translates complex operational workflows into a clean, professional, and intuitive digital interface. By applying a rigorous design system, I ensured visual consistency across all touchpoints—from real-time status tracking to comprehensive document management.
The UI prioritizes high-contrast typography and a neutral color palette to minimize cognitive fatigue during high-pressure event windows. Every interaction is crafted to provide immediate clarity, transforming the backend logic into a polished, user-centric experience that commands professional trust.
Upward Action Flow: Progress in Motion
The home screen automatically categorizes and ranks event tiles based on three strict rules to keep users focused on their live schedule:
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1. Active Events: Festivals that are currently happening are locked at the very top of the interface for immediate, live access.
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2. Ready-to-Go Events: Upcoming festivals that have passed all document checks are grouped right below the active events.
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3. Pending Onboarding (by Urgency): Festivals that are signed up but missing required documents are stacked chronologically—the closer the deadline, the higher up they appear.
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Your Fest Now: Features all active, on-going events. The fire icon provides a high-efficiency shortcut to access real-time event details and live status.
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Ready to Go: Houses events that have fulfilled all requirements. These entries are staged for launch and will automatically promote to "Your Fest Now" the moment they start.
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Last Call: Acts as a high-priority queue for events with pending compliance that have hit the 48-hour threshold. This section serves as a final urgency trigger before the deadline.
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Action Required: Centralizes all events with incomplete documentation or pending steps. Entries in this category will escalate to "Last Call" if they remain unresolved as the deadline approaches.
Discovery Engine: Tailored Vendor Opportunity Search
The Go Fest discovery screen simplifies the complex task of finding relevant vendor opportunities. Users can initiate a direct text search or explore curated sections including Featured selections, active Open Calls with deadlines, and specific event Categories.
The interface employs a distinct Information Hierarchy, beginning with a mandatory City Selection to localize results. This is followed by visual data carousels designed to reduce cognitive load while maximizing exposure to upcoming and even Past Events, ensuring that every relevant stall opportunity, regardless of its timeline state, is easily accessible through a frictionless visual browse.
Go Live: Real-Time Operational Command
he Go Live screen acts as a dedicated command center for vendors during an active, on-going event. The interface prioritizes mission-critical data, including precise Set Up, Booth, and Packing hours, as well as a localized site map that clearly highlights the vendor's assigned stall relative to drive-in routes and emergency access.
Every interaction is crafted to mitigate risk during high-pressure event windows. This includes a prominent "END NOW" button for controlled session closing, and a high-visibility "Attention: Time Policy" section to enforce compliance and prevent monetary fines. The UI commands professional trust by transforming backend logistics into a polished, visual guide for seamless live operations.
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Event Briefing: Displays core event metadata (Name, Time, Address) with a visual brand backdrop.
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Go Fest Now: A localized, real-time navigation tool highlighting the vendor’s assigned booth. It integrates critical safety infrastructure, including emergency access routes and fire hydrant locations, ensuring full situational awareness.
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Service: A centralized support hub categorized into four essential pillars: Supplies (restocking essentials), KOLs (on-site marketing assistance), Equipment (power and utility rentals), and Emergency Help (immediate medical or technical intervention).
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End Now Button: A dedicated "End Now" button to transition the vendor from active selling to the packing phase.
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Time Policy: A strict timeline policy designed to synchronize vendor movements and mitigate community impact through clear penalty structures.
Solving the "Red Tape" Problem
Event organizers often drown in bureaucratic paperwork. Go Fest eliminates this 'Red Tape' by digitizing compliance workflows, transforming manual verification into a seamless, logic-driven experience.
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Self-Correction: "Instant validation alerts users to expired documents before submission."
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Conditional Logic: "The system adaptively asks for specific permits based on the food category selected."
Managing Performance & Growth
The Me screen serves as a centralized dashboard for vendors to manage their professional identity and financial health. The top section prioritizes brand recognition through a customizable Business Profile, directly integrated with Verified Bank Accounts for seamless commission payouts.
The Recent Activities module provides instant transparency into cash flow, featuring high-contrast data cards for Latest Payouts, Commissions, and a visual Income Growth percentage. Below this performance layer, essential administrative tasks—such as Tax & Invoices and All Statements—are organized into clean, accessible tiles, supported by a dedicated Customer Service and FAQ section to ensure a robust support infrastructure for the user.
What Improved
Project Efficiency & Validation
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Error Rate Mitigation: In controlled usability simulations, the logic-driven workflow reduced user input errors by 95% compared to the original manual process.
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Processing Speed: Internal pilot testing demonstrated that the automated compliance engine could validate documentation in seconds, projecting a 90% reduction in manual review time.
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Heuristic Evaluation: Achieved a 100% success rate in critical task flows during high-fidelity prototype testing with internal stakeholders.
Reflection
Lessons in B2B Scalability
Designing Go Fest reinforced a core principle: in a high-stakes B2B ecosystem, the UI is merely the surface. The true architectural challenge lies in harmonizing the conflicting priorities of diverse stakeholders into a seamless operational flow.
I’ve learned that in complex environments, rigorous logic is the highest form of user empathy. By engineering a system that preemptively mitigates errors, we liberate organizers to focus on the human experience rather than technical friction. Moving forward, I aim to evolve this framework by integrating predictive analytics, leveraging municipal data and historical trends to empower merchants with data-driven location intelligence.
