spectacle: new Music Service
Role: Led the physical pop-up shop design, developed the service blueprint, and contributed to user research.
Team: Visual Designer, Researcher, UX Lead
Timeline: 9 weeks
Recognition: This project was selected as a method example in the Service Design chapter of Universal Methods of Design (2019).
Most people who've never been to an opera actually enjoy it when they go. The problem isn't the experience — it's everything around it. The unfamiliarity. The effort. The feeling that it's not for them.
Spectacle is a service that curates personalized package experiences centered around a cultural music event, paired with dining and entertainment.
design PROCESS
We started broad — exploring how music shows up in people's lives across five territories: patterns, culture, access, inclusivity, and environments.
What kept pulling us back was the overlap between culture and patterns. Music as a way to explore cultures you don't know yet, or reconnect with ones you've drifted from. That became our focus.
Brainstorm after exploratory research
Defining the Problem
speed dating
Through our research, we found attendance at classical, jazz, dance, and opera performances had been steadily declining. The cultural arts need fresh audiences to thrive. We asked ourselves: How might a music service increase engagement with music genres that are struggling or falling out of fashion?
The more interesting finding came from our surveys: most people who had actually been to an opera enjoyed it. Many people are reluctant to attend due to false preconceptions about what they will experience or hesitation to invest time, money, and effort into something unfamiliar. The barrier wasn't the experience. It was getting people through the door.
We presented three service scenarios through speed dating sessions — gathering rapid feedback on what resonated. The touchpoints that excited people most became the building blocks of Spectacle.
interviews
We spoke with music instructors, Pittsburgh Festival Opera staff, and marketing directors to understand the supply side of the problem.
The key pivot: opera only runs a few seasons per year. So we expanded our scope to include all institutions of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust — symphony, ballet, and concert series — giving Spectacle a much richer canvas to work with.
Before Spectacle
service blueprint
I contributed to the service blueprint — mapping actors, touchpoints, and backstage processes across the full customer journey from awareness to return.
With Spectacle
Final Service Blueprint
value flow map
I mapped the value flow independently — tracing how money, data, and experience circulate between users, Spectacle, art organizations, partners, venues, and performers.
User test web app
We tested our service web app wireframes with target users — focusing on three questions: how comfortable people are sharing personal information, what we actually need to build a custom package, and how much of the experience should be revealed upfront versus kept as a surprise.
The user tests revealed two types of users: those who want full control over their evening and those who prefer a fully packaged VIP experience. Users appreciated minimizing the onboarding process and showed interest in event types like bars, ice cream places, coffee shops, museums, and parks. They suggested including illustrated people, generating different combinations, displaying reviews, and offering physical invitations, such as a boarding pass. The boarding pass idea came directly from users — and became one of Spectacle's most distinctive touchpoints.
Pop up shop
I designed the physical pop-up shop experience entirely. Five design principles guided the space:
Whimsical — visually playful to signal this is welcoming and fun.
Mystery — holding back just enough to make the reveal feel magical.
Customization — interactive panels showing variety of options so there's something for everyone.
Ownership — choose and combine your own package in real time.
Social — Instagram moments that inspire friends to try new art forms, with easy app onboarding to keep the momentum going.
Lightweight — easy to transport and set up across different cities.
Final RESULT
the pop-up
Spectacle is an end-to-end service that curates personalized experiences centered around a cultural music event, paired with dining and entertainment. It aims to revitalize interest in these music genres and provide a memorable, holistic experience for users. Each main touchpoint addresses the key problems identified in our research.
Tap to Reveal — the Mystery principle translated into physical interaction
THE WEB APP
The pop-up brings Spectacle into the physical world — giving potential audiences a taste of what we offer and a seamless path to onboarding through the web app.
THE INVITATION
Physical invitation serves as a passport to their experience
Concept Video
REFLECTION
Partnerships — How can we expand our thinking beyond the Cultural Trust and consider partnerships with arts in Pittsburgh as a whole?
Onboarding — How can we streamline the backend onboarding process to make it easier for organizations to partner with Spectacle?
Data — How can we present data within Spectacle to derive meaningful insights for arts organizations?
User Test Pop Up — How might we validate whether the pop-up actually felt the way we intended? Did the space feel whimsical? Did the mystery land? And is there untapped business opportunity in the physical space itself?