Design Research for
The Texas Tribune Festival
Identifying opportunities for connection.
As The Texas Tribune’s Design Fellow, a lot of my work revolved around production design for The Texas Tribune Festival. Since its first year in 2011, TribFest has seen a lot of change throughout the years, from venues and topics to the visual brand of the Festival. The Tribune is known to be a pioneer in all realms in and out of media, keeping a close eye on what matters to audiences, and adapting to an ever-dynamic field.
As the festival evolves, so do the needs of its attendees. This year, I led design research efforts focusing on understanding the guest experience—examining how attendees navigated the event, engaged with the festival’s content, and connected with one another, with the goal of uncovering insights that could inform improvements for future events, with a particular focus on creating spaces for productive, engaging, and genuine cross-pollination and sharing of ideas.
To capture a comprehensive picture of the attendee experience, I conducted in-depth interviews with festival guests, observed how they interacted with the event space, and gathered insights on their use of digital tools such as the festival app. I then synthesized this information into journeymaps, current state maps, and an analysis of the guest experience at TribFest. I then pitched ideas and mockups for future iterations of Festival.
I was tasked with uncovering insights that could inform improvements for future events, with a particular focus on creating spaces for productive, engaging, and genuine cross-pollination and sharing of ideas.
While I did a lot of the on-site ethnography work, I worked in collaboration with The Texas Tribune’s Design Team: Jacob Villanueva and Alfredo Palacios.
Objective & Team
Methodology
To capture a comprehensive picture of the attendee experience, I conducted in-depth interviews with festival guests, observed how they interacted with the event space, and gathered insights on their use of digital tools such as the festival app. Through this mixed-method approach, I identified key patterns in how attendees navigated the festival, the challenges they faced, and the moments that stood out to them.
Read more about the research strategies I’ve employed for TribFest here.
Key Themes
As I documented the attendee experience through interviews, observations, and journey mapping, several recurring themes emerged. These insights represent the core challenges and opportunities that shaped how attendees engaged with the festival
this year.
Some key findings at The Texas Tribune Festival.
As I captured the attendee experience through interviews, observations, and the creation of journey and current state maps, distinct patterns in the festival journey surfaced. These visualizations offer a structured breakdown of the attendee’s path, from pre-event planning to post-festival reflections.
By mapping out each phase of the experience and documenting key touchpoints, emotions, and opportunities for improvement, these maps highlight where the festival excels and where it can grow.
Journeymapping
A journeymap representing the experiences of the 4 user personas highlighted in my research. While individual journeymaps were created, viewing them all in one place allows stakeholders to compare and contrast, and identify areas of improvement for all.
Current state maps for the student and first-time attendee experiences.
Recommendations & Ideas
As the Texas Tribune Festival evolves, the focus remains on fostering productive conversations and encouraging exchanging ideas. In response to feedback from attendees, stakeholders, and observations from TribFest 2024, I proposed recommendations and ideas to enhance the festival experience.
These proposals, grouped into three categories—The Digital Transition Plan, Interactive Exhibits, and Creating Space for Connection—sought to streamline information delivery, foster engagement, and create more opportunities for meaningful connections among attendees.
