An evolution of a cultural icon

Instance handled the strategy, UX, web design & development of a new vision for LUX.

LUX needed a website that was easy to use, visually stunning, and capable of showcasing its rich program offerings. Key pain points included:

• A confusing, outdated design that did not reflect LUX’s modern identity.
• A cumbersome agenda and event discovery process.
• Difficulty in finding relevant content and purchasing tickets.
• A need for seamless integration with Active Tickets for real-time ticketing updates.

Our mission was clear: create a modern, intuitive, and conversion-driven digital experience that caters to both loyal LUX patrons and newcomers.

Strategy, Workshops, UX Design

Instance took on all facets of strategy, planning and project management, facilitating all required skills to bring the project to life.

Initial Research & Strategy

We began with comprehensive market research to understand the competitive landscape and best practices within the industry. Our research involved; in-depth user interviews to gain insights into audience behaviours and pain points, ensuring that design decisions were driven by real user needs, a deep-dive into existing analytics to assess the performance of the existing website, identifying patterns that could guide optimisation efforts, and a full audit of LUX’s digital ecosystem to identify areas for improvement.

We then conducted multiple collaborative workshops with the LUX team, running exercises and activities to help the transfer of their knowledge to the us, and challenge them to explore marketing and strategic avenues we could harness moving forward.

From this research and our workshops we identified two primary user groups:

1. Loyal LUX Patrons – Regular visitors familiar with LUX’s programming who required quick and easy access to their favorite content.
2. Newcomers – Users unfamiliar with LUX who need guidance and persuasion through clear navigation and engaging storytelling.

User Experience Design, Workshop collaboration

Based on research findings, workshops and established user groups, we crafted detailed user stories and developed four unique audience personas. This informed our user flow designs which focused on:

• Targeted navigation options tailored to different audience types and their needs.
• Clear and obvious pathways to required content.
• Discovery of Programmes and time-based exploration via a new Agenda.
• Optimised ticket purchasing journeys with minimal friction, reducing drop-offs and improving conversions.
• Mobile-first wireframes focused on clear, easy to use interfaces.

Ticketing E-commerce & Checkout

To address LUX’s complex ticketing needs, we built a custom e-commerce solution fully integrated with Active Tickets. Their existing approach was difficult to use for the user, and had almost no customisation opotions for LUX. We teamed up with Active Tickets and executed a seperate project to redefine how the whole process was handled from top to bottom. To achieve this used:

• Wireframing and prototyping to iterate on the optimal purchase flow, ensuring that each step was as intuitive as possible, reducing unnecessary steps and enhancing usability.
• Multiple pathways to cater to simple purchases as well as complex pacakges, focusing on a frictionless checkout experience optimised for conversions.
• Adding in clear and obvious steps to allow users to navigate in and out of the ticket purchasing flow.

Web Design

A critical component was the maintenance of brand consistency while improving usability. We collaborated closely with Thonik to incorporate their branding into the website’s visual identity, taking their lead for the established style and marrying that vision with our UX design. We supplied Thonik with our wireframes along with clear instructions about what could be and could not be altered to ensure top UX, to allow them to build the identity around clear parameters. We did this by:

• Translating the new LUX identity into beautiful web design with rich imagery and video, along with intuitive UI components, ensuring a cohesive look and feel across all pages.
• Iterating multiple design versions based on client feedback, refining each detail until the final product was both functional and visually compelling.
• Ensuring an engaging, visually stunning experience across desktop and mobile, delivering a seamless experience regardless of device.

Web Development

The LUX website was built on WordPress as per the client’s request, to ensure easy content management. Programme content is managed in an external system (Active Tickets) and is synced to the website every 15mins. Other written content is entered into the website as expected, in a bespoke flexible management system built specifically for LUX and their needs. The web design was realised in-house by our developers and integrated with the E-commerce system for a singular, seamless result. This was achieved by:

• Seamless integration with Active Tickets for real-time content and ticket availability, eliminating inconsistencies and manual updates.
• A robust and scalable architecture that ensures long-term reliability, allowing the platform to grow with LUX’s evolving needs.
• Optimised performance for fast load times and smooth interactions, ensuring a frustration-free user experience.
• A CMS structure that allows LUX to easily update events and content, empowering their team with full control over their digital presence.

Digital signage & screens on location

Additionally, we developed a digital signage system for LUX’s café and foyer screens. This system pulls real-time data from the website to display upcoming showtimes and ticket status across 15+ venue screens.

The Results!

Our work on the LUX website resulted in significant improvements across key performance metrics:

• Conversions increased by 22%,

• Overall ticket sales rose by 8%.

• Time spent on site increased by 18%

Through a combination of strategic UX design, cutting-edge web development, and a deep understanding of LUX’s audience, we successfully transformed their digital presence. The new website is not only beautiful and functional but also an essential tool in LUX’s mission to bring arthouse cinema and cultural experiences to a wider audience.