Background

During the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown, an annual event was scheduled to take place, but had to be moved online. The goal of this project was to create a virtual platform that would allow attendees to participate in the event from the safety and comfort of their own homes. The platform needed to be easy to navigate and provide an engaging and interactive experience for attendees.

"The CogX Festival is the world’s largest gathering of CEOs, entrepreneurs, academics, artists, activists and policy makers working together to address the biggest questions, achievements and challenges of the influential technologies shaping our future."
Charlie Muirhead, CEO

To begin, we conducted research to understand the specific needs and requirements of the event organisers and attendees. This included surveying attendees to understand their preferences for virtual event platforms and gathering feedback on previous virtual events they had participated in.

Based on this research, we designed a platform that featured a central hub for attendees to access all the event's content and activities. The hub included a schedule of events, speaker bios and presentation materials, and a virtual exhibitor hall.

To enhance the interactive experience, we also included a variety of social and networking features. These included live chat rooms, virtual breakout sessions, and a virtual networking lounge where attendees could connect with one another.

For Event Sponsors & Exhibitors

One key feature that we added was a virtual exhibition hall which allowed attendees to access the event sponsors and exhibitors, interact with them, and access their products and services.

To ensure that the platform would be accessible to all attendees, we made sure that it was mobile-friendly and compatible with a variety of devices. We also included closed captioning and other accessibility options to accommodate attendees with different needs.

OUTCOME

The event was a huge success, with thousands of attendees participating and engaging with the content and activities on the platform. Attendees praised the platform for its ease of use and interactive features, and event organisers were thrilled with the high level of engagement and attendance.

Overall, this project demonstrated my ability to design and develop a virtual event platform that effectively meets the needs of both event organisers and attendees, even in challenging circumstances like a pandemic. I believe this project is a great example of my skills and experience as a product design consultant.

• Increased customer happiness through faster innovation and faster time to value

• Enabled an accessible, responsive experience for users

• Provided ready-to-use design assets and components for designers and engineers

Future Developments