Thesis Week 3: Analysis on virtual event engagement for a large audience

Topic: Virtual events focusing on design festivals/summits

User Volume

1. 1on1 meeting
2. Team-based meeting (2~10 people)
3. Collaboration meeting (11~25 people)
4. Small speaker sessions (26~100 people)
5. Company-wide conferences (101~5,000 people)
6. Global summit/festival (5,000+)

Structures (Need to be visualized with an estimated time and order)

1. 1on1 meeting: Waiting/Small talk, QnA(Coffee chat/Walkthrough), Offer a recording(Rarely)
2. Team-based meeting: Waiting/Small talk, Agenda, Share-out/walkthrough, Review/QnA, Offer a recording(Occasionally)
3. Collaboration meeting: Waiting/Small talk, Agenda, Brainstorming/Discussion/Review, QnA, Offer a recording(Sometimes)
4. Small speaker sessions: Waiting, Introduction of the event/speakers, Live chat(by participants), QnA, Offer a recording
5. Company-wide conferences: Opening, Introduction of the event/speakers, Live chat(by participants), QnA, Closing, Offer a recording
6. Global summit/festival: Ticketing, Getting a link, Opening, Introduction of the event/speaker(by moderators), Presentation, Live chat(by participants), QnA, Closing, Offer a limited recording

User scope

1. Speakers
2. Participants
3. Staff members / Event organizers

I chatted with two people about the topic. The interview helped me discover user pain points based on their experiences. As I analyzed their stories, I also figured out opportunities on virtual event experiences.

Painpoints/Findings

Speaker

• “At on-site events, I can feel the vibrant energy from live audience.”
• “Most types of meetings make me feel the same, as I sit in my room and present.”
• “I have had a lack of opportunities to interact with the audience, compared to on-site events.”
• “It is hard to catch the audience reaction or their feelings”
• “No live interaction. Even if I read out the script or show them a pre-recording, people might not recognize that I am faking.

Participants

• “Sometimes I feel disconnected with the speaker during the session.”
• “If virtual events are not structured well, I feel easily distracted.”
• “Live chat is mostly too fast and monotonous. People repeat the same things such as “Hi there.”, “Thank you.”
• “A moderator misunderstood my question.”
• “A lack of ‘bonding’ opportunities with other participants”

Opportunities

• Mix and match break out rooms, Impromptu meeting: Meet people from diverse backgrounds
• Introverts: Could be more confident to speak out loud, Can use multimedia(pre-recording audio/video, background music) when presenting
• People from any locations can join virtual events if they have the internet
• Current online events are mostly composed of one-way speaker sessions.
• Voting for the questions helps speakers understand about people’s interest
• Anonymous questions, typing questions on a chat: Easier to ask questions