Concert.ua — Demand Transparency Feature

🔖 Introduction

The product: Concert.ua

Concert.ua is one of Ukraine’s leading platforms for buying tickets to concerts, theater shows, and festivals.

It helps users explore upcoming events, purchase tickets digitally, and stay up to date with cultural happenings.

Live page desktop view with no FOMO indicatiors

About the project

This project was part of a Service Design Sprint, focused on the second Double Diamond (Develop & Deliver) stage.

Concert.ua asked us to reduce FOMO around popular shows. My challenge was simple: surface ticket demand clearly so people can decide faster — without feeling pressured.

I worked as a Product Designer, responsible for identifying pain points, developing solutions, and conducting quick user testing to validate them.

Event page with countdown

🤔 Problem space

Problem to solve

👉 Users fear missing out on popular events that sell out fast — they want to feel in control, not rushed or left out.

Concert.ua users often miss out on high-demand events because they sell out too quickly.

During the first Double Diamond phase, this issue appeared in user feedback and journey mapping. The lack of visibility into ticket demand left users guessing about when to buy — some delayed too long, others rushed without confidence.

Current solution

At the time, Concert.ua didn’t show real-time demand or ticket scarcity.

The only moment users knew tickets were gone was when an event became “Sold Out.”
Without demand signals, they couldn’t tell whether ticket prices might rise or if only a few seats were left.

Event page showing no demand or price context.

How do we know it is a problem

User feedback: “I wish I knew earlier that tickets were selling fast — I would’ve bought sooner.”

Stakeholder insight: Popular shows had high traffic but low conversion due to user indecision and missed timing.

💭 Why solve these problems?

The goal wasn’t just to add urgency — it was to make users feel informed, not pressured.

Reduce frustration and FOMO: Real-time demand helps users make faster, more confident purchase decisions.

Boost conversion for high-demand events: Communicating urgency (“Almost sold out,” “Price valid until…”) helps users act at the right moment — not too late.

🎯 Goals

Company objective

Increase conversion rates for self-purchased tickets — helping users complete purchases faster and with more confidence.

Project goals

Within the sprint, our design team translated this objective into actionable goals:

Show real-time demand (e.g., “Almost sold out,” “Price valid until…”) to make urgency visible without creating pressure.

Encourage faster decisions by helping users feel informed rather than manipulated.

Validate the concept quickly through hallway and remote user testing before refining the visual hierarchy.

👤 Our users

User type: Active cultural goer

Anastasiia, 30, is a bookstore manager from Kyiv who regularly attends theater and live shows with friends or family. She uses online ticketing platforms to plan social activities and stay in touch with cultural trends.

Goals: Spend quality time with loved ones and stay connected to new cultural events.

Needs: Quick access to trusted event information, fair pricing, and transparent availability.

Pain points: Popular events sell out before she can decide; unclear demand signals make her hesitate.

🌟 Solution space

Exploratory research

During the sprint, we began by exploring how users react to different ways of showing event demand and urgency.

Our goal was to find a balance between helpful transparency and stressful pressure.

To do that, I ran hallway testing with colleagues using early low-fidelity mockups.

The goal was to quickly check whether users understood the meaning of new FOMO indicators and how they influenced attention or decision-making.

Who we tested

5 colleagues familiar with e-commerce or ticketing platforms.

Tests were informal but structured around key questions on clarity, trust, and emotional response.

Hypotheses

Clear demand indicators (e.g., “Almost sold out,” “Price valid until…”) would help users decide faster.

Overly prominent or aggressive elements (e.g., large timers) would cause stress or feel manipulative.

Learnings

💡 Insight 1: Users understood the concept of demand transparency but felt that large urgency blocks looked too “salesy.”

💡 Insight 2: People reacted positively to subtle signals of scarcity, especially when paired with factual info (like remaining tickets).

💡 Insight 3: Emotional tone mattered — neutral, informative language increased trust and reduced perceived pressure.

Decision

Based on feedback, we merged demand and time indicators into one compact component, tested the new hierarchy with real users, and refined the visual tone to feel informative instead of urgent.

💡 Solutions

👉 Users fear missing out on popular shows that sell out fast.

I introduced demand transparency elements across event cards and pages — such as

“Almost sold out,” “Low price until [date],” and remaining ticket counters — to communicate popularity and urgency in a clear, trustworthy way.

These indicators make ticket demand visible, helping users decide when to buy without adding sales pressure.

Assumptions

Real-time availability and demand visibility will help users make faster, more confident decisions.

Transparent, data-driven design will build trust and reduce frustration when tickets sell out.

Considerations

Overuse of urgency indicators could feel stressful or manipulative.

Data accuracy is critical — outdated info could harm credibility and user trust.

✏️ Low-fidelity exploration

Design concept

In the early stage, I explored different ways to visualize event demand and help users understand ticket urgency without adding pressure.

The first concept (FOMO v.1) introduced:

“Price rising soon” and “Almost sold out” banners directly on event cards.

A separate category block for time-limited offers with a highlighted background.

Countdown timers placed on event pages to emphasize urgency.

The second concept (FOMO v.2) aimed to simplify the experience by:

Merging countdowns and availability counters into one small, unified element.

Using neutral, data-driven language (e.g., “Tickets sold: 82%”) instead of emotional messaging.

Keeping urgency visible but balanced within the existing Concert.ua layout.

📄 These two approaches were later compared in hallway testing to evaluate which method users found more intuitive and trustworthy.

🎨 High-fidelity design

Design concept

After refining the concept through testing, I translated the idea into a prototype, focusing on consistency with Concert.ua’s brand

1. Home page with visible FOMO indicators

The homepage now shows urgency states directly on event cards — such as “Almost sold out” or “Low price until [date]”.

These small ribbons make ticket demand visible at a glance without cluttering the layout or feeling pushy.

🟢 Goal: Help users instantly identify popular or time-sensitive events while browsing.

Home page with FOMO indicators and category section

2. Event page with real-time countdown and ticket data

Each event page displays two compact indicators above the event title:

Countdown timer until ticket sales or event start.

Ticket availability bar showing how many seats remain.

Both elements are merged into a single visual system, tested to keep urgency informative rather than stressful.

🟢 Goal: Support faster decision-making by giving clear context about demand.

Event page with countdown and remaining tickets info

3. Sorting and filtering for upcoming events

A new sorting option lets users organize events by ticket availability or urgency level.

This helps them focus on shows that are “almost gone” or “about to start”, improving discoverability and engagement.

🟢 Goal: Let users take control over how they explore — turning FOMO into an actionable, positive behavior.

Sorting page displaying events sorted by FOMO relevance

Prototype (recording)

🧪 Usability testing

I tested the high-fidelity prototype with 3 participants who regularly attend concerts and theater events.

The goal was to validate whether the new demand transparency indicators helped users notice urgency naturally — without causing stress or feeling manipulative.

All sessions were conducted remotely, with screen sharing and guided tasks.

Test flow

Key questions and hypotheses

Will users notice and correctly interpret demand indicators (progress bars, labels)?

Do the urgency elements feel helpful or manipulative?

Does the unified indicator (countdown + tickets) improve clarity over the previous layout?

Results

✅ 3/3 participants noticed and correctly understood “Remaining tickets” and the progress bar.

⚠️ 2/3 participants initially found the countdown timer too strong, associating it with “marketing pressure,” but accepted it after tone adjustments.

💬 All participants said they were more likely to click events with visible demand or expiring prices.

👎 Feedback showed that the two large urgency blocks (from the first version) felt distracting and visually heavy.

Improvements implemented

Fixed: Aggressive urgency display.

Participants described the countdown and ticket blocks as too large and distracting.

Solution: I merged both into a single compact indicator, keeping urgency visible but balanced and aligned with Concert.ua’s calm tone.

❌ Before: Two large blocks for countdown and ticket count created visual noise.

✅ After: One unified element — smaller, lighter, and contextually aligned with event.

Outcome

The improved version balanced urgency and transparency, enhancing both user experience and perceived brand reliability.

Usability testing confirmed that clear, factual demand indicators can motivate faster decisions without reducing trust or comfort.

📊 Measuring success

Was the project successful and why?

This sprint was successful — the concept of demand transparency clearly addressed the original pain point of uncertainty and FOMO.

User testing confirmed that participants:

Understood event demand indicators instantly.

Felt more confident and less “pushed” to buy.

Considered the updated interface visually calmer and more trustworthy.

By the end of the sprint, the team and stakeholders validated the idea as a potential feature for future Concert.ua iterations.

Metrics and KPIs

While this was a concept sprint without live data, we defined how success could be measured after implementation:

Conversion rate for high-demand events ⬆️ — users make faster decisions when demand is clear.

Reduced cart abandonment ⬇️ — fewer users drop off due to hesitation or fear of missing out.

User trust & satisfaction ⬆️ — measured via post-purchase survey (clarity, transparency, comfort).

Impact on company goals

The solution directly contributes to Concert.ua’s business goal:

“Increase conversion on personal ticket purchases.”

By making ticket demand visible and reliable, the feature helps users decide faster while keeping the brand tone transparent and respectful — improving both conversion and long-term trust.

🌱 Future vision / next steps

Long-term vision

Test the demand transparency feature with a larger audience (10–15 users) to validate clarity, trust, and emotional comfort.

Explore personalized demand cues, such as “Trending in your city” or “Tickets selling fast near you.”

Integrate real-time ticket data to make availability and price changes dynamic.