PADOS Theatre
Digital Theatre Experience
Project overview
Redesigned and revitalised the brand identity for PADOS Theatre, a charitable organisation, to create an enhanced digital experience. This included developing a user-friendly show booking system, improving community engagement to increase turnover and attract investment, as well as streamlining the waitlist management for the highly sought-after youth and junior theatre groups.
Timelines
6 months (including planning, ideation, design, testing and delivery)
Role
UX designer - responsible for the overall design and implementation.
Team
1 person (me)
About PADOS Theatre
PADOS (Prestwich Amateur Dramatic & Operatic Society) Theatre, rooted in Prestwich since 1919, is a vibrant community institution with a rich history in amateur theatre.
From its origins in the St. Hilda’s Glee Club to its transformation of the former Prestwich Library into the PADOS Studio Theatre, the society has showcased captivating productions across iconic venues.
Today, PADOS thrives with Adult, Junior, and Youth groups, delivering West End-style classics and innovative performances, while fostering future talent and keeping its century-long legacy alive.
Problem areas
Customers are unable to use the digital services to engage with the charity.
Attendance at shows and events has been poor resulting in a lower production quality as a result of cost cutting.
The theatre building is in need of major repairs which requires investment in order to keep serving the community.
The Youth and Junior groups are now at full capacity, but we still need to engage with new participants to meet our charity charter.
Conducting research
Before I started this project, I looked to competitors of the brand to understand how they navigated a user through an account opening journey.
Data review
To kick off the research, I began by analysing the data to identify which pages were most visited, which were underutilised, and which were no longer necessary. This analysis revealed key insights that could be presented to the committee to inform a strategic plan moving forward.
From the graph above, it’s evident that site traffic was highly inconsistent and couldn’t be tied to any specific campaign or event type. Apart from notable spikes during key annual events, there was little indication of ongoing user engagement with the site. This highlighted a critical issue: there was no compelling reason for users to return to the site or engage more deeply with the charity. To address this, I recognized the need to enhance the site’s overall value and the relevance of each page to foster greater user engagement and encourage repeat visits.
Another significant finding was the high percentage of users accessing the charity’s website via mobile devices. However, the site wasn’t designed with a mobile-first approach, making navigation and engagement challenging. This created several accessibility barriers, particularly for users with lower technical literacy or specific accessibility needs. Addressing these mobile usability issues became a key priority in improving the user experience.
Talk to members
To understand the challenges members of the charity faced, I engaged directly with those involved. These included people who attend events, participants of the shows, backstage crew, parents/leaders of the youth and junior groups.
This helped me immerse myself in the charity’s culture and identify the following key issues with its digital platform.
- Mobile Usability Problem – The website wasn’t optimised for mobile, with content loading incorrectly and text sizes making important booking information hard to read.
- Lack of Event Awareness – Members often missed events due to insufficient reminders or not knowing about them at all.
- Concerns About Credibility – The website’s outdated design led to distrust, especially among older users, who found it unprofessional and untrustworthy.
- Inconvenient Booking Processes – Many resorted to booking events at the bar due to the platform’s inefficiencies, creating extra admin work and lost revenue when the bar was inaccessible.
Youth & Junior teams
Youth and Junior theatre programs are a significant source of revenue for the charity, thanks to their large participant base and the associated income. However, the demands of organising productions for both groups each year are considerable, requiring meticulous management to ensure success.
Working with children and young people naturally involves close engagement with parents. This includes addressing safeguarding concerns, providing regular updates on rehearsals and performance schedules, and managing other essential communications to ensure the theatre operates smoothly.
To better support these efforts, I worked closely with the youth and junior teams to understand their specific digital needs. Our goal was to reassure parents about their children’s safety, ensure high production quality through seamless rehearsal planning, and implement a user-friendly online booking system for payments.
Additionally, the popularity of these programs had created a waitlist, which was being managed manually with paper and pen. A key requirement was to digitise this process to improve efficiency and allow more participants to join the youth and junior groups. This initiative aligned with the charity’s mission to enhance community engagement and broaden access to the arts.
Defining the design area
How might we make the website more accessible, especially to an older audience?
How might we showcase the efforts of the organisation to serve the community to attract external investment.
How might we promote under performing ticket sales to increase revenue.
Measuring success
Understand what success looked like for the project was vital to its success to help show the return on investment for PADOS.
Site traffic
Monitoring site traffic numbers to see how changes in the site pages will affect engagement.
Increase revenue
If more people are able to access the site to book tickets, this will positively affect revenue.
Conversion
How many people that engage with the charity's digital effort convert into sales revenue.
Considerations
Stakeholders were needed to be aware of the following factors that were outside of the project control but could negatively effect the project outcome.
Show Quality
If the overall quality of the production or event is subpar, it will likely result in decreased sales, as word of mouth spreads. This could also harm the charity’s reputation and brand image.
Quantity of Events/Shows
Building on the point above, it’s essential to maintain a consistent flow of events or shows for members to engage with. A steady stream of offerings will help sustain interest in the charity and keep its audience actively involved.
Ideation and testing
Opportunity to think about possible solutions taking user and charity needs into consideration. Talking with the committee and members was crucial here to make sure nothing is missed.
Event planning
A key requirement from the charity, given the variety of offerings such as shows, social events, meetings, auditions, and rehearsals, was a user-friendly event management solution.
The Wix platform provides a seamless way to add and manage events through its embedded features. I tested this functionality with several community members to ensure it was intuitive and accessible to a wide audience. This solution enables the website to automatically update with new events, requiring minimal technical expertise to keep the event listings current.
Additionally, the platform includes features to track ticket numbers in advance, allowing the charity to plan promotional efforts more effectively. It also offers reporting tools to identify which performance days were most successful and which nights could benefit from targeted strategies, such as applying discount codes, to boost ticket sales.
However, it’s important to note that training and business readiness efforts will be necessary to ensure multiple users can effectively add, edit, and update events as needed.
Inbox feature
To ensure ongoing communication with audiences, guests, and members, we implemented a solution that allowed responses from multiple team members, directing inquiries to the appropriate committee.
This streamlined volunteer workflows and centralised communication. Additionally, the charity could engage the community via both email and SMS, offering flexibility.
The Youth and Junior teams used this feature for important updates, such as rehearsal changes and costume details. It also helped keep new participants engaged while waiting for a spot.
Overall, this solution boosted engagement and improved our ability to serve the community.
Unified branding
When I first began reviewing the project, it became clear that a wide range of inconsistent branding styles was being used across digital and printed platforms. This inconsistency not only caused confusion among guests but also undermined the charity’s credibility and accessibility.
To address this, we unified the brand under a cohesive style guide, adopting a minimalist black-and-white theme. This design choice not only ensured a clean and professional look but also allowed the show content to take centre stage.
By enhancing contrast ratios, the new branding made content more readable and inclusive for a broader audience, including individuals with visual impairments.
Installation and delivery
To make delivery smooth and efficient, there was a great deal of communication needed to ensure that nothing was missed and could be actioned on time to the business schedule.
Project reflections
Time to reflect and understand what went well and what could be done better.
Improved site traffic
Since launching the project and updating the website, PADOS has experienced a remarkable 117% increase in site traffic compared to the same month before the changes were implemented. Notably, 64.8% of this traffic consists of new users, demonstrating that the enhanced digital experience is successfully engaging fresh audiences in Prestwich and the surrounding areas.
Creating a unified approach on all digital touch points
We launched a monthly members’ newsletter to enhance community engagement. This initiative offered exclusive discounts and insider information, making members feel valued and connected while driving greater brand interaction and increasing ticket sales, which, in turn, boosted revenue.
In parallel, our social media campaigns directed users to the website for additional information and bookings, consolidating traffic to a single, unified source. This streamlined approach eliminated the need for the charity to update multiple platforms, ensuring that any website update automatically kept all audiences informed.
Moreover, we ensured that the mobile experience was fully aligned with the desktop version, allowing members and users to access the charity’s information and make bookings seamlessly, wherever they chose. This approach prioritized accessibility and inclusivity, catering to a diverse range of user preferences.
Testimonial from Claire - Executive committee member
“Working with Ben has been an absolute breath of fresh air. He quickly grasped the core values of our charity and fully understood the challenges we faced, particularly in terms of our limited digital knowledge and lack of a clear implementation strategy.
His work ethic has been exceptional, demonstrating professionalism at every step. Ben ensured that all members of our committee were kept informed and involved throughout the process, providing clear communication and addressing how any changes could impact the charity’s mission.
The results of Ben’s efforts have been remarkable, particularly the 117% increase in website traffic. This growth has directly contributed to a boost in sales, increased revenue, and higher community engagement, allowing us to better fulfil our mission and make a meaningful impact surrounding the arts.”