What are we looking to do?

An established regional theater chain Cine+ , sought to relieve long lobby queues and drive ancillary revenue by launching a mobile app that enables guests to select seats, purchase tickets. During a 5-month design cycle we combined mixed methods with research with rapid prototyping to deliver an experience that ultimately boosted advance ticket sales by 32 percent in turn this allowed for more staff to be allocated at the snack counter, reducing wait times there by 35 percent.

Discovery & Research Overview

Method

Data

Key Findings

Intercept Interviews in lobby

24 moviegoers, ages 16-58

71 % cite “long lines” as biggest frustration. 25 % avoided ordering use food due to this issue

Mobile Diary Study

12 participants over two weekends

Had issues with not knowing which seats we’re available or theater capacity

Analytics Review of website & kiosks

3 months of logs

39 % of abandoned purchasing food as they were held up at the ticket line and would miss parts of the movie.

Competitive Benchmark (AMC, Cineplex, B&B)

Heuristic scorecard

Best-in-class apps surface concessions earlier and send push “Ready for pickup” alerts.

Problem Statements

Cine+ guests wait an average of 10-20 minutes in lobby queues, causing stress, concession abandonment and late seating.

Concession help is limited at extra staff is spending time at the ticketing lobby.

Guest frustration with finding out theater is at capacity only when in person.

How might we’s

HMW reduce lobby wait time without adding permanent staff?

‍HMW Allow guests to see capacity and potentially select seats before they arrive?

‍HMW Allow concession to be better prepared for guest before they arrive?

Ideation & Concept Development

Crazy-8s sketch workshop (cross-functional) → 48 concepts

‍Storyboarding around Dana & Paul’s journeys

‍Feature Prioritization Matrix (Value × Effort)Must-Have: seat map, Apple/Google Pay, concessions bundleShould-Have: push alerts, loyalty walletCould-Have: AR way-finding to auditorium

Prototyping & Testing

Iteration

Prototype Fidelity

Test Type & Metrics

V1 paper sketches

Hallway usability (n = 7)

2 of 7 missed “Add snacks” CTA → repositioned.

V2 clickable Figma

Time-to-checkout ↓ 46 %. • App clip-onboarding friction surfaced → added “guest checkout.

V3 hi-fi InVision + live seat data

In-theatre pilot (n = 85)

92 % pickup within 5 min of alert. • Net Promoter Score +27 vs kiosk.

Remote task-based (n = 12)

Visual & Interaction Design Highlights

Dark theme for theater ambience; high-contrast CTAs

‍Persistent cart drawer shows Movie ticket + Summary of seating

‍Accessibility enhancements for users to be able to use voice assistance and screen reader technology directly from the application.

Impact & Metrics (First 10 Weeks Post-Launch)

KPI's

Baseline

After Launnch

Advance ticket sales

38 % of total

70%

Average lobby wait time

14 Minutes

5 Minutes

Concession revenue

$4.10

$5.50

App adoption among visitors

54%

Qualitative wins

“Skip-the-line is a game-changer.”

Staff report less peak-time chaos, reallocating two cashiers to usher service on Saturdays.

Potential Future Enhancements

Seat-side Delivery pilot for premium seats.Custom user profile for saved seats, snack items etc.

Accessibility Upgrades: voice-controlled ordering for visually impaired guests.

UX Design Story Board- Big picture & close up

Low-fidelity wireframes

prototype

Conclusion & Highlights

The Cine+ mobile app transformed the ticketing experience by empowering guests to handle viewing times and seats on their own time, whilst the team explored how best to incorporate the purchasing of concession items. This may roll out in a phase 2 after further testing.
‍

32 % boost in ticket purchases driven by early, frictionless checkout.

65 % reduction in box-office and concession queues, smoothing lobby flow.

30 % lift in per-guest concession spend via well-timed snack prompts.

By combining user-centered research, iterative design, and tight POS integration, Cinemax not only met its operational goals but also strengthened brand loyalty through a seamless, queue-free moviegoing journey.