A complex overhaul for an outdated design

Site Solutions Worldwide (SSW) is a team of professionals specializing in the management of meeting services for virtual, hybrid, and live events. Their expertise spans a variety of key areas essential for successful events, including attendee registration, hotel accommodations, agenda & schedule, financial management, and more. Our agency embarked on a transformative journey with the SSW team to redesign their event management platform from the ground up—streamlining workflows, overhauling the UI, and introducing quality of life improvements to further increase productivity.

Spanning a two year timeline, this ambitious engagement gave us the opportunity to greatly improve a platform in dire need of a redesign. SSW’s original event management solution, Synergy, employed an outdated text-based interface that was overwhelming, poorly organized, and visually unappealing. In addition to bringing the platform’s UX up to modern standards, we were faced with the challenge of successfully integrating several databases that were intricately interlinked and interdependent upon one another. Before diving into our redesign, we needed to first understand the extent of these relationships.

Unraveling workflows and connected databases

In close collaboration with the SSW team, we began by creating user flow diagrams to map SSW’s current workflows for a variety of key tasks. Ranging from registration form creation and invoice tracking to inputting accommodations and managing event websites, we outlined a total of 44 modules we’d need to rebuild in Synergy Live. We included screenshots from the original Synergy platform alongside key steps to track how users were navigating the current platform throughout each task, taking note of pain points and areas for improvement along the way.

Once we understood overall task flows for each module independently, we outlined platform logic in further detail using data structure diagrams. Diving further into the interconnectivity between databases ensured that we could create the proper backend connections across related data for attendees, hotels, fees, forms, reports, project management, and event scheduling. Mapping out these dependencies also helped inform our approach to streamlining workflows dealing with multiple linked databases.

Ensuring consistency of data relationships

One particularly complex workflow that exemplified this database interlinking is financial management. In the original Synergy platform, SSW had to manually create financial reports by individually adding each source of expenses and revenue, a process that was not only tedious but also prone to errors. To address this, we consolidated the data into a central module. This new module provides users with a scannable overview of their overall event finances, allowing them to click on specific items for more detailed information.

This module showcases the complexity of the interconnected databases we managed. For example, under Revenue, users might track incoming fees from attendee registrations and advertisement purchases by sponsors, while the Expenses section might display payments made to hotels for attendee accommodations. Each transaction must be meticulously recorded in the appropriate database; in other words, linking registrant fees to individual attendees, sponsor purchases to specific companies, and accommodation fees to both the relevant hotels and their assigned attendees. Ensuring all information is accurately mapped was crucial for maintaining database consistency and reflecting the correct relationships throughout the platform.

Building a comprehensive event management suite

In addition to integrating the databases, another major challenge was developing a comprehensive in-platform event management suite. This suite needed to encompass a range of tools, including custom event styling, website creation, email design, and registration form creation. We also incorporated admin tools for managing mobile companion applications, as well as attendee-facing check-in kiosks. These kiosks allowed attendees to check in on-site and print their badges directly, ensuring a seamless and efficient experience.

Given the multifaceted nature of these features, conducting developer-led research was crucial. We started with proof-of-concept builds to verify the feasibility of each feature set, which also helped establish design constraints. It was essential to ensure that each module in the management suite communicated effectively with external touchpoints, including the mobile app, event website, emails, badge printers, and check-in kiosks. This rigorous approach allowed us to remain agile throughout the process, ensuring that our final designs were not only functional but also fully met the needs of the SSW team.

Flexible brand styling for attendee experiences

In addition to creating an effective admin management side of the platform, we needed to seamlessly integrate attendee-facing modules. Each aspect of the attendee experience—registrant dashboards, the mobile companion app, the event website, and the self-check-in process—required customization to reflect each specific event’s branding. This included applying unique fonts, colors, and logos to ensure a cohesive and branded experience for each event.

To achieve this, we designed flexible skeleton layouts for all attendee-facing UI, mapping brand elements to specific components like buttons, links, and logos. By centralizing the event styling process, administrators could define and apply branding elements in a single location within the event management suite. Once set, these fonts, colors, and logos were automatically propagated across all user-facing parts of the platform. This approach not only ensured a cohesive brand experience for attendees, but also streamlined the event setup and creation process for administrators.

Looking to the future

Our collaboration with Site Solutions Worldwide on the Synergy Live platform has addressed numerous challenges, from redesigning an outdated interface to integrating complex databases and developing an extensive event management suite. Through thorough research, iterative design, and agile development, we’ve ensured that each feature aligns with SSW’s needs. Although the project is still in development, positive feedback from the SSW team highlights the significant improvements the new platform will bring to their workflows. As we continue to provide maintenance and enhancements throughout 2024, we are excited to see Synergy Live deliver the seamless, efficient experience that SSW and their clients deserve.