Virtual Venue
A tool that streamlines event information and helps facilitate improved communication between event staff.
01 Overview //
Reimagining Event Management with VirtualVenue
VirtualVenue (ViVe) is a tool designed to streamline event information and enhance communication between event staff, security, and organizers.
By leveraging Digital Twin technology, IoT sensors, and 5G infrastructure, ViVe provides real-time insights, crowd management tools, and safety alerts to help venues run smarter and safer events.
Our vision was to replace fragmented, outdated systems with one centralized, intuitive platform for planning and managing large-scale events.
02 Background //
My Role:
UX Researcher & Business Analyst
Team Members:
Product Owner
UI/UX Designers
TimeLine:
4 months (September - January 2023)
03 The Problem //
HMW make planning events at large venues more efficient, safer, and meaningful for both attendees and organizers?
Challenges We Identified
Siloed Communication – Security, organizers, and staff often operate on separate platforms.
No Real-Time Visibility – Difficult to track venue health, capacity, or crowd flow dynamically.
Complex Processes – Reliance on paper floor plans and spreadsheets causes delays and inefficiencies.
This fragmented flow creates safety hazards, especially during emergencies when every second counts.
04 Exploration & Research //
Our research began by understanding how convention centers currently operate, identifying the gaps in workflows, and exploring new technologies to improve efficiency. Specifically we conducted three major research activities:
Venue Research & Service Mapping
Connected with MTCC staff to understand budgets, floor plans, and existing technology infrastructure.
Created a service map to outline pre-event and post-event features to gather insights on VirtualVenue’s core features.
Security Interviews
Interviewed security staff to learn about safety protocols and response workflows.
Met with the head of security at Scotiabank Arena to discuss management of crowd flow.
Competitive Analysis & VRIO
Analyzed hardware-focused crowd management companies.
Completed a VRIO assessment to map ViVe’s potential competitive advantage.
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04.5 Key Takeaways //
Key Takeaways:
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Current solutions focus on hardware, leaving a gap for a software-first, data-driven platform.
Manual tracking of crowd flow increases risks during high-volume events.
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Communication breakdowns between teams lead to slower emergency response times.
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05 Solution Generation //
Armed with insights, we moved into iterative design, testing concepts and refining based on user feedback and stakeholder input. VirtualVenue went through three iterations and user testing sessions before finalizing on the final product.
Iteration One: Early Concept
Insights Discovered:
Overwhelming blocks of text under crowd-shaping suggestions.
Confusing terminology such as “venue health” and “attendance”.
Users struggled to quickly identify urgent issues.
Feedback:
“The data is useful, but it’s hard to know what to focus on first.”
With the insights gathered from testing, we made these design changes:
Replaced text-heavy layouts with visual indicators and icons.
Added drop-down menus to reduce cognitive load.
Introduced color-coded urgency levels for clear prioritization.
Defined key metrics to eliminate ambiguity.
Iteration Two: Simplification & Clarity
Feedback from Rogers professionals, instructors, and venue stakeholders highlighted two key areas for improvement:
Emergency Response Flow
Redesigned from an overlay to a dedicated page.
Added a persistent alert bar at the top of the app to remind all users of ongoing emergencies.
Enabled customizable options for first responders to gather detailed information quickly.
Maintenance Feature
Simplified the layout with clear information hierarchy.
Split security camera data into a dedicated subpage.
Reduced redundancy to help staff easily identify infrastructure issues.
06 Final Solution //
The final MVP is a centralized dashboard providing a clear overview of venue operations.
Dashboard Overview
Displays real-time attendance, capacity, and AI-generated crowdshaping suggestions.
Helps organizers and security teams understand building health at a glance.
Interactive Map
View floor plans, camera locations, and sensor data.
Toggle between heat maps and real-time traffic flow.
Legend included for accessibility and clarity.
Maintenance Monitoring
Tracks cameras, alarms, elevators, and escalators across multiple floors.
Sends immediate notifications when an issue arises.
Emergency Assistance
Dedicated screen for submitting detailed emergency reports.
Autofill options for location and type of incident.
Supports fast, informed responses by first responders.