BookMyShow · Product design case study
BookMyShow is an app people in India use to book movie tickets. It also sells tickets to comedy shows, concerts and sports, which I’ll call Events. Most people never see them. I redesigned how the app helps people discover Events.
Role
Goal
Tools
Most BookMyShow users open the app, go to Movies, and scroll through films first. When nothing feels interesting enough to watch, the app has other things to offer: comedy shows, concerts and sports. But those options are easy to miss.
I started by improving this drop-off point, then worked back to the homepage.
Most people who open BookMyShow with no plan in mind browse Movies, find nothing and leave. They came to buy something, and the app sold them nothing.
The people I designed for have no plan in mind, and leave because Events are hard to discover inside the app.
The goal wasn’t to route users away from Movies. It was to offer another bookable plan without making it feel like a detour.
Where should Events appear without interrupting movie browsing?
I compared three places on the movie page.
A pop-up when the user is about to leave.
A row of nearby events inside the movie page.
A card that opens Events categories.
I went ahead with Events inside the movie page. They keep users in context, so the next option feels like a continuation, not a detour.
Tapping an event could open its full page, or a quick preview. I compared both.
I went ahead with a preview before commit. Tapping an unfamiliar event doesn’t mean users are ready to leave the movie page.
The Events row recovered users after they had committed to Movies. So I decided to move upstream, to the homepage, where that choice is first made.
Most people I interviewed went to Movies first, even when they hadn’t decided what to watch. Two kinds of people were being pushed the same way:
This person wants ideas, not a specific category.
This person wants to go out, but may not want a film.
BookMyShow today
Events are only small chips at the top.
Another app, District
Dining, Movies and Events all get the same weight.
The homepage was pushing users toward Movies before they had chosen what kind of plan they wanted.
The audit: Movies dominated attention while Events were easy to miss
Featured carousels, recommended films and promotional banners fill most of the feed.
Comedy, plays and music appear mainly as small chips at the top. Participants often overlooked them or continued into Movies.
Each category opens separately, so it’s hard to compare movies, comedy, concerts and sports in one place.
Three homepage directions I explored
Most people went to Movies first, so the homepage had to help them choose a kind of plan before a film. Banner ads and “Browse by cinema” had to stay on the homepage, so every direction had to make room for them.
Movies and Events get equal doors at the top, with a mixed carousel below. Neither category is the default, and the ad stack stays intact.
Direction 1 · Chosen
Tabs for For you, Movies and Events put Events level with Movies. But they move the Movies-first habit one level down, and split ad impressions across three feeds.
Direction 2 · Rejected
One mixed list of movies and events, sorted by start time, with date chips on top. It’s the closest to “What should I do tonight?”, but it leaves no room for banner ads.
Direction 3 · Rejected
I tested the prototype with 3 participants across 3 tasks.
Passed
The selector gave them a direct path to Events home and tickets.
Needs validation
They noticed the mixed carousel first, but this needs testing with more real users.
Passed
Movies stayed easy to find for users who came for films.
The homepage helps users choose earlier. The movie page catches them if that choice doesn’t land.
Undecided user
Knows what they want
Interesting enough
Doesn’t feel right
Suggestions from the other category
Go from the homepage to booking an event. Choose Movies or Events, open something and book it.
What the research changed
Events weren’t shown while users were still deciding
Most people entered Movies first, even when undecided
Recovery on the movie page was necessary, but not enough
What the prototype showed
Open-ended browsing needs more users
No live traffic, so no real business metrics
Whether noticing Events turns into bookings is still unproven
The goal wasn’t to make users choose Events instead of Movies. It was to make sure that browsing Movies didn’t hide every other plan BookMyShow already sells.
Happy to walk through the full process: research, rejected explorations and testing.