In case you missed it, over the last month B&T ran a competition on behalf of Miami Ad School to win a scholarship for its upcoming 2020 Experience Design Bootcamp.

And, in exciting news – we now have a winner (and a runner up!)

A massive congratulations to our winner Sophie Liu from Spark Foundry. Sophie is a Strategist at Spark Foundry and has worked in the media industry for 4 years. Passionate about understanding the ‘why’ behind everything, she loves diving into cultural and tech trends to help brands create engaging and meaningful connections with their consumers.

And congrats to runner up Sophie Hackett. Both Sophies have agreed to let us share their entries, as well as the judges’ comments.

Submission by Sophie Liu (Travel category)

A cruise is not just a way of transport or accommodation. The cruise is the entire holiday.

However, the experience of booking a cruise, either on the website or with a travel agent, is focused primarily on three factors: date, destination or price.

But there are so many other factors people consider. Perhaps what they want most are fun activities for kids, great dining options, or spacious cabins. Priorities for an older couple can be very different to a family with kids. Whilst plenty of information is available online or in cruise brochures, there is so much of it that it’s hard to navigate.

I propose revamping the cruise clients’ website search function so that travellers list their top priorities. And when reviewing search results, you can compare various cruise trips against your criteria so that potential cruisers, and travel agents too, can make more informed decisions/recommendations with ease.

Judge’s comments 

Dave Flanagan, Director, Digital & Conversational AI – ANZ, Genesys, said:

“What I liked was Sophie’s understanding of how real people think and operate when trying to book a cruise. She had an empathetic approach real user wants and needs when researching and booking.

“It’s not necessarily the final creative idea (as this has not been fleshed out very much) but the understanding that has gone into it.”

Kim Bartkowski, Design Principal + Executive Creative Director added:

“What I liked about Sophie’s submission is her understanding of the problem. She clearly articulated the difference between a ship that takes you to a destination to a ship that IS the destination. She really showed an understanding of the category.

“She also very clearly articulated that the UX on the website doesn’t acknowledge this unique difference. Booking a cruise is the same as booking a flight, however, the experience is very different.”

Runner up who will receive a 10 per cent discount off the tuition fee – Sophie Hackett (Music category)

Spotify lacks connection between the music you stream through your headphones and experiencing this music live. To improve this UX, my big idea is to create a search engine where you enter a song or artist you like, and it spits out events or pubs/clubs in your local area that play similar music. If you love listening to house music but don’t know where to go in Sydney to hear it live, the search engine might recommend a DJ set at Harpoon Harry’s, or a Dom Dolla gig at Chinese Laundry.

This gives users the chance to experience new music live and find the kind of music they want to see/hear/dance to on any given day, while also allowing for the music scene to thrive and for more upcoming artists to be heard. This continues to fulfil Spotify’s objective of connecting artists with users to inspire and delight.

Alec Barr, Planning Director, Service Designer, CHE Proximity, said:

“By using the ever-increasing domain of Spotify’s recommendation data, Hackett’s idea taps into the sociability of music lovers and bridges the gap between the physical and the digital in a meaningful way.”

Applications now open!

In even more exciting news, Miami Ad Shcool is now taking applications for its 2020 Experience Design bootcamp. For more info, contact Helga Diamond at helga@miamiadschool.com, or visit the website here.

About the bootcamp

In just 12 (intensive) weeks you’ll pick up the skills to work as an Experience Designer.