Dance2b

Research Findings

Background

Dance2b is a local dance studio for adults in downtown Denver Colorado. Dance2b offers a variety of dance classes for adults ranging in skill levels, and types of movement from yoga to hip hop.

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“The mission of dance2b is to encourage all adults to experience the art of dance for their own reasons. Every day, every week, every month in a safe state of the art studio facility. We provide a variety of fun and lively classes for all dance levels and are committed to enriching the lives of our adult students and community.”

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Dance2b’s current website and branding is outdated, lacks ease of use, and is not mobily responsive. Dance2b uses the MindBody application for booking their classes and this must be incorporated into their system. Dance2b’s business relies on getting new students to sign up and have those students return to classes regularly.

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For the multitude of different classes offered at the studio, they offer drop in rates, punch passes, and memberships, allowing students to sign up for classes individually or with recurring sign up.

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Dance2b is a unique dance studio in that it caters to adults specifically, where other studios drive the majority of their business through student classes. With this lense, adults treat their classes and memberships as they would a membership to their local gym.

Research Goals

• What information are people looking to find on the Dance2b website.

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• What influences people to sign up for a new class at a new studio? What is important in a first impression?

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• What are the important features to support returning customers?

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• How are people booking classes? Frequency and time planned ahead.

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• What do people need to know in advance in order to sign up for a class.

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• How are people booking on competitor websites? How are they used to booking?

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• What web interfaces and platforms are clients familiar with?

User Interviews

Three people were interviewed for empathy research Interview participants remarked that they wanted to feel that a studio was welcoming, and non judgemental, but with some prestige, they didn’t want to feel intimidated to go, but wanted to know they’d have a quality class with others at a similar skill level. They prefered clean and sleek formal elements that gave the impression of a “cool” and “hip” studio. Participants did care about the prestige of the studio, and got this impression from a clean, professional, and modern presentation and information provided about instructors’ training, reviews, and studio mission and background.

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Interview participants initially seek schedule, cost and available discount information, then go to instructor information and credentials. In order to attend a class they needed to know schedule, cost, directions to the studio, how long the class was, the type of class, temperature of the room (this was regarding hot yoga), and the cancelation policy.

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All participants prefered to walk in rather than register online in order to avoid commitment to the class. They only cared about substitute teachers if they frequently attended a class. They were happy to find this information on the website schedule but also liked the option of receiving a text or email notification.

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Participants explained that they would be dissuaded by the lack of information provided on a website, and not having the option to cancel.

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Those interviewed wanted to feel welcome, empowered, not intimidated, inspired, as though they would be among peers, strong, and centered. These feelings could come from information provided on the website including a powerful mission statement, the portrayal of the space if it was clean, cool, and hip, as well as a hip looking, professional website with images of classes and the people that attend them.

Surveys

10 participants were surveyed on questions regarding their preferences for class and instructor details, how they select classes, how they plan their workout schedule, and what may attract or deter them from attending a particular studio. Overall individuals care most about convenience, cost, classes offered and class times.

User Personas

Key Findings

Dance2b has a clientele consisting by majority of women in their twenties and thirties that are savvy with social media platforms and accustomed to gym websites with online and mobile registration. Users overwhelmingly cared about feeling welcomed by the space and website. The most important pieces of information that users want to find on the website are price, class types, class times, and the location of the gym.

People prefer to drop into a class rather than register in advance in order to save time and avoid commitment. When they plan their workout schedule, they are doing so weekly and daily.

People want to feel empowered, inspired, strong, and confident and have fun in their classes.

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Important Considerations

-Because people are somewhat adverse to signing up in advance, registration and cancelation needs to be easy and expedient

-UI should be welcoming, clean, modern, and sleek

-Key featured information should include price, class type and time, and gym location. Secondary information should include instructor training and background information, and studio mission.

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