Aurora Beats Festival Console - Music Festival Operations Dashboard
Aurora Beats Festival Console is a centralized operations dashboard designed to help festival organizers monitor and manage live events across multiple stages, vendors, and crews in real time. Built as a multi-module control hub, it combines scheduling, crew management, vendor tracking, live maps, and incident reporting into one unified interface.
Problem
Music festivals operate like temporary cities, with thousands of moving parts happening at once. Organizers often juggle multiple tools , spreadsheets for scheduling, radios for crew coordination, and separate platforms for ticketing and vendor management. This fragmentation slows decision-making, creates communication gaps, and can compromise safety.
Solution
A single festival operations console that allows organizers to: - View real-time performance schedules & artist check-ins. - Monitor crew assignments and shift attendance. - Track sponsor and vendor status. - Respond instantly to incidents or delays. - View a live interactive map of the festival grounds.
Data Collection
- Competitive Analysis: Studied event management tools like Eventbrite Organizer, Festicket Pro, and Basecamp to identify missing “all-in-one” operational features. - User Interviews (Fictional for Case): Spoke with 4 festival managers (fictional scenario for portfolio) to learn pain points: 1. Needing real-time updates for performances & delays. 2. Difficulties in coordinating staff shifts without walkie-talkies. 3. Lack of a visual overview of festival layout & crowd density.
Personas
1. Festival Director Needs quick, high-level event status and alerts for critical issues. 2. Stage Manager Wants real-time artist arrival status and quick schedule changes. 3. Crew Coordinator Focuses on assigning shifts, tracking attendance, and solving staffing gaps.
Competitive Research
I explored several event management and festival operation tools, including Eventbrite Organizer, Festicket Pro, Basecamp, StagePlot Pro, and Whova Event App. Most tools excel in specific areas — ticketing, artist booking, attendee engagement — but none provide a unified, real-time operations console. - Eventbrite Organizer is strong in ticketing but offers limited crew coordination features. - Festicket Pro streamlines artist bookings but lacks real-time operational dashboards. - Basecamp is great for general project management but not optimized for fast, live event changes. - StagePlot Pro is perfect for stage setups but doesn’t cover vendor, crew, or incident management. - Whova Event App focuses on attendee experience, not behind-the-scenes operations. Insight: There’s a clear gap for an all-in-one platform where festival staff can monitor schedules, crews, vendors, and crowd safety in a single view.
Site Map
The Aurora Beats Festival Console is organized into six core modules, each with dedicated subpages and tools: 1. Dashboard - Event Overview - Live Metrics (Tickets, Attendance, Weather) - Quick Alerts 2. Stage Schedule Manager - Multi-Stage Timeline - Artist Check-In - Rescheduling Tool 3. Crew Management - Shift Assignments - Role Tagging - Attendance Tracking 4. Vendors & Sponsors - Booth Assignments - Contract Status - Deliverables Tracker 5. Incident Reporting - Safety & Medical Logs - Technical Issue Reports - Priority Alerts 6. Live Map - Stage Locations & Status - Food & Drink Areas - First Aid Points
Task Flow
Goal: A festival crew member wants to quickly check the performance schedule for their assigned stage. 1. Login → Access the dashboard with crew-level permissions. 2. Navigate to Stage Schedule Manager → Select from available stages. 3. View Schedule Timeline → See a chronological list of performances for the day. 4. Filter by Date or Stage → Narrow results to the crew member’s shift or specific stage. 5. Check Artist Details → Click on a performance block to see artist name, set time, and special requirements. Outcome: Crew member can see all upcoming performances and prepare for their assigned stage without needing multiple tools or manual updates.
Sketches
Before moving into detailed wireframes, I explored quick layout concepts for the Aurora Beats Festival Console. The goal was to experiment with information hierarchy, navigation patterns, and real-time data placement without worrying about colors or typography.
Wireframes
After validating the initial sketches, I created mid-fidelity wireframes to refine the layout, navigation, and information hierarchy of the Aurora Beats Festival Console. The focus was on clarity, modular structure, and ensuring each operational feature was accessible in a few clicks.
Hi Fidelity & Prototype
After validating the wireframes, I moved to high-fidelity mockups, applying the Aurora Beats brand identity, bold gradients inspired by stage lighting.
UI Design
Design Goals -Create a visually vibrant yet operationally clear interface to match the festival’s energy while keeping controls easy to read during live events. n-Maintain dual-mode accessibility: light mode for indoor/daytime operations and dark mode for outdoor/nighttime use. -Ensure responsive layouts for desktop command centers and mobile on-the-go usage. Core Screens Designed - Dashboard Overview – Real-time schedule, weather alerts, live crowd density indicators - Live Map View – Interactive map showing stages, facilities, vendor zones, and incident markers - Performance Schedule – Filterable by stage, artist, or time, with quick “jump to now” function - Incident Management – Prioritized list and map view for security, medical, and logistical reports - Vendor & Operations Console – Supply requests, vendor status, and team assignments Visual Language -Color Palette: Festival-inspired neons balanced with muted neutrals for readability -Typography: Bold display font for headings, clean sans-serif for operational data -Iconography: Custom icon set for stages, facilities, and incident types -Interaction Feedback: Subtle animations for map markers, hover states, and button presses -Accessibility: WCAG-compliant contrast ratios, scalable text sizes Outcome The final UI delivered an energetic yet highly functional console that enabled festival staff to stay on top of scheduling, crowd safety, and vendor operations — even under the time pressure of a live event.