Ever since I learnt and practice user experience nowadays, I too now believe it should be incorporated into almost anything which we use including the GSC mobile app.
Golden Screen Cinemas releases new mobile app user interface
My memory first installing the GSC mobile app was with concerns because at the time, mobile app development was still very new and many were pushing the need for it for monetary gain than its true value.
This was the original GSC mobile app user interface for the landing screen.
And the screen to the left now is the new GSC mobile app landing screen. The banner below is not hiding the 5 quick icons, instead it has been moved inside the menu (three lines at the top right). When you click on the menu, then it reveals your navigation tabs.
From the landing screen, now I’ve to make an added step to make a movie booking compared to when I had the quick icons.
In the Cinemas screen to the left, there’s a new heart icon now which I’ll let you guess what it is as part of a mini user experience test. The other prominent visual I now noticed in this tab is the ticket buying button. I probably never bothered with this last time because the quick icons were good enough for me.
The screen to the right above is what you’ll see when you click on a movie. The presentation here is cleaner and more consistent now, with the addition of viewing the movie trailer – opens in YouTube.
If you guessed the heart icon was linked to your preferred cinema then you are right. 🙂
The updated GSC mobile app does come with some commendable new ideas, like the ability to now mark your favourite cinemas and arrange them later in the My Favorite Cinemas tab. After identifying your favorite cinemas, it’ll help speed up your future movie bookings.
The only option now I found close to how I used to make my movie bookings like the original GSC mobile app is via the FasTicket tab.
While my first thought of this screen was that I could make a booking as smooth as what I used before, I didn’t feel that way though. No t sure it could’ve been due to my mobile performance as well.
What happens now is when you click on the first step, it’ll pop up the list of available dates like the right screen. Then, after you select the date, you will have to wait for the 2nd icon; Select A Cinema, to light up before clicking on it.
My first experience here was that I didn’t know I had to wait for the 2nd option to activate (light up) before I could proceed. I felt a little disappointed and frustrated that every time after I selecten an option, I had to wait for the next.
My opinion here is because I placed my conscious state thinking a FasTicket would be fast (it’s called fast) and seeing how the steps are displayed as a list, I thought making the booking would be really fast. Just click, select, click, select and next.
Something good to note on this screen is you can now pre-purchase a food combo (popcorn and soft drink or bottled water) as you book your tickets. Good stuff!
Once you get to the seat selection screen, I’d say this was an improvement over the previous version. The top portion reminds you of your chosen booking details and the icons now look more user-friendly with its colouring, and size too I think.
The one small confusion I had with this screen was that the Legend to refer the meaning of the icons was either in the “box with lines” icon or the ” i ” icon.
Naturally, I tapped on the ” i ” icon because it’s commonly used to represent helpful information – it wasn’t the Legend. It was weird having to click on the icon with boxes and lines because when you browse the internet, this icon is normally used to represent an alternative display arrangement of products with description on its side. *shrug*
Just before you get to the payment screen on the right, if you’re using the new mobile app for the first time, you’ll be prompted to complete your personal details. After doing this once, it’ll be pre-filled in future when you go through this step.
One thing I’ve observed from this new interface is that the time limit now is clearly visible and positioned on the payment screen. *thumbs*
Once payment is completed, you’ll find the new booking listed in your History tab.
To GSC or the mobile app team,
If you are reading this, please quickly update your app to arrange the history list from most recent to oldest by default.
It’s now displaying the oldest to most recent. Imagine the required scrolling if my history is rather long. T_T
The one improvement here is instead of having to click on your booking to load the next screen to retrieve the QR code, you can now click on the QR icon on the booking list and it’ll popup the window as per right screen. *thumbs*
This definitely speeds up retrieval of the much needed QR code when entering the cinema.
Updated GSC mobile app in summary
- Removal of quick icons wasn’t the best move.
- Love your idea to add favourite cinemas.
- Current delays using FasTicket is bearable though can be improved – maybe not display the next steps (total off state).
- Move the Legend into the ” i ” icon or find a better way.
- Good job making the time more visible and prominent.
- Rearrange the History list from most recent to oldest very very very soon.
- Great choice made to open the QR code in a popup than load a different screen.
By the way, my personal belief nowadays is we accomplish more and greater things when collaboration is formed. Maybe you could consider synchronizing the mobile apps booking history with your website because it doesn’t at this moment. 😉
Updated June 22, 2014
I found another bug while deleting my booking history because my past bookings were always above my new bookings.
After deleting my previous bookings, I noticed the older bookings which I had deleted still remained in the Delete list.
