Melt Festival Mobile App
UI / UX Re-design

Why This Redesign?

As a fan and attendee of Melt Festival—a renowned electronic music event held in a unique industrial open-air setting—I saw an opportunity to enhance how the mobile app supports and reflects the festival experience.

While the original app provided essential features, I felt there was room to make it more intuitive, immersive, and emotionally resonant—bringing festival-goers closer to the music, the schedule, and the atmosphere that makes Melt so special.

This redesign is a personal concept project that explores how thoughtful UX and visual storytelling could elevate the digital side of live music experiences.

Prototype(Video)

Intention

Music festivals are among the most joyful and intense shared experiences. But on the ground, they often come with unpredictable challenges—like poor internet connection, limited power access, and the struggle to find friends in massive venues. Festival-goers also face subtle frictions, like not being able to plan their schedule easily, check artist overlaps, or adjust to changes on the fly. The Melt Festival mobile app has the potential to be more than just an information source—it could be a true digital companion for the weekend.

Problem

The original app had fragmented navigation and didn’t fully support live-time decision-making
Festival-goers often get lost or miss performances due to limited connectivity and lack of orientation tools

"How might we design a mobile app that supports both pre-planning and spontaneous in-the-moment decisions—without relying on constant connectivity?"

Solution

A redesigned mobile app that improves:

Information Architecture and user flows
Feature set with Offline Mode, Location Sharing, and clearer Artist Planning Tools

Who’s it for?

Attendees of Melt Festival—music lovers who want to experience the event with more ease, clarity, and connection.

The Process

I followed a structured UX approach from discovery to delivery, mixing research, concept work, and rapid iteration to shape a festival-friendly experience.

Competitive Analysis

To understand where the Melt app could improve, I analyzed several festival and music apps—including Sónar, Tomorrowland and MS Dockville festival.

This helped identify gaps and best practices in user experience design.

A few key insights emerged:

Stage Location Access:
None of the apps allowed users to jump from an artist profile directly to their stage on the festival map—a feature that could simplify real-time navigation.
Timetable Visibility:
While most competitor apps included a dedicated timetable in their main navigation, the Melt app lacked this critical element, making planning more cumbersome.

These findings helped shape key design priorities: simplifying navigation, prioritizing contextual features, and making artist-to-stage connections seamless.

Features & Navigation Improvements

After analyzing the original app structure and common festival app patterns, I redesigned the core navigation and screen layouts to support faster access, better planning, and stronger artist connections.

Added “Timetable” to the bottom navigation for quick access to performance planning
Introduced “Friends” feature for real-time location sharing
Renamed “Home” to “Artists,” since artist discovery is the app’s primary focus
Updated icons for “Map” and “Info” to bolder, more readable designs

Merged “Home” and “Lineup” into one unified Artists screen
Added two view modes: Gallery View and List View
Added “Only My Favorites” filter for faster artist navigation

Added Social Media buttons for quick access to artist content
Enabled direct links to Map (stage location) and Timetable slot

Tappable links from venue to Map view
Tappable artist names to Artist Profile

“Only My Favorites” view toggle to simplify planning

Prototype(Video)

Closing Thoughts & Key Learnings

This redesign of the Melt Festival navigation app was more than just a UI/UX project; it was a personal endeavor, a fusion of my passion for electronic music and my dedication to creating intuitive, user-centered digital experiences. As both a designer and a DJ, I understand the unique magic of festivals like Melt—the immersive atmosphere, the shared energy, and the transformative power of music. My goal was to translate that magic into a seamless digital companion for festival-goers.

Key Learnings:

Contextual Design is Essential: Designing for a festival environment requires a deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities it presents.
Navigation is Key: A clear and intuitive navigation structure is fundamental for a seamless user experience.
Offline Functionality Matters: Addressing connectivity issues is vital in a festival setting.

This project was a testament to the power of thoughtful UI/UX design in enhancing live music experiences. I'm excited to continue exploring the intersection of music and technology, creating digital tools that amplify the joy and connection of shared experiences.