I joined the Calgary Bubble Tea Festival held in July 2024 as a UX/UI designer, collaborating with cross-functional team members remotely to design the event's website for promotion. Members includes design team, development team, marketing team, event operations team, and fundraising team. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints and limited manpower, the event was eventually canceled.
The Calgary Bubble Tea Festival aimed to promote Taiwanese culture, foster economic collaboration, and build cultural connections within the Calgary community. Our target audience included both Taiwanese residents and the broader local population, welcoming people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Since the project was a volunteer-based project, roles and responsibilities were not clearly defined. During the design process, I often didn’t know who would provide certain content—like FAQs or donation info—so I decided to write some draft content myself to keep the design moving forward.When sharing the draft with the marketing team, I would clearly say something like:
"I drafted some initial content to help move things forward. Could you please help review and confirm if the details are correct?"
This approach made it clear that I respected their role and expertise. I also added notes in my design files to show which parts still needed confirmation. I used the draft content as a starting point for discussions, not as a final decision.
One major challenge in the Calgary Bubble Tea Festival project was the limited budget, which meant we couldn’t use third-party payment platforms like Stripe or PayPal. Instead, we had to rely on e-transfer, which required more steps and was not integrated into the website. As the UX/UI Designer, my goal was to create a payment flow that still felt smooth and easy to understand. Our design solution included:
1. Allowing users to copy the e-transfer email address with one click directly from the interface
2. Providing clear instructions to guide users to switch to their personal banking app to complete the transfer
3. After payment, users were asked to fill out a simple form to request their donation receipt and help the team track transfers
Start with a competitive analysis, which helps us not only understand visual styles but also gather information on the content and design of various event websites. This allows us to identify the essential information an event website should include.
We structured website's goals into three phases:
1. Vendor Recruitment Phase:
The website focused on showcasing clear vendor information to attract vendors to join.
2. Event Promotion Phase:
After securing vendors, the website's goal shifted to highlighting activities and vendor details to draw attendees.
3. Post-Event Phase:
The website aimed to showcase event highlights to engage future vendors, sponsors, and attendees.
We create the sitemap and wireframe for the first phrase, which focused on showing the vendor's information to join. According to competitors we found and the rough structure provided by marketing team, we made the first draft of the wireframe for internal discussion.
Most similar cultural events relied heavily on photographs of traditional Taiwanese elements, such as temple festivals, indigenous dance, or Taiwanese food. While these visuals are authentic, they could feel distant to audiences unfamiliar with Taiwan. To differentiate the Calgary Bubble Tea Festival and make it more welcoming, the visual direction focused on:
-Blending familiar local visual styles with Taiwanese cultural elements
-Creating a sense of approachability rather than formality or cultural distance
-Using vibrant colours and a lively, energetic style to attract a broad range of audiences
Through this project, I learned that good design is not the only factor for a project's success.Although I carefully designed the experience to make the event approachable and culturally meaningful, the project was eventually canceled due to limited funding and volunteer resources.This experience taught me to check important factors earlier, such as budget, team size, commitment levels, and possible risks.It also reminded me that being flexible and realistic is very important, especially when working on early-stage or volunteer-based projects.