Quentro · Product design · User research
Quentro is a smart digital ticketing service for large-scale events. Its tickets regenerate every 15 seconds and work without mobile data or internet.
Research showed a different challenge: first-time users struggled to receive and activate them.
02The product
Secure tickets for massive events, where a traditional digital ticket isn't viable.
Attendee
A Quentro dynamic ticket. Its code regenerates every 15 seconds and works without an internet connection.
Drag the stub to tear it.
Event producer
03The challenge
Activating a ticket for the first time meant moving across channels, codes and touchpoints.
Each step had a purpose. Together, they created friction.
How might we reduce friction during first-time activation without compromising the security of the ticketing system?
04Discovery
How do we understand the users of an MVP? Three methods, to see both what people did and what they reported.
Ethnography
People using Quentro in context, without guidance.
Support cases + interviews
The pain points that repeated most in support and interviews.
Surveys
Surveys of online shoppers and Quentro users.
Survey · First large-scale event · 171 responses
3,500 people entered FMS Internacional with Quentro.
Almost everyone was a first-time user, so the first-time experience was the experience.
05The original journey
Eight phases across web, email, SMS and the app, with two verification codes.
06What users experienced
Research pain points, in three groups.
Cognitive friction
Users weren't always sure what they needed to do next.
Emotional friction
Uncertainty becomes particularly problematic when the product controls access to an event the customer has already paid for.
Operational friction
The experience had to balance ease of access with the security requirements of digital ticketing.
07 — Key insight
Each step made sense to the system. Users experienced them as one task, and the switching between channels and codes broke their mental model.
From the research
First use of Quentro: two codes in one flow. The biggest source of friction, and the reason for the redesign.
08The design opportunity
Security was core to Quentro, and some steps had to stay: merging the two code emails into one wasn't possible.
So the goal was to reduce perceived complexity, not security.
Technical requirements shouldn't require users to understand the system behind them.
Responds to · Lack of cohesion between touchpoints · Scarce usage information
Every step should make the next action obvious.
Responds to · Lack of hierarchy in the emails
Users should understand where their ticket is, what is happening and what remains before activation.
Responds to · Absence of empathy
09Solution
The activation retold as one story, then each touchpoint redesigned around the next action.
Before · Fragmented activation
Design direction
Guide users through one continuous activation journey.
After · One guided journey
The five-step flow is from the original redesign (“Guiar al usuario con claridad”). Letters link to the touchpoints below.
Screens rebuilt from the original redesign, in Spanish as in the product.
Touchpoint A
Problem · What research identified
At the phone-number step, people were disoriented: am I done? How do I continue?
Design decision · What changed
The ask became “¿A qué número enviamos tus tickets?”, with a three-step tracker, a format example and a “how it works” link.
User benefit · Why it reduces friction
People see why they're asked, where they are and what comes next.
Touchpoint B · C
Problem · What research identified
Out-of-context codes felt suspicious; at activation, people felt distrust and fear of the unknown.
Design decision · What changed
Validation became a named step (“Validá tu cuenta”) with one action. Activation is one button, with “¿Cómo activo mis entradas?” below.
User benefit · Why it reduces friction
Security reads as part of the product, and the next action is always obvious.
Touchpoint D
Problem
Loss and theft were recurring fears, and event-day touchpoints were an open opportunity.
Design decision
Tickets live in one place by date; each shows gate, doors and start time, and changes arrive as notifications.
User benefit
Users can check their tickets are there and know what to expect.
10What I learned
Quentro taught me to look past single screens to friction across a whole service journey. The job wasn't removing security, but sparing users the complexity behind it.
Complex system.Simple experience.
