Seat Selector
A custom WordPress plugin enabled a client to manage seating for a large-scale event. Operators configure layouts and seat categories, while attendees reserve in real time through a secure link. The solution handled an international audience with varying digital skills, allowing the client to autonomously book 2,000 guests with minimal friction.
Loop Media
2 Months
UX/UI Designer - Developer
Context
Loop Media faced a complex challenge while preparing the gala show for the World Magic Championship in Torino 2025.
Tickets had already been sold in 2023 and 2024, before the final theater layout was available. The team needed to create a seat selection system capable of handling 2,000 international attendees, many with multiple tickets and different seating areas such as VIP and general admission.
The available data was fragmented: one spreadsheet with buyer information and another with the theater layout. The challenge was to turn this information into a simple and reliable seat reservation experience.
The Challenge
Attendees needed to select their seats for the gala, but the process involved coordinating 2,000 paid reservations, leaving little room for error. Any mistake in seat assignment could lead to confusion and logistical issues on event night.
Two user groups had to be supported: operators, responsible for managing theater data and buyer imports, and attendees, many of whom held multiple tickets and had varying levels of digital literacy.
For the system to work reliably, three tasks had to happen seamlessly: compiling the venue layout, organizing buyer data, and allowing users to reserve their seats in just a few steps while preventing duplicate reservations.
The challenge was not only technical but experiential: turning a complex coordination problem into a simple and frictionless reservation flow.
Insights & Key Requirements
After researching existing seat reservation systems, no solution was found that met all of the client’s customization requirements. The solution focused on two main flows:
Operator flow
Importing buyer data from spreadsheets and automatically linking each attendee to their ticket quantity, seating area, and email.
Attendee flow
Reservation experience via a secure token and unique link, with a no-login process to select seats. Seats were temporarily locked during selection to prevent duplicates, and users received a confirmation email with their seat summary once confirmed.
The system generated the theater seating layout with different ticket areas and supported seat selection on desktop and mobile devices. The main challenge on mobile was designing an intuitive interface showing the seat map and its relation to the stage.
Iteration
The client requested one token per ticket, requiring buyers with multiple tickets to access the system multiple times. I explained the risks, but it was only after visualizing the flow that the client fully understood them.
The solution was revised to one token per buyer group, allowing all seats to be selected in a single session and shared with other group members if needed. This simplified the experience and ensured groups could sit together.
Experience
Operator Flow
The operator uploads Excel files containing theater and seating data, and the system generates a dynamic seating chart.
Then, the operator uploads user data, and the system creates a table displaying all user information, available seats, seat types, seat status, notes, and an action area to manage seats if needed.
User Flow
Attendees received a unique reservation link, accessed the system without login, and saw the number of seats available to them and their assigned section.
Seat selection happened through an interactive seating map with zoom and stage reference. On mobile devices, the map was divided into quadrants to make navigation easier and seats were optimized for touch interaction.
After selecting seats, users confirmed their reservation and received an email with the final details.
Results
The system enabled all 2,000 attendees to reserve seats with minimal support from the event team.
Most users completed the process independently, with rare operator intervention and no duplicate seat assignments.
The experience worked reliably on both desktop and mobile, allowing users to manage multiple tickets within a single reservation flow.
As a next step, the client expressed interest in developing an app to manage multiple venues and events as part of larger experiences.
The conceptual and design proposal has been completed, though it has not yet been implemented.
Learnings
This project taught me the importance of carefully planning and clearly communicating user flows to prevent future issues, especially when working under tight implementation timelines.
It also reinforced how powerful design can be when solving visualization and information-organization challenges, making it possible to build complex systems that remain clear and usable even within limited screen space.
