Showplace Cinemas was among the first theaters to adopt the Theater Toolkit product. In order to bring them up to speed with the modern web, we were tasked with giving their site a modern makeover.
Showplace Cinemas has more than just movies attracting guests to its venues. I designed a website that focused on their main draw (the theater), while also giving their bowling alley, arcade, and other entertainments the attention they deserved.
One of the points we emphasized most when selling a new client on the Theater Toolkit platform was how much web traffic occurs on mobile devices these days.
Without a strong mobile presence, a site that loads quickly, or a design that intuitively guides users to make fast bookings, a movie theater's website may as well be a vision board.
When you're an indie theater rubbing shoulders with the big chains, a strong first impression isn't just a perk—it's a requirement.
A slideshow of movies coming soon is the perfect thing to put in a hero section to encourage repeat business. Just below the fold are all currently playing features and their showtimes, so the user's primary concern is just a short scroll away.
Not quite ready to pull the trigger on a ticket purchase yet? No problem.
The movie detail page has everything you need to make your decision: movie synopses and details, trailers, and upcoming showtimes.
What good are all those showtimes if you can't make your booking faster than you can finish a movie trailer?
A simple, intuitive design guides users through the ticket purchasing process, so they can get to planning the rest of their outing in just minutes.
It's important to make a splash when you're competing with big theater chains like AMC and Harkins.
Just because a business is small doesn't mean it can't be given the luxe treatment. In the world of indie movie theaters, design will take you far, and Theater Toolkit has proven that time and time again.
I designed Showplace Cinemas' site with the user's top concerns in mind, allowing them to focus on what drove them to the site in the first place while enticing them to return for future bookings. Though I gave Showplace's movie theater the bulk of the attention, I also designed avenues to funnel users toward their other amenities and modes of entertainment.
