The Infatuation’s EEEEEATSCON, presented by Chase Sapphire®

Gated ticketing platform

We were replacing Eventbrite with a ticketing flow only Chase cardholders could buy from. My first design gated everything behind a Chase access code, and cardholders left before they saw a single ticket. The fix wasn’t a better gate. It was moving it.

CLIENT

Chase + The Infatuation

MY ROLE

Lead Product Designer

Research, flow strategy, UI, prototyping, delivery

TEAM

Product, Engineering

Chase and Infatuation stakeholders

TIMELINE

4 months

To launch, plus iterations across city rollouts

CLIENT

Chase + The Infatuation

MY ROLE

Lead Product Designer

Research, flow strategy, UI, prototyping, delivery

TEAM

Product, Engineering

Chase and Infatuation stakeholders

TIMELINE

4 months

To launch, plus iterations across city rollouts

I designed the platform end to end, from the first flow map through launch and every city rollout after it. The calls that mattered most: moving the access code after ticket discovery, the expandable tier cards, and a component system every new city launched on. Visit site → Digital playbook →

74%

of code submissions validated on first launch

74%

of code submissions validated on first launch

45%

of cardholders went from code entry to purchase

45%

of cardholders went from code entry to purchase

+40%

mobile purchase completions vs. the old Eventbrite checkout

+40%

mobile purchase completions vs. the old Eventbrite checkout

~60%

customer service inquiries vs. the old Eventbrite checkout

~60%

customer service inquiries vs. the old Eventbrite checkout

Where it got hard

As EEEEEATSCON expanded to new cities, Chase Sapphire and The Infatuation needed a ticketing system only cardholders could buy from. It had to survive launch-day traffic spikes, verify eligibility through Chase’s API, handle tiers, perks, and purchase limits, and explain every failure in plain language.

The tension was simple to state and hard to solve: every layer of security was another reason to leave. The challenge was making an exclusive, secure purchase feel as fast as buying any other ticket.

Why not an off-the-shelf tool?
Off-the-shelf tools sat in the wrong corner, so the gate had to be designed in.

We ran 250 on-site interviews a day with festival attendees, every festival day in every city. I paired them with post-event survey responses and site analytics from every EEEEEATSCON from 2023 through 2025.

84% of site visitors arrived on mobile, so the gate had to work one-handed, mid-drop.
The ticket selector was the most-visited page on the entire site, so whatever happened there decided the sale.
The access code was the customer service number on the back of any Chase card. Nobody knows that by heart, so the code step had to explain itself.

Who it had to work for

Sapphire Cardholder

Needed to find their access code fast, so I added inline help showing where it is on the card and put perks directly on tier cards.

Early Access Seeker

Wanted limited tickets the moment they dropped, so checkout shows a visible timer and live tier availability

Everyday Cardholder

Had a Freedom or Ink card, not a Sapphire. Needed to know the event was open to them too, so the code help cards. says any Chase card works.

Mapping every path

Three kinds of buyer, one path through the purchase. Before designing a screen, I mapped every step, including each place a code or card could fail.

The decision: show the tickets, then ask for the entry code

Anyone can browse the event and every ticket tier. To check out, cardholders enter an access code: the customer service number printed on the back of any Chase card. The same code unlocks All You Can EEEEEAT tickets, which include early entry. Inline help shows where to find it, and an inline error explains any failure. From there, checkout takes two steps.

I tested it against the code-first gate on the live flow.

Version A: Required a code before showing tickets, but without explaining what it unlocked or where to find it, users hesitated or left, especially after an incorrect attempt.

Version B (shipped): Showed tickets before requesting a code at checkout, helping users understand its purpose and improving completion by 60%.

Billing defaulted to match shipping, removing 9 redundant fields instantly. A sticky order summary kept users anchored to what they were buying. A percentage-based progress indicator replaced "Step 2 of 6" — users moved faster without noticing why.

The problem

The checkout had grown organically over 3 years. Six steps, 23 form fields, two forced account walls. Users weren't confused — they were exhausted. Session recordings showed a slow bleed across every step, with the sharpest drop-off right after shipping details, when users first saw how many steps remained.

68%

of users dropped off before payment step

68%

of users dropped off before payment step

6

checkout steps — industry average is 3

6

checkout steps — industry average is 3

23

form fields, many  redundant

23

form fields, many  redundant

Results

We measured everything before and after. The dashboard wasn't just faster — it changed how advisors worked every day.

−82s

Time to find a client record, down from 94s to 12s.

−82s

Time to find a client record, down from 94s to 12s.

+67%

Compliance deadline visibility before issues escalate.

+67%

Compliance deadline visibility before issues escalate.

−44%

Navigation support tickets in the first quarter post-launch.

−44%

Navigation support tickets in the first quarter post-launch.

+28%

Daily active dashboard usage as a working tool.

+28%

Daily active dashboard usage as a working tool.

Before / After

Before

After

Process

Eight weeks, four phases, one core question: why are people leaving right before they pay? I started by mapping every state of the existing flow, talked to real users who had abandoned checkouts, explored three design directions, and tested them before committing to anything. The result shipped in week 7.

Discover

Audited the full flow — every state, error, and edge case. Reviewed session recordings and heatmaps to find where users were actually leaving.

Research

Discover

Audited the full flow — every state, error, and edge case. Reviewed session recordings and heatmaps to find where users were actually leaving.

Research

Define

Ran 5 user interviews with people who had abandoned a checkout recently. Core insight: users weren't confused — they were exhausted by perceived length.

Insight

Define

Ran 5 user interviews with people who had abandoned a checkout recently. Core insight: users weren't confused — they were exhausted by perceived length.

Insight

Design

Explored 3 directions — single page, aggressive reduction, and a stepped flow with smarter progress. Built prototypes for each and prepared them for testing.

Design

Design

Explored 3 directions — single page, aggressive reduction, and a stepped flow with smarter progress. Built prototypes for each and prepared them for testing.

Design

Validate

Tested all 3 directions with 8 participants via Maze. Direction 3 won. Nobody noticed the progress bar change — they just moved faster. Shipped in week 7.

Testing

Validate

Tested all 3 directions with 8 participants via Maze. Direction 3 won. Nobody noticed the progress bar change — they just moved faster. Shipped in week 7.

Testing

Solution

The core insight was that users couldn't see the end from where they were standing. The fix was architectural — collapse six steps into three, make the order always visible, and move account creation to after purchase.