ADE - Mobile Experience
Client
Role
Amsterdam Dance Event
UX & UI Design
Summary
Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is one of the largest electronic music festivals in the world, bringing together thousands of professionals and visitors across hundreds of venues in Amsterdam. After launching the first version of the mobile app the year before, ADE needed to expand the experience to better support professional visitors and make the app feel like a true native product.
I worked on redesigning and extending the mobile app to support networking, improve event discovery, and make better use of native mobile capabilities such as location and notifications. The goal was to create a more seamless and engaging experience that allowed users to connect with others, explore events, and manage their schedules efficiently throughout the festival.
Challenge
The initial version of the app lacked several key features that were already available on desktop, particularly for professional users. Networking was an important part of the ADE experience, allowing users to search for people and companies, create connections, and send messages. These workflows needed to be translated to mobile in a way that felt natural and efficient, without overwhelming users with complexity.
Another challenge was translating the existing event map and location-based browsing experience to mobile. With hundreds of events spread across many venues, users needed a clear and intuitive way to discover events and navigate the city. At the same time, the app did not fully leverage native capabilities such as location awareness, notifications, and contextual relevance.
Finally, the visual and interaction design of the existing app felt more like a website placed inside a mobile shell rather than a true native experience. A key challenge was to redesign the interface and navigation patterns to align with native mobile expectations while maintaining consistency with the ADE brand.
Solution
I redesigned the mobile experience with a focus on improving usability, supporting professional networking, and introducing a more native mobile interaction model. Networking features were restructured into clear and accessible flows, allowing users to search for people and companies, connect with others, and manage conversations directly within the app.
The event discovery experience was redesigned to make navigation across venues and schedules more intuitive. Location-based features and contextual notifications were introduced to provide users with timely and relevant information during the festival.
The overall interface was redesigned to feel more native, replacing web-like patterns with mobile-first navigation and interaction principles. This resulted in a more responsive and engaging experience that supported both casual visitors and professional users throughout the event.