La Batie Drag Shop Microsite

By: Zaac Agnes, Michelle Illing, Avril Yang, Thomas Tran, and Linda Liu
Course: IAT 438 User Experience Design

Description: La Batie, Cabaret Drag Shop is a microsite (a smaller version of a website that is often designed as an add-on to a larger more functional version of a brand's website with the intent of pushing a particular aspect of a brand's identity) designed for a fourth-year visual design, interaction design, and content strategy course. The purpose of the project was to push the boundaries of web interactions to an expressive level, while still considering functional aspects such that users are able to understand how to interact with the site.

La Batie is an annual festival occurring in the late summer in Geneva, Switzerland where artists perform music, theatre, and contemporary dance. Our team specifically focused on the Le Poudrier Cabaret portion of the festival which is the nightlife program of the festival highlighted with shows and themes from drag artists. Ultimately, the team came up with a microsite that is visually appealing and matches a consistent art direction at the event to the post-show experience of visiting a microsite.

The insights uncovered from studying drag artists pushed the project in a more meaningful direction with the goal of having an impact in the world. Around the world, the drag community is a heavily marginalized and misunderstood within society and thus often does not receive enough financial compensation for the hard work that goes into creating and performing at a drag event. As such, tipping drag artists at the live events is often how they receive much of their financial support. In a way, this is similar to how the restaurant industry operates in North America.

The Drag Shop microsite is intended to reconnect the audience members with the drag event post-show and provide a space where customers can purchase merchandise and other items from the shop as well as provide additional financial support to the drag artists through an extra tip option on the site. The team uncovered that many people in today's society carry very little cash meaning they may not have the opportunity to tip as much as they would like at the ive event. The Drag Shop gives people who attend the events an extra chance to reflect on the performance and provide extra financial support.

La Batie Drag-Shop Microsite Demo:

La Batie Drag Shop Microsite Slide Deck (insights, art direction, content & interaction strategy):