Establish a strong online presence
A professional destination where people can find the theatre, understand what it does and see what is happening.
https://7artstheatre.com
7 Arts Theatre - Live Events Platform
7 Arts Theatre is one of Harare's best-known performance and event venues, and it needed a website that matched its reputation. We designed and developed a digital platform built around events, people and place, with clear pathways for venue hire enquiries, event discovery, gallery content and tickets, connected to the 7Pro Tickets experience.
VISIT WEBSITE- Client
- 7 Arts Theatre
- Industry
- Arts, Culture & Entertainment
- Year
- 2024
- Location
- Harare, Zimbabwe
- Type
- Website
- Services
- Website Design & DevelopmentUX/UI DesignEvent & Ticketing ExperienceSocial Media ManagementWebsite Maintenance
The Project
Bringing one of Harare's cultural spaces into the digital age
7 Arts Theatre is a performance and event venue inside Avondale Shops in Harare, Zimbabwe. It hosts live music, theatre, dance, film, seminars, corporate events and private functions.
For us, this project was always about more than a website. The goal was to give the theatre a proper digital home, one that could show what 7 Arts Theatre stands for, help audiences find upcoming shows and help organisers understand the venue before they ever pick up the phone.
The site needed to work as several things at once: a digital face for the brand, an information platform, an event discovery tool, an enquiry channel for venue hire, a ticketing pathway and a showcase for the spaces and services on offer.
- Represent the 7 Arts brand online.
- Help audiences discover what is on.
- Give event organisers a clear route to enquire about hiring the venue.
- Connect event discovery with ticket access.
- Showcase the theatre's spaces, gallery and services.
The Challenge
A well-loved physical venue with little digital presence
7 Arts Theatre had a strong physical presence in Harare's entertainment scene, with years of history behind it. Its digital presence did not come close to matching that. For a venue that relies on people discovering events, checking the space, finding directions, enquiring about bookings and buying tickets, that gap was holding the theatre back.
And so the real question was never simply, can you build us a website? It was bigger than that.
How do we turn a physical cultural destination into a digital experience that is easy to find, easy to understand and easy to act on?
The Opportunity
Turning the website into a digital venue
The venue already had atmosphere, character, history and activity. The digital experience needed to communicate the same qualities. We saw six clear opportunities.
Improve event discovery
A dedicated events experience so visitors can find upcoming and past shows instead of relying only on offline promotion.
Simplify venue enquiries
A clear route for event planners, organisations and individuals to enquire about hiring the theatre.
Make tickets easier to reach
A digital pathway from discovering a show to getting a ticket, connected to the 7Pro Tickets experience.
Communicate the wider offering
7 Arts is more than the auditorium. The site needed to cover the ticketing and photography and videography services that sit around the venue.
Build for what comes next
The platform needed room to grow as the theatre adds more programming, services and digital operations.
User Research
Understanding the people who use the venue
Before any design work, we spent time getting to know the theatre and its visitors. That meant in-person research, telephone conversations, regular discussions with the client and close study of how other venues, local and international, present events and venue hire online.
The research mattered because the site had to serve two very different intentions. One person might arrive wanting to buy a ticket to an event. Another might arrive wanting to hire the venue. Those two users should never be pushed through the same journey.
Research Findings
The main problems users were running into
Across the research, the same five problems kept coming up.
Hard to find online
People struggled to find reliable, up to date information about the venue online. Being well known offline does not automatically make you easy to find online.
Unclear what the venue offers
Venue hire customers needed to understand what the space offers, what events it can hold, what it looks like and who to contact. The site needed to make all of that obvious.
Events were hard to follow
Audiences needed one place to see what was happening at the theatre, instead of relying on individual promoters or word of mouth.
Tickets were not easy to reach
Getting a ticket could involve too many steps for people who had already decided to attend.
The venue was hard to picture
First time visitors wanted to see the space and find out where it is before committing to an event or a booking.
User Personas
Two very different visitors
Persona 01
The Venue Seeker
Looking for a space to hire. Could be an event organiser, a company planning a seminar, a church group, a producer or a private individual.
Primary goal
Find a suitable venue and enquire about availability.
Questions they ask
- Is the venue suitable for my event?
- What does the space look like?
- What events can it hold?
- Where is it and how do I get in touch?
- What happens after I enquire?
Their journey
DiscoverExplore venueUnderstand offeringEnquireBook
Persona 02
The Event Attendee
Looking for something to go to. Might arrive through a search engine, social media, a shared event link or word of mouth.
Primary goal
Find an event, understand it and get a ticket.
Questions they ask
- What is on?
- When is it happening?
- Where is it?
- How do I get a ticket?
- What do I need to know before attending?
Their journey
DiscoverExplore eventUnderstand eventGet ticketAttend
User Journeys
Following the two journeys from start to finish
Journey A - Hiring the venue
A venue hire customer looks for a space, checks whether it fits and starts a conversation.
Stage 01
Discovery
The user searches for an event venue or hears about the theatre.
User need: Find a suitable venue.
Website response: Clear positioning of 7 Arts Theatre and what it can host.
Stage 02
Exploration
The user looks around the site for venue details.
User need: See whether the theatre fits the occasion.
Website response: Venue imagery, event types, practical information and clear calls to action.
Stage 03
Evaluation
The user wants to understand how booking works.
User need: Know how to proceed.
Website response: Simple booking and enquiry pathways with contact details.
Stage 04
Enquiry
The user decides to contact the theatre.
User need: Reach the venue without friction.
Website response: A dedicated booking and contact journey.
Stage 05
Booking
The user submits an enquiry and the conversation begins.
User need: Turn interest into an enquiry.
Website response: A clear final step with a trusted contact route.
Journey B - Attending an event
An audience member finds a show, gets the details they need and follows the path to a ticket.
Stage 01
Discovery
The user arrives from a search, a social post or a shared event link.
User need: Find out what is happening at the theatre.
Website response: Upcoming events surfaced clearly on the homepage and events pages.
Stage 02
Event exploration
The user browses upcoming and past events.
User need: See what is on and when.
Website response: A dedicated events section with useful event pages.
Stage 03
Event evaluation
The user reads the event details.
User need: Decide whether to go.
Website response: Clear event information including date, venue and what to expect.
Stage 04
Ticket access
The user follows the ticketing pathway.
User need: Get a ticket without leaving the flow.
Website response: A clear connection to the 7Pro Tickets experience.
Stage 05
Attendance
The user has everything needed to get to the theatre.
User need: Know where to go and what to expect.
Website response: Directions and venue information at hand when needed.
Information Architecture
A clear structure from the start
We organised the site around the questions people actually ask when they deal with a performance venue. Each section serves a single purpose, so nobody has to dig through pages of content to find the action they came to perform.
- HomeIntroduces the theatre and leads visitors to the main pathways.
- AboutTells the story and personality of the venue.
- Products and ServicesCovers the wider offering around the theatre.
- EventsA dedicated home for upcoming and past shows.
- GalleryLets people see the space and the atmosphere.
- NewsKeeps regular visitors in the loop.
- BookingsThe route for everyone looking to hire the venue.
- Contact and ticketing pathwaysMakes it easy to get in touch or reach tickets.
Design Process
From research to a finished digital experience
We followed a structured process, testing the structure and the flow before any final visuals were locked in.
- 01
Research and discovery
We got to know the venue, its audience, the local entertainment scene and how comparable venues present themselves.
- 02
Sitemap
We turned the research into a clear site hierarchy so the structure made sense before any styling began.
- 03
Paper wireframes
We sketched layouts on paper to work through hierarchy, navigation and calls to action, and to focus on the structure rather than the look.
- 04
Digital wireframes
We moved the sketches into digital layouts and tested how they worked on desktop and mobile.
- 05
Low fidelity prototype
We tested the overall flow of the site, refining the structure before investing in final visuals.
- 06
Visual design
We developed the look and feel around performance, culture, energy, community and entertainment. This is a theatre, so we treated the site as a digital environment for events, not a corporate brochure.
- 07
High fidelity UI
We refined the approved direction into finished screens, covering typography, imagery, spacing, buttons, event cards and responsive behaviour.
- 08
Interactive prototype
We used a clickable prototype to show how users would move through events, venue booking, ticketing and the gallery.
- 09
Accessibility review
Accessibility ran through the whole process rather than being a final checklist, covering hierarchy, readability, contrast and predictable interaction.
Accessibility
Designed to be usable by everyone
Clear visual hierarchy
Headings, supporting information and calls to action were structured so the importance of each element is obvious.
Readable typography
Type sizes, spacing and line lengths were checked across desktop, tablet and mobile.
Colour contrast
Text and interactive elements were designed with enough contrast to stay legible.
Predictable interaction
Navigation and interactive elements behave consistently, with clear focus states for keyboard users.
The Digital Product
A website built around events, people and place
The finished site brings the theatre's day to day digital needs into one platform. The homepage positions 7 Arts Theatre as the home of live events, and every part of the site points people toward useful next steps.
Homepage
Introduces the theatre and gives immediate pathways to events, the venue, products, booking and the gallery.
Events
A dedicated space for discovering what is on, with separate upcoming and past event experiences so the theatre keeps an archive of its activity over time.
Venue booking
A clear route for people who want to hire the theatre, covering what the space holds, what it looks like and how to enquire.
Ticketing
A pathway from discovering a show to getting a ticket, connected to the 7Pro Tickets experience.
Gallery
A visual showcase of performances, audiences and events so people can see the space before they commit.
Products and services
Covers the wider offering around the theatre, including Mujegra PhotoStudio and 7Pro Tickets.
Ticketing
From event discovery to ticket access
A big part of the transformation was reducing the distance between spotting an event and getting a ticket.
The site connects event discovery with the 7Pro Tickets experience, an event ticketing platform offering online ticket sales, digital tickets, QR code entry and event management tools. That connection means the website is not just an information brochure. It sits inside the journey to a booked seat.
Venue Booking
From interest to venue enquiry
Hiring a theatre is a completely different job from buying a ticket, so the booking journey stands on its own.
A venue hire customer moves through a simple, human sequence: they see the venue, understand what it can host, explore the space, ask questions and start a conversation. The site supports venue hire for performances, concerts, corporate functions, workshops, seminars and private celebrations, and hands interested visitors a straightforward way to get in touch.
Beyond the Website
A wider digital partnership
Our work with 7 Arts Theatre did not stop when the site went live.
Social media management
Supporting the theatre's online communication and event promotion.
Social media branding and guidance
Keeping the theatre consistent and recognisable across its digital channels.
Photography and videography
Helping document events and create visual content, in line with the Mujegra PhotoStudio offering.
Venue design and upgrading
Supporting improvements to the physical space so the venue and the website work together as one brand.
Website maintenance
Ongoing updates so the site stays fresh, reliable and ready for new events.
The Result
From physical destination to digital platform
The real outcome was never just a new website. It was a digital foundation built around an established venue.
Today the site gives the theatre one address where audiences can find it, explore events, read about the venue, revisit past shows, get in touch, enquire about hiring the space and follow the path to tickets. For event organisers it offers a clear route from discovery to enquiry. For audiences it offers a simpler path from what's on to I'm going. And for the theatre it creates a platform that can keep growing alongside the programme.
The Impact
Digital infrastructure for an established cultural brand
This project made a simple point: a strong physical presence still needs a strong digital experience. The platform was built around three objectives.
Discover
Helping people find 7 Arts Theatre and understand what it stands for.
Engage
Giving audiences and potential clients real ways to interact with the venue.
Convert
Creating clear pathways to tickets, enquiries and bookings.
What We Learned
Designing for two very different visitors
The biggest lesson was to design around intent, not just who the visitor is. A concert goer and a corporate organiser may visit the same site, but they want different things.
Physical recognition does not equal digital discoverability
Being famous offline does not make you easy to find online.
Event sites must stay current
Shows change constantly, so the architecture has to make updates easy.
Visuals carry the story
For a venue, people need to see the space before they commit.
Different users need different paths
Buy a ticket and book the venue are different actions and should not compete for the same journey.
A website can become core operations
When events, bookings, tickets and content work together, the site stops being a brochure and becomes part of how the organisation runs.
Project Services
Everything this project covered
Website Design
Research-led UX and UI design, from information architecture to the finished interface.
Website Development
Responsive development of the theatre's digital platform.
Event and Ticketing Experience
Digital pathways connecting event discovery with ticket access.
Venue Booking Experience
Structured journeys for organisations and individuals looking to hire the venue.
Website Maintenance
Ongoing support, content updates and platform maintenance.
Social Media Management
Digital communication and audience engagement support.
Social Media Branding and Guidance
Brand consistency and content direction across digital channels.
Photography and Videography
Visual content creation and event documentation.
Venue Design and Upgrading
Support for improvements to the physical venue experience.
See the project
7 ARTS THEATRE
Explore the live website and experience the digital platform.
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