Limited Revenue Streams
The traditional in-store party model had a fixed revenue potential per event, primarily from basic booking charges (e.g., Rs.1770/-) and food for physical attendees, with little scope for growth.
Hybrid Experience MVPMcDonald's × JioResearchPitchConceptUX
McJio Celebrations
Next-gen virtual parties built for shared presence.
As Lead Designer for "McJio Celebrations," a pioneering collaboration between McDonald's and Jio, I spearheaded the design of a multi-platform hybrid party experience. This solution leveraged JioSpace and 5G technology to seamlessly connect in-person and remote guests, addressing FOMO and enhancing McDonald's event offerings.
MVP
Concept brought through prototype and testing
~15%
Projected revenue growth per event
2-way
Physical and remote guests in one shared party system
My Role
Responsible for leading research, benchmarking, conceptualisation, end-to-end UX/UI design, and delivery for McJio Celebrations.
The Team
1 designer,
1 product manager, and 5+ engineers.
Timeline
Dec 2022 – Apr 2023
Project Status
Developed and tested as a client pitch and MVP, with this case study reflecting the design direction and validation achieved during that phase.
Introduction
Bridging Distances, Amplifying Joy
McJio Celebrations is an innovative, multi-platform virtual and hybrid event experience, born from a collaboration between McDonald's and Jio. This project aimed to revolutionize how families celebrate special moments, particularly kids' birthday parties, by seamlessly connecting in-person and remote guests. Leveraging the power of Jio's 5G network and the immersive capabilities of the JioSpace platform, McJio ensures that distance or commitments no longer mean missing out on shared joy and creating lasting memories.
The core idea was to extend the traditional McDonald's party into the virtual realm, allowing friends and family to participate fully, enjoy McDonald's food delivered to their doorstep, and interact meaningfully with those at the physical party venue. This initiative addressed the common pain point of guests being unable to attend due to work, travel, or other responsibilities, effectively eliminating the "fear of missing out" (FOMO).
Challenge
McDonald's Inclusive Party Growth
McDonald's faced a few key challenges with its existing party offerings:
Guest Attendance Barriers
Hosts feared guests missing key celebrations (like kids' birthdays) due to varied responsibilities, risking disappointment and a diminished experience.
Inconsistent Experience & Limited Reach
Party booking and experiences at McDonald's India were regionally inconsistent and offered by few stores (approx. 68/500+). The process remained largely offline, relying on walk-ins or calls.
FOMO for Remote Guests
Guests unable to attend physically missed the celebration's shared moments and fun. A core aim of the McDonald's Party project was "effectively eliminating FOMO."
The opportunity was to leverage Jio's technological strengths — its advanced 5G network and the JioSpace virtual environment platform — to create a novel solution that would not only solve these issues but also open up new avenues for customer engagement and revenue for McDonald's.
Solution
McJio Celebrations — Hybrid Parties (Illustrative Overview)
McJio Celebrations offers a seamless, integrated platform for hosting hybrid parties where virtual and physical attendees feel equally part of the event. This experience is powered by JioSpace, an immersive 2D virtual environment platform I also led the design for, which allows users to navigate and interact within virtual spaces without requiring VR hardware. Key aspects of the solution include:
Unified Booking & Virtual Setup
Hosts book their party at McDonald's as usual and then receive a link via email or WhatsApp to configure the virtual aspect of their celebration.
Engaging Virtual Invitations & RSVP
Hosts can personalize and send virtual invitations. Guests can then RSVP, indicating whether they'll attend physically, virtually, or decline.
McDonald's Food for All
Virtual attendees can choose their favorite McDonald's meals, which are delivered to their doorstep just before the party begins. If outside the delivery zone, guests receive an equivalent food coupon.
Immersive In-Party Interaction
The physical McDonald's party space is equipped with large interactive TVs, rotating cameras, and microphones to facilitate seamless interaction between physical and virtual guests.
Virtual attendees join via JioSpace, experiencing quirky birthday backgrounds, music, and interactive features. They can see, hear, and participate in all the happenings.
Not Just Another Video Call
The experience is designed to be far more engaging and interactive than standard video conferencing tools.
A comprehensive walkthrough of all features and detailed user journeys is provided in the Designing the McJio Experience section below.
My Role
My Role & Responsibilities: Lead Designer
As the Lead Designer for McJio Celebrations (and also for the foundational JioSpace platform), I partnered with the Senior Product Manager, Shreya Somani, and a team of engineers to bring this vision to life. My responsibilities included:
Vision & Strategic Design Lead
Led the conceptualization and overall design strategy for McJio Celebrations, translating complex requirements into an innovative end-to-end user experience.
Collaborative Product Development
Drove collaboration across Product, Engineering, and stakeholder teams to ensure alignment, feasibility, and successful project delivery.
User-Driven Insights & Validation
Championed a user-centered approach by directing research, competitive analysis, and iterative usability testing to refine solutions.
End-to-End UX/UI Design
Designed all core user interfaces and interactions, from host/guest flows and virtual spaces to in-store TV displays and integrated modules.
Design System & Execution Excellence
Leveraged and extended design systems for cohesion, produced all key design deliverables, and upheld overall design quality.
Mentorship & Fostering Growth
Actively mentored team members and cultivated a supportive environment for shared learning and skill development within the project.
Process
The Design & Development Process
My design process was iterative and user-centered, encompassing the following key stages:
Research & Discovery
• Analyzed the existing McDonald's party booking process to identify pain points and opportunities.
• Conducted market research on virtual event platforms and competitor analysis.
• Deeply understood the capabilities and constraints of JioSpace, Jio 5G, and other integrated Jio services (JioMarketplace, Hamleys, AJIO, Reliance Digital, JioSaavn, JioEngage) to ensure feasible design solutions.
Conceptualization & User Flows
• Brainstormed concepts from JioSpace for a hybrid party experience, focusing on seamless integration.
• Developed detailed user journey maps and swimlane diagrams for hosts and attendees (both physical and virtual) to map out the proposed solution. This helped in visualizing the entire ecosystem and identifying key interaction points.
Design Approach & Prototyping
User-Centricity
Placed the needs and experiences of diverse users (hosts, children, adult guests, McDonald's staff) at the forefront of all design decisions.
Iterative Design
Employed an agile-inspired iterative process, creating and refining designs based on continuous feedback and evolving requirements.
Progressive Prototyping
Started with low-fidelity wireframes to establish information architecture and core flows, progressing to detailed high-fidelity UI mockups and interactive prototypes.
Collaborative Design
Worked closely with product management and engineering teams throughout the lifecycle to ensure design feasibility and alignment with technical capabilities and business goals.
Design
Designing the McJio Experience: Key Features, Flows & Visuals
This section details the core features and user journeys of the McJio Celebrations platform, showcasing the design solutions created to bring the hybrid party to life.
Host Onboarding & Virtual Party Configuration
• The journey begins when hosts receive an email containing their physical party booking invoice, with a clear call-to-action: "Click to Get Started!" This button initiates the setup for the virtual party extension.
• This link directs the host to a simple, step-by-step web interface. The onboarding flow was designed to be quick and user-friendly. Hosts are guided through:
1. Naming the Celebration
2. Choosing a Virtual Layout
3. Selecting Decorations
4. Defining Table Arrangements
• A parallel onboarding flow via a WhatsApp chatbot (future phase) was also designed, providing step-by-step guidance for hosts who prefer this channel.
• Finally, hosts personalize the invitation message and input guest contact details (email addresses/phone numbers) to send out the invites.
Guest Invitation, RSVP, and Food Ordering
• Guests receive personalized invitations through email or WhatsApp, clearly displaying party details and a message from the host.
• The RSVP interface allows guests to easily choose their mode of attendance: "Yes, physically," "Yes, attending virtually," or "No".
• If attending virtually, guests are then guided through:
1. Table/Seat Selection
2. McDonald's Food Order
3. Gift Order
• A confirmation screen assures the guest they are all set for the party.
The Hybrid In-Party Experience
• Joining the Party (Virtual Guests): On the event day, virtual guests use their link to join, with initial screens setting up their camera and creating anticipation.
• Exploring the Virtual Party Space: Guests can navigate the JioSpace environment, which includes the main stage view and interactive elements like a "Play Dance Challenge" (JioGames integration) or a "McDonalds PhotoBooth" for virtual group selfies.
• Attendee Views: Clear display of other virtual attendees in various layouts (e.g., grid view, speaker view) within the JioSpace interface.
In-Store TV Experience
• Splash screens welcoming guests to the "McDonalds Party powered by JioSpace & Jio TRUE 5G".
• TV interfaces in McDonald's outlets displaying party schedules, QR codes for easy joining/inviting, and views of virtual attendees, enabling interaction with those in the physical store.
Host Controls & Party Management
• Live Streaming: Hosts can stream the party to various social media platforms (JioStream, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Custom) directly from the interface.
• Invite More Guests: During the party, hosts can easily invite additional guests via QR code or by sharing a meeting link.
• Theme Customization: Hosts can change the background theme of the virtual party in real-time to match the mood or activities.
• Moderation Tools: Standard host controls like mute participants, manage sharing, etc., are available (as seen in typical JioMeet interfaces).
Gifting Experience (Future phase)
• A "Gift Shop" feature was conceptualized, accessible to attendees during the party.
• Guests could browse and purchase digital gift vouchers from integrated partners like BookMyShow, AJIO, Amazon, and Hamleys. The design included earning Reliance Points (RP) with purchases.
Post-Event Engagement
• At the end of the party, a concluding screen thanks guests for their participation.
• It prompts them to share their experience via a quick feedback mechanism (e.g., star rating) and offers an option to subscribe to Jio 5G for similar future experiences.
Testing
Testing & Iteration
Following the design and initial development of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), the McJio Celebrations platform underwent several stages of testing:
Internal QA Testing
• The platform was rigorously tested by the internal QA team to identify bugs, usability issues, and ensure functional stability across different devices and scenarios. My role involved reviewing bug reports related to UI/UX and providing design clarifications or revisions.
Design Testing / User Testing Sessions
• User testing sessions were conducted (as mentioned in my responsibilities) to gather qualitative feedback on the overall experience, ease of use of specific flows (like host setup and guest food ordering), and the intuitiveness of the JioSpace virtual party environment.
• These sessions helped validate design decisions and identify areas for improvement.
Iterative Refinements
• Based on the feedback from QA and design/user testing, iterative design refinements were made. This included adjustments to UI elements for clarity, improvements to user flows to reduce friction, and enhancements to visual cues for better affordance.
• The project successfully reached a stage where the MVP was developed and had undergone these crucial testing phases, confirming the viability of the core concept and design.
Outcomes
Key Outcomes & Impact
While McJio Celebrations has been developed and tested but is not yet live in McDonald's stores, the project achieved significant milestones in terms of design validation and demonstrated strong potential for future impact:
Successful MVP Development & Testing
MVP developed and rigorously tested, validating the core user experience, technical feasibility, and innovative hybrid party concept.
Projected Revenue Growth
Projected to boost McDonald's party revenue by ~15% per event through virtual attendance and new engagement features.
Enhanced Brand & Customer Impact
Positioned McJio Celebrations to significantly boost McDonald's brand recognition and customer delight via its innovative, tech-forward solution.
Strong Client Pitch & Sustained Interest
Successfully pitched to McDonald's, sparking significant client interest and further engagement due to the concept's transformative potential.
Positive Stakeholder & Team Feedback on Design
The design received strong positive feedback from key stakeholders and team members.
You are our 'Man of the hour' and did an excellent job on the UXD... let's circle back by tomorrow with product demo video
Suman Guha
Chief Product Officer, Jio
Learnings
Learnings & Future Scope
This project was a significant undertaking in designing a complex, multi-platform hybrid experience.
Mastering Hybrid Complexity
Gained key insights designing a large-scale, multi-platform hybrid experience, navigating unique physical/virtual user journey challenges.
Equitable Hybrid Event Design
Learned the criticality of mapping distinct physical and virtual journeys to ensure fair and engaging experiences for all participants.
Simplifying Multi-Service UX
Understood that robust UX is essential to maintain simplicity for end-users when integrating multiple complex services (JioSpace, delivery, comms).
Value of Multi-Stage Testing
Recognized that continuous user testing across stages is vital for multifaceted platforms to identify and resolve diverse friction points.
Expanding Celebration
Plan to extend the platform beyond birthday parties to cater to diverse events like corporate gatherings and more.
Onboarding More Businesses
Future scope includes deeper Jio ecosystem integration for advanced features (gaming, loyalty, media) and extending JioSpace as a hybrid event platform for other businesses (e.g., Hamleys).
