Designing Connection: Bizzabo’s SmartBadge for Events
Joining Bizzabo as a Senior Product Designer meant stepping into the fast-paced world of live events — a space full of complexity, energy, and opportunity for innovation. My focus was on designing a user centred experience for Bizzabo’s wearable event technology aimed to transform how people connect and engage in real-life environments.
Most attendees don’t want to pull out their phones during a conversation or a keynote. That insight shaped the foundation of our design approach: low-effort, high-reward interactions. One click — that’s all it takes to exchange contact information, check into sessions, or light up a badge to find your group.
The challenge was to bridge the physical and digital experience, designing both the SmartBadge and the companion mobile/web tools used by attendees, organizers, and exhibitors.
Seamless Integration into the Event Ecosystem
The SmartBadge was designed not as a standalone gadget but as an integral component of the entire event experience. Its integration spanned from initial organizer tasks to attendee interactions, ensuring a cohesive and immersive event journey.
A friction-less feature allowing attendees to holistically exchange contact info with a simple badge tap. Real-Time Visual Feedback: LED animations for actions like successful check-ins or in-the-moment engagement prompts.
Organizer Empowerment: Event organizers could customize badge designs, manage attendee data, and monitor real-time engagement through intuitive dashboards, streamlining pre-event preparations and on-site operations.
Staff Efficiency: The SmartBadge facilitated quick and accurate attendee check-ins, reducing bottlenecks and allowing staff to focus on enhancing the attendee experience rather than manual administrative tasks.
Attendee Engagement: Attendees benefited from personalized content recommendations, effortless networking opportunities, and interactive session participation, all enabled by the SmartBadge's capabilities
Modular Badge Builder: We designed a modular badge editor that let organizers quickly configure layouts, add attendee data fields, and preview the result in real time. Every element—name, title, logo, QR code—could be dragged, styled, or toggled without needing design skills or dev support. The system was designed with live usage in mind: fast to learn, safe to use, and fully integrated with on-site printing hardware.
Addressing Check-In Bottlenecks with Self-Service Solutions: Recognizing the common issue of long lines during event check-ins, Bizzabo introduced a self-service check-in system integrated the SmartBadge
Streamlined Process: Attendees could independently check in, receive their personalized SmartBadge, and sync their information without staff assistance, significantly reducing wait times.
Enhanced Experience: This self-service approach not only expedited the check-in process but also empowered attendees, contributing to a more positive and efficient event experience.
Leveraging Real-Time Data for Continuous Improvement
The SmartBadge's Bluetooth technology enabled the collection of real-time data on attendee movements and interactions, providing valuable insights for organizers.
Heatmaps and Analytics: Organizers could access heatmaps illustrating attendee flow and engagement hotspots, allowing for on-the-fly adjustments to event layouts and schedules.
Data-Driven Decisions: Post-event analytics facilitated a deeper understanding of attendee behavior, informing future event planning and enhancing overall event effectiveness.
Designing with Cross-Functional Teams
Collaboration across hardware, software, and business teams was essential. Working closely with engineers, marketing, and product managers, we built a cohesive end-to-end experience that could scale across high-profile conferences and complex venues.
Outcome & Impact
Klik has been used at leading events worldwide, significantly improving how people interact, connect, and track engagement. For many attendees, this was the first conference badge that felt like a smart, memorable tool — not just a piece of plastic.