How a “Memorial Ticket” Revives Paper Ticket Emotion in a Paperless Era

Project Background

In a world increasingly aware of environmental protection, paper‑less travel has become a modern, green trend. Mobile e‑tickets make train travel more convenient, but users still cherish the emotional value of physical tickets. The Zhixing design team set out to preserve the sentimental qualities of paper tickets by recreating the offline purchase experience in a digital format.

Exploration Direction

Simulating Offline Ticket Purchase

The design considered user habits and needs, perfectly reproducing visual elements and brand cues while ensuring the purchase flow remains seamless. Users can obtain a virtual paper ticket during the normal ordering process, creating a continuous and surprising experience.

Design Goals

Individual Emotional Satisfaction : Provide basic functions that deliver personalized ticket acquisition and sharing across three generational styles.

City Memory Building : Highlight travel memories, hometown longing, and the allure of unvisited places through detailed city classifications (history/culture, metropolis, tourism, cuisine).

Traditional Culture Promotion : Address the lack of cultural knowledge among young users and enhance expectations for festivals.

Implementation

1. Individual Emotional Satisfaction

Realistic offline ticket rendering uses appropriate textures and colors to mimic tactile feel, adding common ticket patterns, subtle ripples, and rough edges. After successful online payment, a ticket pops up, giving users a station‑like purchase sensation and allowing them to store the ticket in a digital ticket folder for easy collection and management.

2. City Memory Building

Data filtering selects top‑ranking cities with large user bases, enhancing exposure and offering distinctive travel experiences. Cities are categorized into history/culture, metropolis, tourism, and cuisine, each with specific color schemes and landmark elements, creating a vivid, three‑dimensional city impression.

3. Traditional Culture Promotion

During festival peaks, the design adds emotional elements to tickets, reflecting family reunions, couple dates, or friend gatherings. Seasonal and cultural cues (time of day, climate, local dialects) are incorporated to strengthen the sense of place and cultural identity.

Project Summary

By deeply understanding user needs and scenarios, the team delivered a digital ticket that resonates with users' travel memories, hometown nostalgia, city aspirations, and cultural appreciation. The “memorial ticket” achieved over a hundred million collections, reflecting strong user recognition. Future plans include expanding commemorative ticket scenarios and continuously innovating to provide warm, valuable service experiences.