Showtimes for movies

Question

I'm working on local cinemas guide (for arab users), and I want to design showtimes schedule in cinemas on movie page.. easy & simple for users and easy for developer and data entry.

Can I use Tabs ? or just table ? and how can me sort cinemas names with show times and show days ?

my first touch:

Case 1:

Case 2:

Case 3:

Answer 1

There are some constraints that makes it difficult to sort showtimes across dates and cinemas:

1. Movies start at different time depending on cinema. For example, Cinema A has a movie playing at 9:30, 12:30, 3:30, whereas Cinema B can have the same movie playing at 10:15, 4:45.

2. Cinemas may not have repeating weekly schedule for a given movie. So just because Movie A is being shown Monday-Friday 3pm, 7pm, 10pm this week, it doesn't mean it will have the same showing schedule next week.

Although tabular data may not be so feasible, you can still provide a set of "Filters" for those who are looking for more specific listings, such as by Start Time, Date, location, etc. (see first two mockups below)

Another way to tackle the problem is to use a timeline, which makes it a bit easier to compare times, but it may not be the best solution for casual movie goers. Just an idea :)

^{download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups}

Answer 2

I think here they get it right: http://artgorbunov.ru/bb/soviet/20080403/

1. Showtimes are grouped into columns based on the time of the day
2. You can see everything right upfront, without need to click anywhere
3. It’s only time of the beginning, because it rarely makes big difference if a movie lasts 1.5 hour or 2.
4. Timetable is for particular day because you usually know when are you up for the movie.