Website Redesign | UX Design

2023 | Desktop & Mobile Website
2023 | Desktop & Mobile Website

Redesigning the

Website's UI and Information Architecture

for

Seamless User Navigation

Team Members
Duration
Tools Used
Client
My Role

Nivedita Thakurdesai.(Me)

Trisha Khandelwal

Cassandra Cyphers

Jifeng

3 Months

Figma / Figjam
Zoom
Google Suite
Optimum Workshop

Otter ai

New York Transit Museum

  • Conducting 2 user interviews

  • Formulating user insights

  • Restructuring Information Architecture

  • Detailed Competitive analysis of 2 parameters

  • Creating ideation sketches

  • Primarily worked on Finding Upcoming Events Flow

Who is client (New York Transit Museum)?

The Museum Showcasing New York City's Transit Evolution

The New York Transit Museum currently located in Brooklyn showcases the history of New York City's subway, bus, and commuter rail systems. It features an extensive collection of trains and buses that highlight the evolution of the city's transit network. 
This self-supporting museum operates with the assistance of a nonprofit organization, Friends of the New York Transit Museum.

The Problem : What issues led to Redesign of website ?

Jargon and Disorganized Navigation Hindering User Experience

Unclear Hierarchy

Multiple paths to access the same pages or information, indicating unclear hierarchy and classification.

 

Redundant labels

Redundant labels in the level 2 navigation.  

Difficult Navigation

Misleading or context-specific label descriptions, making them difficult for users to navigate.

The Solution

Restructuring the information architecture to emphasize trip planning and highlight upcoming events and programs

Creating a structured hierarchy with key touchpoints across the homepage

Building the homepage with a hero image scroll bar to showcase visit details with multiple museum locations, a brief summary of upcoming events and programs, and a link to the full events page.

Featuring exhibit information with links to detailed pages.

Developing a calendar for upcoming events, categorized for easy access

Developing a dedicated events page with a calendar for easy access to upcoming events.

Our Approach : How did we accomplish this?

Research & Redesign Process

Our redesign process consisted of three main stages: understanding users, restructuring the information architecture, and wireframing and prototyping. ​​​


  • User insights significantly influenced our decisions on information architecture and design.

  1. Gaining User Insights

  • Screener Survey

  • User Interviews

  • Affinity Mapping 

  • Creating Persona.

  1. Gaining User Insights

  • Screener Survey

  • User Interviews

  • Affinity Mapping 

  • Creating Persona.

  1. Restructuring Information Architecture

  • Card Sorting

  • Tree Testing

  • Competitive Analysis

  1. Restructuring Information Architecture

  • Card Sorting

  • Tree Testing

  • Competitive Analysis

  1. Revamping the Website

  • Ideation Sketches 

  • Usability Testing

  • Final Prototype

  1. Revamping the Website

  • Ideation Sketches 

  • Usability Testing

  • Final Prototype

How we developed an understanding of the user?

We implemented screeners, user interviews, and affinity mapping to gather insights

  1. Screener Survey

  1. User Interview

  • Interviewed 8 users to understand their expectations, motivations, & preferred devices for accessing the museum website.

  • Recorded and transcribed both in-person & remote interviews for analysis.
    View Interview Transcript

  1. Affinity Mapping

  • Used affinity mapping to organize & analyze interview data.

  • Revealed users' interest in visit planning and program events.

    View Affinity Mapping

What were our user interview insights?

Key User Insight

8/8

Participants mentioned need of clear pricing and discount details, along with a quick, hassle-free ticket booking process.​​​​​​ ​​​​​​

8/8

Participants mentioned need of clear pricing and discount details, along with a quick, hassle-free ticket booking process.​​​​​​ ​​​​​​

7/8

Participants want to know about the most popular or interesting exhibit & Event so they can prioritize their time and ensure they don’t miss it.​​​​

7/8

Participants want to know about the most popular or interesting exhibit & Event so they can prioritize their time and ensure they don’t miss it.​​​​

5/8

Participants prefer a single website for museum information and need clear details on open hours to plan their visit.​​​​​

5/8

Participants prefer a single website for museum information and need clear details on open hours to plan their visit.​​​​​

How these insights helped us design with a stronger user focus?

We developed a persona based on our user insights

How we began restructuring the information architecture?

Through card sorting users created 3 major groups: Events, History & Visit Planning

11 Users participated on our card sorting study  - 4 moderated & 7 unmoderated​

  • Users spent an average of 18m to perform card sorting.​​

  • Users created a median of 5 categories each. ​

View entire card sorting analysis / Similarity Matrix

Users strongly grouped Education, Event & Program related labels together.​

Users strongly grouped Education, Event & Program related labels together.​

Users overall strongly grouped information related to history, research, and archives together

Users overall strongly grouped information related to history, research, and archives together

Users moderately grouped Visit related information & museum background together

Users moderately grouped Visit related information & museum background together

We created Information architecture based on Card Sorting Analysis. 


Our overarching goals were to:

  • Restrict the number of Level 1 categories to a maximum of six to simplify initial navigation for users​​

  • Ensure that the navigation does not extend beyond three levels to minimize the number of clicks needed for users to reach their destination.

​View Initial Information Architecture

How we determined the navigation structure?

We employed tree testing to ensure the navigation aligns with user preferences

  • After developing this initial information architecture, we tested our proposed labeling & organization through tree testing.

  • The tree testing achieved an overall success rate of 62%, with a directness rate of 68%. Both metrics are above 60%, indicating that our information architecture is generally performing well.​​


View Detailed Tree Testing Results

100 %

Participants were able to find

Buy Tickets

80 %

Participants were able to find

Museum Accessibiltiy

70 %

Participants were able to find

Become a Member

60 %

Participants were able to find

Donate

How we applied insights from our card sorting and tree testing?

Restructured Information Architecture

Competitive Analysis : what we learned from our competitors?

Visual hierarchy, organized layout & straightforward navigation are key essentials for an effective museum website

​​Our analysis shows that the most successful museum and specialty attraction website's feature:

​​

  • Well-balanced white space

  • Careful use of color

  • A strong visual hierarchy that guides the user’s eye down the page

  • Clear and distinct navigation labels

  • Prominently placed, targeted call-to-action buttons

  • A streamlined and efficient ticket purchasing process

​​

View Detailed Competitive analysis

Revamping the website

Ideation

​​We sketched both the flows on paper for desktop and mobile screens & then translated them to Figma wireframes later.

Finding Upcoming Events Flow

Final Prototype

Event Registration Task Flow Wireframes

Events & Programs Page

Upcoming events with link to see more

Various events categories with link to see more

Slideroom banner with popular, new, upcoming events

Events Calendar Page

List of all upcoming events with load more call to action

Calendar shows events of the selected day

Event category page -Kids & Families

Event category page -Kids & Families

Other category of events just in case if they miss it

All kids & Families events(specific category) with load more call to action

Search Bar with filter & sort options

Reflections

I developed a strong understanding of how to approach and manage content-heavy websites

Key Success

  • Targeting certain sections of the website, backed by user research, was more advantageous than addressing the entire site at once.

Key Success

  • Targeting certain sections of the website, backed by user research, was more advantageous than addressing the entire site at once.

Future Direction

  • With more time, we would have focused on enhancing the flow of new exhibits and collections, as highlighted in user insights.

Future Direction

  • With more time, we would have focused on enhancing the flow of new exhibits and collections, as highlighted in user insights.

Scope for Improvement

  • We learned that being aware of client resources is vital before advising on design changes.

Scope for Improvement

  • We learned that being aware of client resources is vital before advising on design changes.

Interested in Collaborating?

If my work resonates with you, let’s talk!

Interested in Collaborating?

If my work resonates with you, let’s talk!

© Nivedita Thakurdesai 2024