Walters Art Museum Webpage Redesign

User Experience Design

2018-2019


Overview

As a member of a three person design team, I spearheaded tasks such as auditing the current user experience, mapping user journeys, and restructuring the site architecture. To dive deeper into user needs and expectations, I collaborated closely with key stakeholders, our business development team, and patrons. This collaborative effort culminated in a detailed user journey map tailored to potential visitors, guiding them seamlessly from their initial site interaction to immersive artwork exploration and easy navigation to the latest exhibitions.

Team

Elizabeth Jones

Greg Rosann

Theresa Sotto

Role

UX/UI Design


Outcome

The launch of The Walters Art Museum’s redesigned website in 2019 marked a significant milestone in enhancing visitor engagement and satisfaction. The strategic redesign aimed to align the digital experience with the museum’s core values of enjoyment, discovery, and learning through art.

Responsive design principles resolved scalability issues, enhancing readability and image visibility across devices. Maximizing placement of support features prioritized patron satisfaction, contributing to positive feedback and increased engagement.

Overall, the redesigned website reflects The Walters Art Museum’s commitment to providing a dynamic digital platform that resonates with its audience, fostering a deeper appreciation for art and cultural experiences.

Finalized homepage design.


Framing the opportunity

Tasked by the Walters Art Museum, my mission was clear: redesign our front page to captivate visitors with our latest exhibitions and community events while embodying our core values of enjoyment, discovery, and learning through art.

The museum aimed to refresh its site to better showcase new exhibitions and events, recognizing the need to enhance visitor experiences across the discovery process, artwork exploration, and trip planning or event sign-ups.

Guiding the design team of three, I delineated clear tasks that encompassed auditing the current experience, mapping user journeys, analyzing competitors, and restructuring the site architecture. These efforts were pivotal in shaping our design directions and prototypes, ensuring a cohesive and effective approach to the redesign project.

Initial review of old design.

Embarking on this endeavor, I delved into the existing experience by engaging with key stakeholders, business development teams, and patrons, to synthesize all issues into a comprehensive user journey map, meticulously tailored to potential visitors. This map tracks users from their initial site introduction, guiding them through artwork exploration, and culminating in seamless navigation to our latest exhibition pages.

User journey map.


Highlights

Our initial research seamlessly transitioned into an exploration of diverse design concepts. Ultimately, we honed in on a bold, interactive homepage that prominently features The Walters’ latest exhibitions, significantly streamlining navigation for direct access. A comprehensive menu redesign was pivotal, requiring a deep understanding of the user journey to prioritize content effectively within the information architecture.

Homepage highlights a different exhibition at each page reload.

Finalized navigation menu design.

For individual exhibition pages, we crafted focused, visually engaging narratives and prominent exhibition details, ensuring an immersive and informative experience for visitors.

Flow of exhibition pages.

Our audit revealed scalability issues on small devices, prompting a complete redesign with a new responsive framework.

New framework for responsive design.

With patron satisfaction at the forefront of our priorities, we dedicated our efforts to ensuring an accessible support experience. Recognizing that support should seamlessly integrate across the entire user journey, we reframed it as an integral layer rather than a mere destination. To facilitate quick issue resolution, pertinent support content is strategically incorporated into the footer of every section.

New footer includes support content.