Improving navigation, exhibit discovery, and ticket booking through usability testing with 9 participants.
A research-led website redesign for Arizona Science Center. The project used moderated usability testing, heuristic evaluation, and content restructuring to improve exhibit discovery, FAQ access, mobile navigation, and ticket purchasing.
Overview
This redesign study evaluated the Arizona Science Center website through moderated usability testing, accessibility review, and interface analysis. The work focused on visit planning tasks: finding exhibits, locating FAQs, using mobile navigation, and buying tickets.
Visitors had trouble finding key planning information, comparing exhibits, understanding ticket options, and completing checkout. Testing showed low task success, unclear FAQ/refund paths, mobile menu issues, and unreliable search results.
Audience
Families, students, tourists, and returning visitors planning visits, exploring exhibitions, and purchasing tickets online.
Core lens
Usability, information clarity, intuitive navigation, accessibility, and reducing cognitive load during high-friction tasks.
Format
Focused redesign of high-friction website pages identified through usability testing, heuristic evaluation, and IA review.
Strength shown
Usability testing, research synthesis, information architecture, interaction design, and evidence-led redesign decisions.
Observations
I conducted moderated usability testing with 9 participants across navigation, ticket purchasing, information discovery, FAQ access, search, and mobile usability. The study measured task success rates, repeated usability issues, and user behavior across core visit-planning journeys.
62%
61.6% overall task success rate across common visitor tasks.
67%
66.7% of participants had difficulty with ticket purchasing, including cart actions and ticket type comprehension.
100%
100% of participants reported irrelevant search results while looking for exhibits, FAQs, and support content.
100%
100% of participants struggled to locate FAQs and refund information, making support content a critical information architecture issue.
78%
77.8% of participants encountered mobile menu issues related to responsiveness and discoverability.
Process
The redesign translated observed task failures into changes across navigation, content hierarchy, exhibit browsing, ticket selection, and system feedback.
Identified high-friction user tasks
Focused on the tasks where participants struggled most: ticket selection, FAQ discovery, exhibit comparison, event timing, search, and mobile navigation.
Outcome: Prioritized the pages and flows tied to low task success and repeated hesitation.
Restructured navigation and information hierarchy
Used card sorting and observed mental models to reorganize navigation labels, homepage sections, and exhibition categories.
Outcome: Moved key visit-planning content into easier-to-find navigation and page sections.
Simplified the ticket purchasing flow
Redesigned ticket selection as a guided flow with clearer ticket types, visible inclusions, fewer unclear actions, and supportive microcopy.
Outcome: Reduced uncertainty during ticket comparison, cart review, and checkout.
Created consistent exhibition browsing experiences
Standardized exhibition pages so visitors could scan descriptions, timing, interaction type, and educational content in a predictable order.
Outcome: Made exhibits easier to compare across list and detail pages.
Improved clarity through system feedback and guidance
Added confirmation screens, payment guidance, refund context, and checkout messaging at decision points.
Outcome: Made key actions feel more predictable during ticket purchase.
Key decisions
The strongest redesign moves came directly from the 9-participant usability study: support content needed clearer paths, ticketing needed guidance, and exhibit pages needed a predictable structure.
Reduced confusion through clearer navigation
Navigation labels and homepage categories were reorganized around visitor planning tasks.
Impact: Exhibits, events, films, tickets, FAQs, and support content became easier to locate from primary page areas.
Prioritized important information earlier in the experience
Exhibit details, timings, ticket inclusions, FAQs, and refund information were surfaced earlier in the page hierarchy.
Impact: Reduced scanning effort for common visit-planning decisions.
Simplified the ticket purchasing process
The ticket flow became a structured sequence with clearer ticket types, visible inclusions, fewer ambiguous steps, and support copy.
Impact: Helped visitors understand what they were buying before payment.
Created consistent exhibition structures
Exhibition pages used a unified layout for descriptions, interaction type, educational content, and supporting resources.
Impact: Made exhibit comparison easier across the browsing flow.
Improved reassurance through system feedback
Confirmation messages, payment disclaimers, and contextual guidance were added throughout checkout.
Impact: Reduced hesitation at purchase and confirmation moments.
Before & after
Existing design
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Redesign
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What changed
Reorganized navigation labels, homepage categories, and exhibition discovery paths based on card sorting and usability findings.
Why it changed
Participants struggled to find exhibits, events, tickets, FAQs, and refund information from primary navigation paths.
Existing design
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Redesign
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What changed
Standardized exhibition layouts with consistent placement of descriptions, timings, interaction types, and educational content.
Why it changed
Fragmented page structures increased scanning effort and made exhibit comparison harder.
Existing design
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Redesign
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What changed
Restructured checkout into a guided step-by-step flow with clearer ticket types, inclusions, and support copy.
Why it changed
Testing showed confusion around ticket options and checkout steps, especially during cart and payment tasks.
Outcome
The redesign addresses the major usability issues found in testing: navigation clarity, ticket purchasing, exhibit browsing, mobile discovery, search alternatives, and support content access.
Improved navigation and information discovery
Reorganized navigation and homepage sections created clearer paths to exhibits, events, tickets, FAQs, and refund content.
Reduced friction during ticket purchasing
The revised ticket flow clarified ticket types, inclusions, cart actions, and checkout steps.
Created a more consistent browsing experience
Exhibition pages followed a unified structure for scanning, comparing, and understanding exhibit options.
Improved trust through clearer system feedback
Confirmation states, disclaimers, and supportive microcopy made purchase steps easier to understand.
Reflection
Next, I would run a follow-up usability test on the redesign, compare task success against the original baseline, and complete a deeper WCAG review across mobile and desktop breakpoints.
I would also explore:
Contact
I would love to hear from you whether it is about design or new opportunities. Always excited to connect and share ideas.
