The New York Transit Museum (NYTM) stands as a testament to the rich and storied history of transportation in one of the world's most iconic cities. Housed within a decommissioned subway station, NYTM offers visitors a captivating journey through time, showcasing the evolution of New York City's transit system. We delve into the redesign of NYTM's digital platform, aiming to enhance accessibility, usability, and overall user experience.
The New York Transit Museum
Magdalena Fraga
Madhumitha Pradeep Kumar
Karan Vora
Duration: 4 Months
Information Architecture and Interaction Design.
Identified participants for research
Conducted two user interviews.
Designed the Navigation Bar.
Designed the check-out flow.
Conducted Usability Testing.
Iterated designs based on feedback.
An Active Team Contributor.
Figma
Optimal Workshop
Google Suite
The NYTM website is a treasure trove of information offering a vast amount of information. Over the years, information has been added without proper structuring, resulting in a disorganized and overwhelming user experience. Also, the designs aren't consistent across pages.
- Unclear
Navigation
- Inadequate
Content Hierarchy
- Unclear Information Organization
- Inconsistent Terminology
The primary objectives of the project were to streamline information and enhance user experience on the website. Our focus was on simplifying the vast array of content into easily digestible categories for a more user-friendly interface. Additionally, we strived for consistency throughout all pages to ensure a cohesive browsing experience.
The proposed redesign of the NYTM digital platform aims to address the shortcomings by introducing a clean, modern interface that prioritizes user accessibility and engagement. The visual design embraces the museum's heritage while incorporating contemporary elements for a fresh and visually appealing aesthetic.
In our efforts to improve the museum’s functionality and user experience, our team was tasked with redesigning the membership flow. This included revamping the membership sign-up pages, simplifying the event pass registration process, and streamlining the checkout flow to make it as user-friendly as possible.
Memberships serve as a cornerstone for building a loyal community of museum enthusiasts, offering exclusive access to events, exhibitions, and special privileges. Redesigning the membership flow not only enhances the overall user experience but also strengthens the museum's relationship with its audience, driving engagement, and fostering a sense of belonging among members.
We conducted user interviews with people who are existing members of other museums or organizations based in New York City. To gain a deeper understanding and to conduct thorough research, we came up with research questions:
1. What motivated the intention behind users to become and stay members?
2. How do users utilize the membership benefits provided, while also identifying the impact the website has on memberships?
Mapped using Affinity Mapping to realize the three most important insights.
Memberships had a positive impact on people's life. People were eager about renewing their memberships. It ultimately means that they’re indeed satisfied with the benefits provided.
The cost of the membership was the most considered aspect before making the decision to join the membership.
The novelty and uniqueness of offers and benefits offered and provided got people enthusiastic and encouraged them to visit more.
Based on the information gathered from the user research, we crafted a User Persona – Sarah, an archivist based in New York to help us empathize better with our potential users while helping us make better decisions.
We also performed a competitive analysis on 8 direct competitors and 1 indirect competitor. We used our persona, Sarah as a key identifier while coming up with competitors. Our findings emphasized the effectiveness of incorporating CTA buttons, visual imagery, and card/accordion menus to enhance accessibility and mitigate information overload.
To simplify the site's information structure, we began by prioritizing the users and conducting a Card Sorting exercise to identify potential categories and their labels. Subsequently, we performed Tree Testing to ensure that the information was grouped under appropriate categories in our proposed new Information Architecture.
Following the conclusion of our testing, we formulated a revised Information Architecture comprising 8 categories. Informed by our user research, we prioritized simplicity and clarity in labelling, while organizing the categories by function. Notably, we introduced a new category labelled "Explore," consolidating articles under sections such as "News," "Collection," and "Historical Insights," thereby facilitating seamless navigation and accommodating future expansion.
Unclear Navigation
Unclear Information Organization
Inadequate Content Hierarchy
Inconsistent Terminology
Simplicity.
Clear and understandable content hierarchy.
Descriptive.
Navigation includes tertiary level information embedded into the pages with insight into its content.
Room for Growth.
Two proposed blog spaces for the NYTM to post new information and insights on the sections “News” and “Historical Insights.”
Keeping the users in mind again, we decided to explore as much as design options as possible. We initially produced paper prototypes and converted them to mid-fidelity prototypes and conducted a round of user testing. We came up with two task flows – one for becoming a member, and the other was signing up for a member-only event.
We streamlined our initial ideas and translated them into sketches to clarify design decisions and enhance the user experience.
We carefully analyzed the most usable and functional sketches, identifying key elements to incorporate into our designs. These selected sketches were then translated into mid-fidelity prototypes.
We conducted user testing on our mid-fidelity prototype to analyze its usability. With a total of 5 participants, we systematically evaluated the prototype through task-based flows. The insights gathered from this testing phase informed our design decisions and guided further iterations before advancing to the high-fidelity prototype stage.
Revamping the membership page was our focus, aiming to declutter and simplify the user experience. Our primary goal was to present all membership options seamlessly, without overwhelming the users. We prioritized an intuitive and easy-to-navigate layout, ensuring users effortlessly explore the diverse membership offerings and the benefits.
The membership registration and check-out flow needed a revamp to simplify the process of buying a membership.
We've introduced an event registration flow that specifically caters to members, granting them access to tickets for exclusive members-only events. This revamped registration page plays a pivotal role in simplifying the check-out process for users.
Our interactive prototype showcases a seamless user experience, meticulously crafted to enhance usability and engagement. With intuitive navigation and visually appealing design elements, users can effortlessly explore the website's features and functionalities!
Working on the NYTM website was my first client-facing project in grad school. It was an enriching experience, and our client's engagement was particularly notable. They expressed interest in our presentation of membership tiers and found the addition of the feature indicating the number of tickets left for an event to be especially beneficial.
The academic project's final submission demanded only a mid-fidelity prototype. However, upgrading to a hi-fi prototype was entirely optional. Despite this, our team went above and beyond the minimum requirements through dedicated effort and commitment.
We developed a consistent and cohesive visual style guide to ensure uniformity across all pages. This not only enhanced the overall aesthetic appeal but also facilitated a smoother user experience. As a result, we got positive feedback for our attention to detail.
By actively engaging in team discussions and demonstrating a willingness to listen and learn from others, I not only built professional connections but also forged meaningful friendships. This lays the foundation for future collaborations and networking opportunities.
