The Adler Planetarium Website
Client: The Adler Planetarium
Skills: UX & Content Audits, Stakeholder Interviews, UX Workshops, User Journey Map Development, IA Development, Wireframe Development, User Testing, Development Specs, CMS Training
The Adler Planetarium, located on Chicago's Museum Campus, is the oldest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, drawing a wide mix of local and out-of-town visitors. Compared to its peer institutions, Adler's website and ticketing ecosystem had fallen behind — the experience was fragmented and difficult to manage, resulting in a poor museum-goer experience and declining reviews. The Adler team sought to redesign the website and ticketing experience to support trip planning, increase attendance and repeat visitation, and build a integrated, high-performing platform that would be easy to maintain.
The Challenge
Our team led a full redesign and redevelopment project, delivering a custom WordPress website with deep integrations to a new ticketing platform and existing CRM platform. The new website aims to streamline the path from browsing to purchase and includes features that support onsite visitors. Key features include a real-time show calendar, a streamlined cart experience, an onsite menu, and alerts that let nighttime visitors know when the observatory is open.
The Solution
The Process
Discovery
First, we completed a series of audits reviewing the existing content, user experience, technology, analytics, and peer landscape. We conducted stakeholder interviews to gain an internal perspective about the current state and vision for the new website and ticketing experience. The learnings from these discovery activities were summarized in a findings report and creative brief which defined the goals, opportunities, and vision for the redesign.
Strategic priorities:
UNIFY THE USER EXPERIENCE
EMPOWER TRIP PLANNERS & GUESTS
EMBRACE A MOBILE-FIRST DIGITAL PRESENCE
PERSONALIZE AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
OPTIMIZE INTERNAL OPERATIONS
Definition
Our definition phase was divided into two parts: ticketing definition and site definition.
The ticketing definition process included documenting ticketing requirements and evaluating 22 vendors against those requirements to select a platform. While this process was led by the tech team, I tracked the experience-driven requirements to ensure the selected ticketing platform would support a seamless visitor experience.
With the ticketing platform defined, we moved into site definition. This included defining website audiences and user journeys, developing a new information architecture, building wireframes, and conducting user testing.
Design
Throughout the design phase, we wove our strategy into every feature and built the site mobile-first from the ground up. The result is an experience that's easy to use, full of moments that surprise and delight, and backed by a content management system that's built to last and ready to grow.
Visit adlerplanetarium.org
A Closer Look At Key Features
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An onsite menu that appears when visitors are near the museum, helping to orient them in real time.
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A fully integrated museum calendar that gives users the information they need to make a decision to moves them seamlessly from browsing to purchase.
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Clear alerts that let nighttime visitors know when the observatory is open and when it is closed due to weather.
