Bullock Texas State History Museum Website
Client: Bullock Texas State History Museum
Skills: UX & Content Audits, Stakeholder Interviews, IA Development, Wireframe Development, User Testing, Development Specs, CMS Training
The Challenge
The Bullock Texas State History Museum, located in Austin, is a dynamic public institution dedicated to telling the endlessly evolving story of Texas. The in-person experience invites students, educators, tourists, and locals to explore past and present history through ever-changing exhibits, films, and programs. An IMAX theater sits within the museum which attracts additional visitors and serves as a key revenue driver. While the on-site experience had grown to be more vibrant and engaging over time, the museum’s digital presence had not kept pace. The Bullock team sought to update the website in order to improve trip planning, connect IMAX visitors to the museum experience, and develop enhanced digital resources for educators.
The Solution
Our team led a full redesign and redevelopment project, delivering a custom WordPress website with deep integrations to the museum’s ticketing system, artifact collections database, and CRM. The new website aims to prepare visitors for the full onsite experience which includes exhibits, films, dining, and more. The interactive features on the website complement the in-person galleries and include an artifact gallery, history timeline, and field trip itinerary builder.
The Process
Discovery
First, we completed a series of audits reviewing the existing content, user experience, technology, analytics, and peer landscape. We also conducted stakeholder interviews to gain an internal perspective about the current state and vision for the new website. The learnings from these discovery activities were summarized in a creative brief which defined the goals, opportunities, and vision for the redesign.
Generate Revenue: The website needs to generate revenue by encouraging onsite visits, generating new and sustained memberships, and encouraging donations.
Website Goals:
Support Learning: As one of the most reliable sources of information about Texas history, the website needs to complement the museum’s in-person educational experience.
Set Expectations: The website needs to serve as a front door for the Bullock Museum, introducing the breadth of offerings and contextualizing Texas history by building connections, stoking curiosity, and inspiring people to dig deeper.
Expand Access: The website needs to showcase the Bullock Museum’s current and past exhibits and broaden its reach to non-english speakers, individuals with disabilities, and users across all devices.
Definition
Next, we developed a new information architecture (IA) to support our website goals which involved defining key content types, taxonomies, and a sitemap for the new website. We used this IA model to build wireframes and conduct usability testing. The test validated our approach and identified opportunities to improve to the new IA and wireframes.
Design
The final website unifies the full Bullock experience by supporting trip planning, sharing Texas stories, and encouraging continued learning. It includes a streamlined navigation and ticketing flow, an aggregated calendar of films and events, an artifact library, interactive history timeline, itinerary builder, and more.
Visit thestoryoftexas.com
