Platform
Website

Role
Research and UX

Skills
User Research
User Testing

Overview

The Brooklyn Museum is the third largest museum in New York City and is located in Brooklyn nestled between the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and the library. They have several notable collections that include Egyptian, Oceanic, African and Japanese antiques. Recently the museum has hosted a range of exhibits that have attracted large audiences. These include the David Bowie and Frida Kahlo exhibits. The also put on several community events such as teen night and dance events during the summer.

The Brief

Based on our stakeholder interview, the objective of our study was to address first-time visitors living within the metro area and to understand their motivation for wanting or not wanting to attend the museum based on visiting the website.

Research & Process

Stakeholder Interview

In our team's interview with Christina White, Head of Technology at the Brooklyn Museum, she expressed that they would like to assess the overall usability of the website with the hopes of gaining some insights as to the reason visitors may or may not want to attend the museum. Most of their visitors were repeat local visitors but they would like to see more from the other boroughs.

Limitations. In the interview, the stakeholder was very clear that any changes would have to be done within the current design and architecture. Our recommendations should work within the current framework. Cosmetic changes only.

User Testing

Based on our stakeholder interview, the developed tasks and questions that would address first-time visitors living within the city metro area. I developed the tasks while the other team members drafted the recruitment emails and interview documents. Our team conducted 6 in-person tests using the "talk aloud" method. Each of us was tasked with recruiting two people for interviews. We conducted the interviews at the Pratt Manhattan Campus. All of us participated in the interviews.

Recruitment. Most of our participants were recruited through the Pratt SI user group. In our pre-session questionnaire we screened for anyone who had worked at a museum or were currently studying to. The majority of them lived in Brooklyn and were between the ages of 26-35. Friends were the most popular museum visit companion and the met was the museum of choice.

Tasks. Participants were asked to complete a total of four navigation-based tasks distributed between desktop and mobile devices. Task order was consistent across participants however, task device order rotated per participant. Participants either completed the first 2 tasks on an iMac desktop and final 2 on an iPhone 7 or first 2 task on an iPhone 7 and final 2 on a iMac desktop. The tasks that users performed are listed below:

1. You are planning a visit to the Brooklyn Museum. Please find information about:
   • Hours today
   • Price of admission
   • Parking options
   • Accessibility within the museum
2. Please find out if there are dining options located at the museum and if so, what hours are they open today?
3. Can you identify which exhibits are currently open at the museum and which ones need a ticket?
4. Can you find out if there are any events on May 4th? What are they?

Additionally, tasks 1, 3, and 4 were accompanied with the following post-task questions:
Task 1.
How do you feel about the presentation of this information? Do you think you’ve completed this task? If so we’ll move on.
Task 3 & 4.
On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 representing very difficult and 5 as easy, how would you rate this task? Please explain your reasoning behind your choice.

Results & Recommendations

Overall, the Brooklyn Museum’s website is generally a user-friendly interface with pleasing aesthetics and a minimalist design. However, researchers were able to identify a total of 9 usability issues between tasks completed on mobile and desktop with 3 of these issues identified with five out six users. However, only four of these issues can be deemed as a major problem.

1. PROVIDE EXPECTED INFORMATION FROM VISIT LINK
   The site doesn't use a landing page for this link but rather brings you to the first sub-page within the "Visit" category. This does match the user's conceptual model.
2. CLEAR PATH TO ACCESSIBLITY INFORMATION
   Access to the a page for impaired visitors is available through the sub-navigation within the visit section but lives within another. This information should be added to footer.
3. CLEARLY IDENTIFY TICKETED EVENTS
   Purchasing a ticket for a specified time is not expected model for users who are not regular visitors and can lead to disappointment upon visit. Mark this clearly with any promotion.
4. INCLUDE PRICING ON TICKETED EVENT PAGES
   An event that requires a ticket should have specific pricing information listed within the page.

Issue 1: Visit Link

Problem. Users were easily able to see and associate the “Visit” menu item [1] with finding hours and admission information but had trouble finding other visitor information. The “Visit” link takes the user to the “Hours & Admission” page with is the first sub-menu item which confused users. The page also lacks a title that matches the link.

They did not notice the sub-navigation [2] and had assumed the visitor link would take them to a page with all visitor information. The placement of the image against the sub-nav obscures it. On mobile the sub-nav doesn't even appear [3] leaving the user to guess where the rest of the visitor information is. Note. In contrast, the "On View" page repeats the link title at the top and works as a landing.

Solution. Understanding the stakeholder's desire to avoid navigation changes at this time, we noticed a solution that was already in practice on another page. Adding a title [2, 4] to the page below the sub-nav that matches the link [1] makes clear navigation. Content from the other sub-pages is also highlighted in this page [3, 5].

Issue 2: Accessibility Information

Problem. The “Visit” sub-nav contains a link labeled “Access” [1] that links to a page within the “Education” section called "Visitors with Disabilities." Ending up in another section of the site on a page with a different title can confuse a user. Also, the word “Access” from this menu does not clearly convey “Accessibility.”

Solution. Accessibility information should be readily available. We suggested that it persist in the footer [1, 2]. It could be made more clear by using the accessible icon as well. "Access" should be removed from the “Visit” sub-nav but the information should be included and highlighted within the body of the page [3, 4]. The link should have the same name as the page title,“Visitors with Disabilities.”

Issue 3: Identify Exhibits with Tickets

Problem. Exhibits are not clearly marked as ticketed events [1, 2]. When asked to identify which exhibits are currently open at the museum and which ones need a ticket, most users found it confusing and/or frustrating to have to click into each exhibit page to find this information.

Solution. Provide an icon of a ticket and/or text next to the feature to indicate there is special ticketing [1].

Issue 4: Ticket Prices Should Be Shown Earlier

Problem. Once the users arrived on the exhibit page, they expected to see clear pricing information. Currently there is no way to view various pricing tiers and options [1,2] before clicking a link that will take you to another site to purchase.

Solution. Our recommendation to provide summary pricing information [1,2] on the exhibit page.

Conclusion

We presented our design recommendations to the stakeholder and provided a written assessment. It is our belief that the solutions we provided would reduce friction for users who are first-time visitors to the museum.

User feedback was generally positive even with some of the apparent issues. It may be that the museum needs to look at ways to get users to the site or thinking about the museum. Another research approach could be evaluating their SEO.