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Paso Robles Children's Museum

Enhance an inclusive and accessible online experience for museum visitors
Team
Alexa Griffin, Allison Maranta, Cassia Gray, Michaela Stauber
Timeline
Eight weeks
Tools
Figma, FigJam
Mockup.png

Problem

Paso Robles Children’s Museum current website does not accurately represent Paso Robles’s population and lacks accessibility and inclusivity features. Key issues include insufficient color contrast on buttons and text, as well as missing alt-text for its photography-heavy design, which impacts its perceivability for users with disabilities. I focused on the friction in the ticketing process, which is repetitive and unintuitive, making it difficult for users with lower digital literacy and limiting the core objective of ticket sales. 

Research

Competitive Analysis

After analyzing 4 well known children’s museums across America, we found key areas of improvement to align the website to existing ticketing mental models.

  • Making “Buy Tickets” a prominent call-to-action button on the main menu 

  • Enabling simultaneous addition of different ticket tiers and quantities to the cart

Population Research

According to the US Census Bureau Paso Robles is:

  • 55.6% White (non-hispanic)

  • 33.7% Hispanic

  • 3.9% Asian (non-hispanic)

  • 1.9% American Indian or Alaska Native (non-hispanic)

  • 0.5% Black (non-hispanic)

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Spanish is the second most spoken language in Paso Robles at 19.84%. 

Inclusivity Research

WCAG 2.1 Guidelines were reviewed and were cross-referenced with Squarespace’s accessibility features to identify realistic areas for alignment. 

  • Perceivable - provide text alternatives for non-text content using Squarespace alt-text widget feature on our photographic assets

  • Operable - Clear navigation and wayfinding, combined with intuitive calls-to-action, enable users to complete their jobs-to-be-done

  • Understandable - make text readable and understandable through sufficient contrast and readable sizes. Make content appear and operate in consistent ways, especially in high-traffic flows like the ticketing process. Make sure that everything functions as it is expected to, buttons and other interactive elements are labeled with clear, action-oriented copy to minimize user uncertainty

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Through research on effects of representative diversification we aimed to make adjustments that were not just visually performative but inclusive interactively. We found that:

  • Users who feel like the experiences or products they are using are designed for them are more likely to interact because they feel more welcome

  • Inclusive imagery alone isn’t enough- the website design also has to be accessible and inclusive, the inclusive images are more of a frosting

  • Representative diversity isn’t just about race - different sexualities, ages, genders, and abilities need to also be showcased

Solution

Encourage a more diverse audience to visit the museum through an improved inclusive digital experience with:

  • Language toggle - Add language translation toggle to move to Spanish

  • Streamlined Ticketing Flow - Rework the ticketing flow to be more intuitive through using existing shopping interface structures

  • Accessible design - Redesign buttons to be meeting contrast checks for sight accessibility

  • Updated Visual assets - use imagery representative of the Paso Robles community

Before

Critique Original.png

After

Ticket Critique English.png
Ticket Critique Spanish.png

Feedback + Takeaways

Despite praise for the revised ticketing flow and toggle, the museum manager had concern about potential backlash from the local population regarding certain inclusivity measures, such as images depicting same-sex couples. This can be a common challenge in inclusive design, where balancing cultural fit and progressive change can lead to tension. Although this was the end of our work with the children's museum, if we were to continue I would have proposed doing some usability testing with people of differing digital literacies to see where the ticketing flow could be improved. Additionally, doing user interviews in a diverse group and doing emotional surveying would be really insightful to understand the impact of the inclusivity work and better cater to the needs of the Paso Robles population.

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