Buffalo Botanical Gardens Redesign

UX/UI Design

Project Overview

The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden and conservatory that has been open to the public since 1900. It is a popular destination for tourists and locals to visit all year round due to their vast array of plants and greenery located in its multiple greenhouses. As a result of Erie County falling under the Orange Zone (as of December 2020 according to the NY Forward Plan), eTickets have been encouraged for admission for The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. This ensures visitors are able to enter the limited capacity gardens. This was a self-lead redesign project completed in December 2020.

Research

Initial research was conducted on the original Botanical Gardens ticketing page. The calendar where potential visitors select their date or event can make better usage of screen size. Time is also preselected, rather than allowing users to choose the time they would like to check-in. The billing portion does not adhere to the rest of the ticketing process, adding a different color scheme and making users reinput information that was already asked.

Goals

Initial research was conducted on the original Botanical Gardens ticketing page. The calendar where potential visitors select their date or event can make better usage of screen size. Time is also preselected, rather than allowing users to choose the time they would like to check-in. The billing portion does not adhere to the rest of the ticketing process, adding a different color scheme and making users reinput information that was already asked.

Flows

User flows were created to get a better understanding of the process of creating and completing reservations to attend the botanical gardens.

Old Flow

New Flow

Wireframes

Streamlined Process

Users no longer have to go back and decide their check-in time, rather, it is a step when selecting a ticket.

The number of pages and steps that users have to go through has also been reduced.

GIF or small video showcasing the new theme and process of getting tickets at the buffalo gardens.

GIF or small video showcasing the new theme and process of completing a transaction at the buffalo gardens.

Cohesive Theme

The design of the site is now more cohesive with a green and pink color palette that can be seen throughout the whole process.

The text and selections have also scaled up in size, allowing users to have an easier time reading and selecting options.

Reflection

This was my first individual interface redesign project where I was able to deepen my understanding of Balsamiq and Figma. If I could improve on this prototype, I would like to further expand on the “edit cart” functionality and would like to conduct more user tests. I would also consider darkening the background when there are pop ups to create more contrast.