The Met: Museum Website Redesign

This project focuses on redesigning The Met’s website to reduce visual clutter, simplify navigation, and improve the overall ticket purchasing and events browsing experience. The original site contained a dense navigation system and competing content sections that created cognitive overload for users.

Our redesign prioritizes clarity, accessibility, and ease of use while preserving The Met’s established visual identity and brand presence.

Tools
Figma, Wireframing, High-Fidelity Prototyping, Usability Testing, Interaction Design, Visual Hierarchy Design

*Completed collaboratively as part of a team-based academic design project.

Year
2025

Role
UX Designer, UX Researcher, Content Strategist

The Problem

The original The Met’s website presented users with an overwhelming amount of information at once. A dense navigation bar, competing content sections, and inconsistent visual hierarchy created cognitive overload and made it difficult for visitors to complete key tasks efficiently.

Specific usability issues included:

  • Overcrowded navigation with too many competing menu items

  • A confusing, pop-up–heavy ticket purchasing flow

  • Poor distinction between admission types and museum locations

  • Visual clutter across the Home, Ticketing, and Events pages

  • Inconsistent spacing and alignment that disrupted usability

As a result, users struggled to quickly understand how to buy tickets, explore exhibitions, or plan their visit with confidence.

The User & Context

Primary User:

Museum visitors planning trips online, including first-time visitors, tourists, families, students, and members.

User Needs:

  • Quickly understand ticket options and pricing

  • Easily find current exhibitions and events

  • Confidently plan a visit with minimal confusion

  • Access essential information without clutter

Core User Goal:

“I want to quickly understand what’s on view, how much it costs, and how to plan my visit without feeling overwhelmed.”

Design Process

The Met redesign followed a user-centered, iterative design process:

Evaluated the existing Met website for usability issues

Identified pain points across navigation, ticketing, and event discovery

Sketched early layout ideas and page structures

Built low-fidelity wireframes to map user flows

Designed, tested, and refined a high-fidelity, clickable prototype in Figma

These constraints required every design decision to be intentional and high-impact, with a strong emphasis on simplifying navigation, improving information clarity, and reducing cognitive overload. The process remained highly iterative, balancing usability best practices with the visual and brand standards of The Met.

 Early Layout Exploration 

Before moving into wireframes, we developed early sketches to explore layout structure, navigation hierarchy, and key user flows for the redesigned Met website. These sketches focused on the Home page, the ticket purchasing journey, and the Exhibitions & Events browsing experience.

This phase allowed us to quickly test ideas for simplifying dense navigation, breaking content into scannable sections, and improving wayfinding before committing to structured layouts.

Home Page Layout Sketch

Explored how to reduce visual overload on the Home page by restructuring navigation, prioritizing “Now On View,” and surfacing key actions like ticketing earlier in the experience.

Ticket Purchasing Flow Sketch

Mapped a clearer step-by-step ticket purchasing journey focused on location selection, date picking, and reducing confusion around admission types.

Exhibitions & Events Flow Sketch

Tested early ideas for browsing and filtering exhibits and events to make scheduling and discovery faster and less overwhelming.

From Sketches to Wireframes

With the end-to-end system validated through storyboards, we transitioned into low-fidelity wireframes to define layout structure, user flow sequencing, and interaction hierarchy. This phase focused on translating conceptual workflows into tangible interface foundations.

Home Page

Hero & Primary CTAs

Featured Content & Discovery Sections

Ticket Selection & Pricing

Footer & Newsletter System

Admission Ticketing Wireframe

Location & Date Entry

Exhibitions & Events Wireframe

Confirmation & Digital Ticketing

Events Discovery

Event Details

Figma Prototype

Events Confirmation

User Feedback & Iteration

We conducted live usability walkthroughs of the high-fidelity prototype with participants across a range of professional backgrounds, including project management, government consulting, academia, and operations. Sessions were conducted via Zoom and in person, with participants verbally narrating their thoughts while completing key flows such as ticket purchasing and event discovery.

Key Issues Identified

  • Confusion around the museum’s two locations early in the ticketing flow

  • Calendar layout felt crowded when selecting visit dates

  • Membership prompts appeared too frequently and interrupted task flow

  • Some interactive elements appeared clickable but were not

  • Inconsistent alignment and spacing across long scrolling pages

What Users Liked

  • Strong visual presence and emotional impact of the home page imagery

  • Clear pricing presentation in the ticket flow

  • Intuitive calendar interaction for event discovery

  • Distinct QR codes for general admission and events on the confirmation screen

  • “Popular Times” chart helped users plan visits more confidently

Design Changes Based on Feedback

  • Clarified location selection earlier in the ticket flow

  • Reduced visual weight and frequency of membership prompts

  • Improved spacing and alignment across long page layouts

  • Added clearer visual hierarchy to call-to-action buttons

  • Strengthened confirmation experience with better organization of ticket details

User feedback directly shaped the refinement of layout, interaction clarity, and task flow, reinforcing the importance of iterative testing in creating an intuitive museum experience.

Final Design Solution

The final high-fidelity prototype reimagines The Met’s website as a clearer, more intuitive experience that prioritizes visit planning, exhibition discovery, and ticket purchasing. The redesign centers on reducing visual overload, guiding users through complex decisions with clarity, and creating a smoother path from exploration to action.

Core Improvements

  • Simplified global navigation for faster decision-making

  • Streamlined ticket purchase flow with clearer steps

  • Stronger visual hierarchy across long-scroll pages

  • More scannable exhibition and event layouts

  • Improved confirmation and post-purchase experience

Primary User Flows Addressed

  • Homepage ->Visit Planning

  • Exhibitions & Events -> Event Details

  • Ticket Selection -> Checkout -> QR Confirmation

Reflection & Takeaways

This project strengthened my ability to redesign large-scale, content-heavy platforms while maintaining brand integrity and usability. It reinforced the importance of early structure testing, real-user feedback, and disciplined visual hierarchy in solving complex navigation and transaction flows. Most importantly, it emphasized designing for clarity over visual noise.