WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Creating a multi-award winning digital experience which reflects the history of the Abbey
/01
CONTEXT
Westminster Abbey’s previous website was failing to serve its target audiences. It did not reflect the grandeur of the destination, was very difficult to navigate and did not work on mobile devices.
As the Abbey remains totally dependent on visitor entry fees and donations for its income, receiving no monies from the Church of England or the government, the website has to be the key communication channel in encouraging people to visit.
The digital experience on the old website was sorely lacking in functionality, the online ticketing and shop were rudimentary at best, user journeys were fractured and poorly optimised and overall the site was not hitting commercial targets.
/02
GOALS
Our approach to the project was to ensure that users could achieve their primary goals quickly and easily as well as enriching the entire experience of visiting the Abbey by making the website a companion before, during and after a visit.
It was vital not just to show how majestic the Abbey is and showcase its rich history but make the website part of the visitor experience. We also needed to introduce new and improved online services such as frictionless ticketing and a much enhanced shop to meet commercial targets.
/03
CONTENT REQUIREMENTS & INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
M&C|XD ran a workshop and did some initial discovery to rationalise and prioritise content on the current site. This helped (in part) in the development of the Information Architecture (IA) and informed our personas and user journeys.
/04
WIREFRAMES
/05
DESIGNS & FINAL U.I
The final UI was delivered as a design system which is both responsive and made from reusable components to scale for the needs of the business.
/06
DELIVERABLES
-
Digital strategy aligning to the Abbey’s long-term vision
-
Complete redesign and build
-
User research and testing
-
Defining user archetypes
-
Creating user journeys/user flows
-
Creating a new information architecture/taxonomy
-
Responsive wireframes of key pages and templates
-
Prototypes for testing
-
GA measurement framework
-
UX and design development support
-
Post live analysis
/07
AWARDS AND
PRESS COVERAGE
The project was featured in the .net magazine 2018 as a showcase of the design and build. It also won the Digital Communications Award for best Website & Microsite as well as a Gold Stevie Award for best Non-Profit Organizations website
