Nha Pham
User Experience Designer
Category:
Information Architecture and Site Redesign
Enhancing the
Disney UK Experience
Project Overview
User Researcher and Designer
Completion rate for core
ticket task after IA improvements
January 28 – March 11, 2025
A Master's-level UX Research case study
conducted for an Information
Architecture (IA) course
Information Architecture (IA)
User Testing
Site Redesign
To redesign the Disney UK site’s information architecture, we began with foundational evaluations and user-centered testing
to pinpoint IA pain points and validate redesigns.
Heuristic Evaluation
User Research Methods Used
Synthesis & Iteration
🗂️ Open Card Sorting
📄 Content Inventory
🌳 Tree Testing
✅ First-Click Testing
Research Foundations
Background
Heuristic Evaluation
Current Site Analysis
We began with a heuristic evaluation to identify key usability flaws across the site. Our team assessed the site against 10 standard usability heuristics (e.g., visibility of system status, recognition vs. recall), using a 5-point severity scale.
Finding ticket options & buying Magic tickets (2.90 / 5)
Finding Genie+ & VIP tours (2.71 / 5)
Heuristic Evaluation
& Key Issues
Improve information hierarchy
Use intuitive terminology
Reorganized navigation
Maintain UI consistency
Minimize cognitive load
Targeted error mitigation
Re-design banners
Modernize UI
Bridging Evaluation to Real Users
After conducting our heuristic audit, we uncovered several critical usability issues, including vague labeling, fragmented
navigation, and concealed content. But identifying what was broken wasn’t enough, we needed to understand who it
was broken for and how it affected their goals. That’s where personas and use cases proved essential.
🔹 Unclear labeling and disconnected pathways
🔹 Important content like Genie+ was deeply buried
🔹 Navigation lacked logic aligned with user goals
🔹 Heuristic issues lacked user-specific context
🔹 Needed to know: who struggles and why
🔹 Redesign required grounding in real journeys
Common User Traits
🎟️ Looking for deals and upgrades
🧭 Goal-driven but frequently misdirected
👨👩👦 Planning trips with specific constraints
Personas
User Studies
Testing Process
To validate these user needs and identify where breakdowns occurred in the existing site structure, we moved into user testing.
Redesigned Site Map
Wireframes
Retrospection
Future Improvements
Reflecting on the Disney UK website redesign, our biggest takeaway was the critical role of user research in shaping intuitive and accessible digital experiences. From our initial heuristic audit to first-click testing, every insight we gathered helped us prioritize real user needs over assumptions.
Our final redesign saw a 92.3% success rate in core ticket tasks and faster task completion times, signaling that users better understood where to go and what to expect.
Small interaction patterns revealed big usability gaps, which helped us realign site structure with user expectations, especially for tasks involving tickets, add-ons, and promotions.
Expand user diversity to include international travelers, first-time guests, and users with accessibility needs.
Prototype mobile-first flows to address differences in content discoverability across devices.
Build out A/B testing to further validate IA choices in live environments.
Conduct more rounds of moderated usability testing to capture verbalized feedback and behavioral nuances.
Nha Pham
User Experience Designer
Enhancing the
Disney UK Experience
Project Overview
The Disney UK website serves a broad and diverse user base, ranging from first-time family visitors to Disney superfans and returning guests. However, the existing site faced significant issues with its information architecture. Important content, such as ticket types and add-on services like Genie Plus and Lightning Lane, was either hidden within unrelated categories or labeled in ways that did not align with what users expected. As a result, users often became confused, navigated to incorrect sections, or misunderstood what certain categories contained.
The Disney UK website serves a broad and diverse user base, ranging from first-time family visitors to Disney superfans and returning guests. However, the existing site faced significant issues with its information architecture. Important content, such as ticket types and add-on services like Genie Plus and Lightning Lane, was either hidden within unrelated categories or labeled in ways that did not align with what users expected. As a result, users often became confused, navigated to incorrect sections, or misunderstood what certain categories contained.
No cohesive design strategy causing an outdated UI with inconsistent color.
Misaligned promotional priorities cluttering the purchasing process and making ticket selection difficult.
Inconsistent accessibility standards resulting in text that fails WCAG standards.
Research Foundations
To redesign the Disney UK site’s information architecture, we began with foundational evaluations and user-centered testing to pinpoint IA pain points and validate redesigns.
Current Site Analysis
Unclear labeling and disconnected pathways
Important content like Genie+ was deeply buried
Navigation lacked logic aligned with user goals
Heuristic issues lacked user-specific context
Needed to know: who struggles and why
Redesign required grounding in real journeys
Unclear labeling and disconnected pathways
Important content like Genie+ was deeply buried
Navigation lacked logic aligned with user goals
Heuristic issues lacked user-specific context
Needed to know: who struggles and why
Redesign required grounding in real journeys
Common User Traits
User Personas
and Needs
To validate these user needs and identify where breakdowns occurred in the existing site structure, we moved into user testing.
To validate these user needs and identify where breakdowns occurred in the existing site structure, we moved into user testing.
Ticket purchasing was already highly intuitive, with minimal errors.
Confusion between “Disney Magic Tickets” vs. “Buy Park Tickets” suggests a need for clearer labeling.
Navigation efficiency improved over time, showing that IA refinements positively impacted usability.
Actionable Fix
Ensure distinct labeling between ticket types and purchase pages to prevent confusion.
Sitemap Redesign
Other Projects
Nha Pham
User Experience Designer
Enhancing the
Disney UK Experience
Project Overview
Background
Other Projects
Heuristic Evaluation
User Research Methods Used
Synthesis & Iteration
🗂️ Open Card Sorting
📄 Content Inventory
🌳 Tree Testing
✅ First-Click Testing
To redesign the Disney UK site’s information architecture, we began with foundational evaluations and user-centered testing
to pinpoint IA pain points and validate redesigns.
Research Foundations
Heuristic Evaluation
User Research Methods Used
Synthesis & Iteration
🗂️ Open Card Sorting
📄 Content Inventory
🌳 Tree Testing
✅ First-Click Testing
To redesign the Disney UK site’s information architecture, we began with foundational evaluations and user-centered testing
to pinpoint IA pain points and validate redesigns.
Research Foundations