UX Case Study: Little Canada
UX Case Study: Little Canada
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Role: UX Design Auditor
Target: Families with young children (5–12), school groups, tourists, and miniature enthusiasts seeking interactive, educational, and visually engaging experiences. Secondary audiences include local visitors, gift-givers, and event planners.
Goal: Drive ticket sales while creating an engaging, intuitive experience that showcases the attraction’s magic—inspiring visits through immersive storytelling, clear navigation, and seamless booking.
The Redesign Journey
The Redesign Journey
Pre-Audit Homepage
The redesign initiative started with a deep analysis of the existing website structure through comprehensive user flow mapping and content audits. By visualizing the entire journey (see Website Map), we identified critical pain points—such as buried ticket information and confusing navigation paths—that aligned with user frustrations like "I got stuck figuring out which option was best."
The audit of its content-heavy, overly complicated homepage also led to a simplified design. Critical pain points that were identified included unnecessary repetition of information, buried ticket options, and confusing navigation. This was conducted through user flow mapping, heatmap analysis, and content audits.
Insights from the mapping process revealed how disjointed content hierarchies forced users into dead ends. Post-redesign, analytics showed a decrease in "back button" usage, proving content became easier to navigate organically. The following actions were taken:
Simplified Content Hierarchy: Streamlined the homepage by removing redundancies and prioritizing high-value content (e.g., ticket purchases, exhibit highlights), reducing drop-offs by 30%.
Optimized User Flows: Restructured menus and CTAs based on behavioral data, cutting clicks to key pages (e.g., ticket purchases) by 40%.
Barrier Removal: Surfaced popular exhibits and ticket options upfront, aligning with user needs (e.g., "I couldn’t find the best option quickly"). Post-launch analytics showed decreased "back button" usage, confirming improved organic navigation.
Simplified Homepage Mockups
Final Design
Final Design
Before the redesign, the digital experience fell short of communicating the excitement of an in-person visit. As the first touchpoint for most guests, the homepage needed to spark curiosity and guide visitors effortlessly into exploration—just like the physical exhibits do.
The Transformation:
Clarity Meets Wonder: Streamlined layouts put key information upfront while preserving the sense of discovery.
Frictionless Journeys: Removed technical barriers, making ticket purchases intuitive—because no one should struggle to start their adventure.
Anticipating Needs: Every element now answers guest questions before they’re asked, mirroring our in-person hospitality.
Proven by Data:
Through rigorous A/B testing—from button placements to layout refinements—we landed on a design that boosted conversions, proving that clarity and magic can coexist.
The result? A digital doorway as enchanting as our miniature worlds.
Research Study Details
Research Study Details
The primary goal of this research was to evaluate the usability, accessibility, and overall user satisfaction of the existing LittleCanada website. The first step was to map the existing website to understand the user flow. We also examined click-through and task success rate.
Key objectives included:
Assessing ease of navigation and information architecture.
Identifying pain points in the booking and ticket purchase process.
Evaluating user engagement with interactive features (e.g., virtual tours, exhibits).
Gathering feedback on visual design and mobile responsiveness.
Understanding visitor demographics and behavior patterns.
The research revealed the following constraints and challenges:
Ticket Purchase Flow: Users struggled with unclear pricing tiers. Checkout process had too many steps (reduced in post-research updates).
Information Hierarchy: Some users had difficulty finding FAQs and accessibility details.
Slow Load Times: Content-heavy pages with a lot of media took >5 sec to load.
User Test Results
User Test Results
The audit uncovered critical usability gaps—cluttered layouts, unclear navigation, and missing functionality—directly impacting user frustration. These findings drove a complete UX overhaul, transforming the design into an intuitive, action-oriented experience. Post-launch metrics confirmed a faster task completion rate and higher engagement with key features.
Research Findings
Simplified Checkout: Reduced steps to completion, increasing task success rate.
Enhanced Home Page Content: Added high value content to the homepage while removing content that did not add value.
Faster Loading: Optimized images and lazy loading for media-heavy pages.
Clearer Pricing Structure: Added a comparison table for ticket options.
Accessibility Upgrades: Improved contrast, alt-text, and keyboard navigation.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The research for LittleCanada’s website provided actionable insights that led to measurable improvements in usability and conversion rates. Continued iterative testing will ensure the site remains user-friendly and aligned with visitor expectations.
A quote from user feedback:
“Before, I’d scroll aimlessly—now the homepage pulls me right in. One glance and I know where to go. ”
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