Project Overview
In a two-phase approach, The National Park Service (NPS) initiated an ambitious redesign of NPS.gov to modernize their digital presence and create meaningful connections between visitors and America's natural heritage. This project aimed to enhance both new and returning visitors' experiences through innovative technology and user-centered design principles.
The Challenge
The existing NPS.gov platform faced significant limitations:
A single, rigid template structure attempted to serve all 400+ parks
Complex parks like Yosemite, with multiple districts, struggled to effectively present their unique offerings
National trails and rivers spanning multiple states needed more flexible content presentation
The system couldn't deliver personalized experiences to diverse visitor groups
Project Goals
Transform NPS.gov into an intuitive, personalized gateway to America's parks
Create scalable design solutions that accommodate varying park needs
Strengthen digital engagement with conservation efforts
Modernize the content management system to support diverse park presentations
Implement data-driven personalization to enhance visitor experiences
My Role
As Senior UX/UI Designer, I handled strategic design initiative to solve these complex challenges, focusing on creating flexible templates and personalized user journeys that would serve millions of visitors while advancing the NPS's core mission of fostering stewardship and connection to our national heritage.
The old NPS.gov content management system used one template for all 400+ parks. Over time, many park sites that did not “fit the mold” of the one template (e.g., parks with multiple districts such as Yosemite, national trails or rivers that cross multiple states, etc.) wanted to develop new and better digital experiences.
Phase 1 - Multi-X Sites
An audit of the NPS.gov website revealed key improvement areas based on user behavior. Analytics showed trends in site interactions, highlighting popular features and issues. A user survey offered qualitative data on preferences and frustrations, with many appreciating educational resources like interactive maps. Common problems included navigation difficulties and slow access to specific information.
In a client workshop, I gathered frustrations to create a strategy canvas aligning user needs with business goals. This included UI improvements, content updates, and navigation, using methods such as user research and iterative design. We engaged in persona development, journey mapping, and usability testing, measuring success through user satisfaction, task completion, and engagement metrics. Afterward, I analyzed sites like Airbnb and National Geographic to identify UI/UX strengths, enhancing our design strategy for better user experience.
I developed mid to low-fidelity wireframes that refined existing templates and incorporated essential components to address specific content requirements, ultimately enhancing user engagement. Following the prototyping phase, the wireframes were forwarded to a third-party user testing contractor, who delivered comprehensive feedback on the initial designs and layout, enabling iterative improvements based on user insights.
As the final step in this first phase, I created comprehensive, high-fidelity wireframes in collaboration with the National Park Service's Developers to establish a new design system and front-end UI library. This initiative involved detailed design processes to ensure usability and consistency across the interface, while our Developers focused on crafting JavaScript components that would serve as code-based deliverables. These components were designed to seamlessly integrate with the forthcoming implementations planned by the National Park Service team, ultimately enhancing the user experience within their digital platforms.
The National Park Service aimed to tailor visitor experiences across digital interactions to foster deeper connections between an evolving audience, the parks, and conservation efforts. With millions of visitors and a mission that transcends physical boundaries, personalization became essential to meet visitor needs while advancing stewardship goals.
Phase Two - User Personalization Dashboard
Based on the client’s needs, featuring three pillars: Reach, Host, and Foster. Goals were developed on the pillars that would be our guiding star when it came to developing the intended user audiences and deciding how we can best meet their needs. ^ audience profiles we created: Adventurer, Learner, Harmonizer, Wanderer, Connector, and Educator. I then attached action items to each profile to make user personas and outlined how they fit into the clients overall goals.
I created a highly detailed personalization journey map that included pre-visit, in-park, and post-park features and who from our audience would benefit the most from them. It became the blueprint for a personalization maturity model that would become the roadmap for the National Park Service moving forward.
With the journey constructed an internal brainstorm was conducted around future features that would align with and help to reach the five goals based on the three pillars. The features we then sorted into the buckets of the Pre, In, and Post-Park experiences and paired with the appropriate technologies that can assist in bringing the goals a mission to the users.
Mapping the goals and features to the previously created user profiles to determine what product features not only helped to reach the goals but which ones would benefit all unique visitors to the parks. From there, the first action item to address was a personalized user dashboard and began with a user flow to help lay the groundwork for our future wireframing.
Low fidelity wireframes were developed based on the insights gathered from the journey map, allowing us to effectively visualize and structure the user experience while focusing on essential elements and interactions, thus facilitating iterative design discussions and alignment among stakeholders.
Taking the design system that was utilized in the first phase, high fidelity wireframes were then designed. Additionally I used generative AI to assist in creating detailed documentation that was used in a seamless handoff from the creative to development team.
Project Outcome & Handoff
After extensive collaboration and iteration, I delivered a comprehensive design system that addressed the complex needs of the National Park Service's digital transformation. The final deliverables included:
A flexible, modular design system accommodating diverse park requirements
Detailed documentation for template variations and component libraries
User journey maps and personalization frameworks
Implementation guidelines for the development team
The development team successfully translated these designs into a robust codebase, which was then transferred to the National Park Service's internal technical team. The NPS is currently implementing these solutions across their network of 400+ parks at a measured pace that aligns with their resources and priorities. This phased rollout approach ensures careful integration while maintaining the integrity of each park's unique digital presence.
This project exemplifies how thoughtful design systems can solve complex organizational challenges while respecting implementation realities. The scalable foundation we created will continue to serve the NPS's evolving digital needs, helping them fulfill their mission of connecting visitors with America's natural and cultural heritage for years to come.