Cedar Fair Parks Mobile App Redesign
Background
Opportunity
Even though Cedar Fair had an app and website experience, they wanted a complete refresh that included some new functionality for both park visitors and internal employees
Solution
My team's solution was to understand the positive features and aspects of their current apps, then innovative or improve any updates that were missing or still in the ideation phase.
My Role
I gathered the current app's information architecture and features. Next I created the wireframes for the Homescreen, Map, Dining, Ride Wait Times, Shows & Events, and Product Checkout before handing off the approved screens to two Visual Designers.
Final Results
Home
Shows & Events
Special Offers
Map
Ride Preview
Ride Details
My Wireframes
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Home
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Shows & Events
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Special Offers
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Map
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Ride Preview
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Ride Details
The Process
Strategy
- Develop User Flows
Design
- Wireframe
Testing
- Prototype Screens
- Facilitate Test Sessions
- Organize Feedback
Feedback
- Update Screens
- Present Results to Stakeholders
User Tasks
The first step was to get an understanding of the current app’s functional offerings along with any third party components that would need to be integrated into the new experience.
Once the overall architecture was understood, we decided to pivot from traditional user flows and personas in order to make our flows more task-based due to the wide audience. Tasks will help define use cases that are grounded by Cedar Fair’s offerings
Wireframe Batches
Task Outline
UI & UX Dual Design Flow
Our cadence starts with the UX teams creating a batch of wireframes to be reviewed by internal stakeholders. After the stakeholders approved of them, the UI team would begin applying the newly reworked visual design system. If any functional changes were requested then the UX team would work with the UI team to refine the new addition.
Wireframes
After correctly sorting the information and functionalities of our MVP release, we got to kick off the fun part. Creating wireframes is a lot of fun to me because they're a great example of all the wonderful potential outcomes a project can have. I worked on the Homescreen, Map, Dining, Ride Wait Times, Shows & Events, and Product Checkout before handing off the approved screens to two other UI Designers.
Home
With just about 8 weeks, we had two weeks per batch of screens before presenting them to the client for review or discussion. After Cedar Fair approved of the wireframe’s functionality, the UX team handed off the screens to our Visual UI team to apply some visual design elements.
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One of my main focuses was to create the homescreen for the app. This is essentially the digital front door to an amusement park so I knew that it had to be as fun as it would be functional. Through previous personal experience with their app along with experiences with similar apps I already had an understanding of how to approach this.
Park Map + Filtering
The next section I moved on to was the Park Map along with the filtering system that would go with it. Cedar Fair asked me to assess the current state map to get a better understanding of the complex architecture I'd have to visualize. Enhancing wayfinding in apps is a strength I like to utilize so I volunteered to sketch this portion out. Most friction points in this part deal with naming conventions of thrills and having to pay attention to height requirement differences, the rest was pretty easy for me to conceptualize then display.
Shows & Events
Cedar Fair has multiple parks across North America with their own identity and offerings. That key aspect was emphasized by the client as I began wiring out a screen that can be either very simple, or very complex depending on the season. I decided to focus on the overlap of what a show or event would want to display, then kept those outlier situations in the back of my mind until it was time to create different versions.
Find My Parking Spot
Even though there isn't much to explain here, I'd like to imagine that I made someone's day better with this feature.
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Frequently Asked Questions
This is a depiction of the usual legal stuff that is often times overlooked by most users until it's relevant.
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Annotation & Documentation
Presenting UX related work to clients and UI Designers can seem like a lot of information to process at once for the viewers, so I believe it is important to have proper annotation and documentation if a stakeholder would like to review the designs later. I make sure to keep notes and label sections that make flows clear and concise for any future onlooker and to record important feedback.
Client Feedback
After sharing out the wires and logic behind them, Cedar Fair took a couple days to process our visuals and give any feedback if applicable. Their feedback was copied to a page, numbered, and annotated next to the respective screen. After any updates, we wrote out what was changed or our perspective in green on that feedback sheet.
Prototyping
After both UX and UI teams finished their respective batches and sprints, we moved on to conduct usability testing with both park visitors and internal employees. My partner Basil wrote out some scenarios to be tested and I was tasked with connecting the approved screens that the UI team created. Going from the written requirements to connecting high fidelity screens is always a very rewarding feeling during the UX process.
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The prototype screens that were made in Figma then connected via their in-app prototype feature. After doing some test runs, I began conducting the initial internal stakeholder user testings. Once the internal testing sessions finished, I actually had a chance to test the prototype with some excited customers! All of this information was recorded on a spreadsheet then compiled into a pretty presentation.
User Testing Scripts
Our user testing started with a script reading to explain the session to the participants. There was a list of task to be completed and they were timed per task as we recorded each session.Planned questions were written down, but some questions would be improvised depending on the participants engagement level and thought process
Feedback Analysis
When the user testing was completed, feedback is recorded and applied to the high fidelity screens (if necessary) so friction is reduced overall. After organizing all the data collected, that information is then put into a presentation for the clients to be shown and discussed so that insights are fully explained and understood (shown below).
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Conclusion
This was a 6-month project that was a full circle moment for me. King's Dominion is a major staple to Virginians and I went there many times growing up. During this multi-phased process I had the opportunity to do work that includes: Information Architecture, Site-mapping, User Research, Wireframing, Prototyping, User Testing, User Interviews, and Data Analysis. The new design was refined with both creative and the development team from June until it's launch month of November 2023. More work has been done in 2024 to enhance sections of the app that was left out of the initial release, and things are going well!