Research Center Digital Guide
Designing an accessible guide for 240,000 annual visitors of a 2,700-acre nature preserve and "living lab" sustainability research center
UX Researcher and Designer (Sole)
Initiated and led the project pitch work in collaboration with the PO; Owned the end-to-end research and design through launch.
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Client: Doris Duke Foundation / Duke Farms
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Timeline: 8 months
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Team: 1 UX designer, 1 developer, 1 product owner
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Impact: 14,000+ users. Reduced paper maps and staff fatigue. Spurred brand refresh. Blueprint for enterprise-scale solution in 2025 (Bloomberg Connects platform). Contributed to Duke Farms receiving the 2021 APGA Operational Sustainability Award
THE SITUATION
How do we improve self-led exploration for visitors and reduce strain on staff?
Conflict
Duke Farms — a 2,700-acre nature preserve and "living lab" in Hillsborough, New Jersey with 240,000 annual visitors — had no functional wayfinding system. Five touchpoints (laminated maps, paper handouts, signage, staff directions, and a website) each failed in different ways: static maps couldn't leave the Orientation Center, paper maps got damaged, faded signage was invisible in wooded areas, and the website was too difficult to use for pre-visit planning.
Cost of the conflict
Staff were routinely pulled from primary duties to give directions. Paper map waste was ongoing. Visitors — especially first-timers, group leaders, and visitors with disabilities — had no reliable way to self-navigate a 1,000-acre property.
THE STRUGGLE
No design system, low budget, on-the-fence buy-in plus too many ideas...and the most important feature didn't work.
Biggest challenges
The app needed to serve visitors with fundamentally different goals using the same content. There was no existing icon library, no brand-ready visual system, and the existing website was too low-quality to serve as a design reference. Building on existing infrastructure (The Highline platform) to control costs also constrained design options. We (the developer and I) had to manage scope creep from an enthusiastic team.
A failed attempt
Usability testing surfaced the sharpest problem: only 1 of 3 users could complete the highest-anxiety task — finding their way back to the Orientation Center — because the FAB's purpose was unclear.
MY SOLUTION
Introduce users to the most important feature using a first-time tool tip with required acknowlegement.
Breakthrough
Added a first-time tooltip to resolve the FAB discoverability failure. Delivered iOS and Android on time and on budget in 8 months. Produced 105 wireframes across 2 rounds, 400+ custom icons, an extended color system, and multi-modal navigation (map-primary with goal-organized secondary content).
WHAT I DID
Initiated and co-led the project pitch with the PO. Owned end-to-end research and design through launch.
My Tasks
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Observational research and site visit (explored property as a first-time visitor)
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Empathy mapping synthesizing observations and staff-reported visitor feedback
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Website evaluation and brand assessment
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Jobs to be Done framework across 5 visitor types
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Info architecture and navigation strategy
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7 rounds of application mapping to align team on scope
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105 wireframes across 2 fidelity rounds
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Visual design system: 400+ custom icons, extended color system, simplified logo
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3 moderated remote usability sessions with task-based scenarios
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App store assets and launch support
Pitched and designed a mobile guide that:
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Kept development costs low
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Accounted for accessibility (a11y van booking, incline grade of paths, accessible paths filter, audio tours with text highlight feature, general a11y info page)
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Served as proof-of-concept for an enterprise-grade solution 6 years later
IMPACT
"It has allowed us to decrease the reliance on staff for directions [and] reduced the use of paper maps."
The stats:
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14,000 users in 2023; 80–150 daily downloads in summer
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20-minute average session length; 595 audio tour users
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Reduced staff burden for directions; reduced paper map usage
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Delivered on time and on budget; website redesigned to match app quality
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App received quarterly updates for 5+ years post-launch
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Core UX patterns — interactive map as primary navigation, self-guided audio tours, accessibility as a first-class feature — were retained when Duke Farms migrated to Bloomberg Connects, a platform used by MoMA, the Guggenheim, and 300+ cultural institutions
Why this matters
The foundation I designed in 2019 modernized the visitor experience, improved accessibility, and gave staff more bandwidth to handle their other responsibilities. My design scaled into an enterprise-grade solution adopted by one of the world's leading cultural technology platforms and contributed to Duke Farms receiving the 2021 APGA Operational Sustainability Award.
REFLECTION
Testing on-site, documenting the design system, and maintaining a scannable decision log would have improved handoff and iteration.
Learnings
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Problem definition is the highest-leverage activity. The real problem wasn't "build an app"—it was "visitors can't maintain orientation." That framing shaped every design decision.
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One usability fix can solve the biggest anxiety. The tooltip for "return to Orientation Center" addressed the #1 fear (getting lost) with minimal development effort.
What I'd do differently
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Test with actual visitors on-site. Remote testing with my network missed the context of being physically lost on the property.
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Document the design system formally. The icons and patterns I created weren't documented well enough for future maintainers.
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Build a decision log that's accessible to the team and easy to scan. We did have a Google doc...but it got long and overwhelming for anyone beyond myself. Also, linking each design choice to research evidence would have helped with stakeholder alignment and future iteration.
