Luna Park Online
Summer is here. It’s time to visit Luna Park in Coney Island!
Visiting Luna Park, New York City’s premier amusement park destination, requires visitors to stand in long ticket lines to purchase tickets and doesn’t provide guests with a centralized hub for park information. Park guests, whether they are longtime visitors or casual day-trippers, cannot easily pop into the park for a ride on the Cyclone without visiting multiple ticket booths to find the shortest line. How can we create a more user-centered approach to enhance the experience of visiting Luna Park?
The new Luna Park Online application enhances the guest experience by providing information on rides, tickets, and concessions while curating the perfect day for both new and long-time parkgoers alike. Luna Park Online streamlines the process so users can purchase tickets, refill Fun Cards, and check in on their favorites rides right from their mobile device.
Site Audit
I began my research process by creating a site map of Luna Park's existing website. The sitemap was useful for understanding the park's existing content and the underlying architecture and organization. The site features six main pagers, accessible through the navigation menu. Subpages contain information useful for visitors - like ride descriptions, group deals, and wristband purchases. Park details are also available and include calendars, maps, and contact information.
Competitive Analysis
With a site map in hand, I conducted a competitive analysis of three applications for Luna Park's largest competitors: Six Flags Great Adventure, Dorney Park, and Hersheypark. I grouped my observations three categories (features, strengths, and weaknesses) and summarized my findings for each app. Each competitor featured interactive park maps, with quick access cards that allow parkgoers to find rides, food, and more. The results revealed the importance of using imagery to improve findability, employing a constrained color palette, and providing clear navigation menus.
User Personas
I created four personas based on market research and observations of park visitors. While Thrill-Seeking Tina would like to know ride wait times, Local Larry prefers to learn more about the surrounding dining options. Together, the personas helped me understand the types of users that may use a Luna Park app.
Empathy Mapping
To better understand these findings, I created an empathy map, which allowed me to identify how users differed in their needs (deals for families and nearby attractions for nearby residents). It also highlighted the range of activities at the park, beyond just the rides.
Design Explorations
Based on my research, I began sketching ideal features of the mobile experience. First, I drew from the competitive analysis and centered a large interactive map. Then, I built out the underlying navigation based on the site audit. Personas were useful for mocking the ride card information and accessibility of "Fun Cards" - the park's easiest way to buy ride tickets. Using Adobe XD, I create lo-fi a prototype to identify the proper grid, layout, and proportions to balance the multiple features of the app.
Implementation
Informed by my research findings and design explorations, I created a bold color palette that drew on the parks' visual identity and existing assets with clear, legible typography. When users open the Luna Park Online application, they are met with an interactive map, a quick access menu, and a clean interface that allows them to jump on their favorite rides, refill their Fun Card, and take advantage of all that Coney Island has to offer.
Looking for the biggest rides in the park? Look no further than the ride information cards, accessible by a click on the interactive map.
Interactive Map
Refilling your Fun Card has never been easier - click on the card icon to reload, upgrade, and take advantage of the latest promos.
Fun Card
Easily browse through Luna Park's ride, dining, and game offerings by swiping right through the app's image-based carousels.
Attraction List
Start your day right foot and check out Luna Park events, attractions, and promos from the moment you open the app.
