Service Design
Christmas at Harlaxton Manor
Spending a unique Christmas time at this gorgeous historical building
My Roles
UX research, UX/UI design
Duration
2 months
Deliverables
Hi-fi prototype
The context
This is a master study project cooperated with Harlaxton Manor, Lincolnshire. We worked with the client from research to final solution and report the working progress weekly.
Team members
Pansy, Carol, Pam, Rachel, TM
Key Challenges
Prioritising user groups
The client wanted to cover as many people as possible, but we only had six weeks to complete the project. We needed to identify key user groups to design for.
Increasing awareness of the manor
We recognize that Harlaxton Manor is not as well-known as its competitor, Belvoir Castle, and that, aside from the castle itself, it has no widely known selling points, such as historical celebrity or film exposure.
Appearling American culture
As part of the Harlaxton Manor is used by the University of Evansville, the client wanted to show the American Christmas atmosphere at the event. This placed some restrictions on our design direction.
According to the user research, we comfirmed our design principles and form the concept of a treasure hunting event for families.
From our initial brainstorming session, we came up with three concepts. Following the initial round of user interviews, we refined the scenarios based on comments and created a combination of fairy tale and treasure hunt structure.
We planned a second round interview on the open day event of Harlaxton Manor. In addition, we talked with some local residents in Grantham (a town nearby the manor) to collect customer feedback about our idea.
We love Harlaxton. It's nice - It's a privilege.
(American Christmas) It's like a home from home.
We've never known when it's open.
(preferred activities) Very physical and funny ones.
Customers expressed their affection for the manor and interest in our activities. Attitudes toward American Christmas are consistent with the first round of research. We had a discussion with the customer and agreed to keep the American element in the campaign and promotion, but not as a separate selling point.
Solution
We have combined the feedback from two user studies and divided the activities into two main categories based on the needs of different user groups.
Treasure hunt is for families with children and young people, while there is a relaxation area for adults to chill out.
Paper model test
Visitors might feel lost along the game play
The players and normal visitors can be overcrowded
Game zone and Relax zone has no borderline
Santa room has no queue line
After the game finished, player might get confused of where to go next
Feedback area has no sign
Revision
Add navigating arrows
Add standing spot for players to reduce the congestion in the room
Add queue line for organising people in the room
Add instruction for players about where they could go next after finish the game
Landing page
Ticket & guidebook
Promotional materials
Evaluation
Highlights
Client feedback from final presentation
”You have solved a problem that we had not previously solved. We spent a lot of time trying out different agencies. You put in a lot of effort in a short period of time and came up with this amazing solution.”
—— Analise, Event Specialist
”We get a lot of inspiration from your solution! We will definitely use some ideas in the coming event.”
—— Holly, Director of Harlaxton Manor
”You helped us to know what we can do for the event.”
—— Bethan, Events & Marketing Manager
Further consideration
Environmental impact
Our event concept requires a significant quantity of energy and supplies. While meeting our clients' demands, we must also take care not to waste resources and to maintain sustainability.
Responsive page & usability test
We have not evaluated the usability of the ticketing website due to schedule restrictions. In addition, given the consumer usage scenario, we should design the homepage to be mobile-friendly in order to deliver a smooth ticketing experience.
Individual reflection as an organiser
Build an open working atmosphere
Support the team members to reach their full potential
During the early stages of the project, I noticed that some members of the group were more restrained and nervous to compete for tasks. This could lead to them becoming more passive and contributing less to the team. To avoid this, I attempted to propose a task allocation scheme, directing different members to be responsible for different tasks. This approach to self-management ensures that everyone contributes equally to the team's work while also increasing individual self-confidence and maintaining a free-flowing work pace.
