The Tucson Symphony Orchestra enlisted Casual Astronaut to redesign its website so it not only inspires, educates and reflects the community it serves — but also streamlines the ticket-sales process.
Challenge: For nearly 100 years, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has been building a connection to music across southern Arizona. And though TSO continues to serve as a catalyst for music appreciation and the arts, its previous website didn’t reflect its mission to inspire, educate and transform the community it serves. TSO wanted its new website to engage the newcomer and occasional concertgoer as well as the committed subscriber, targeting a younger and more diverse audience. It also wanted it to facilitate an easy, customer-friendly transaction process for ticket purchases and donations, and house a hub of information, articles and videos that tell the story of TSO.
Solution: C/A crafted a website strategy that could address TSO’s immediate goals of a streamlined ticket transaction, while allowing for flexibility in the years to come. Colors, imagery and bilingual content reflect the diverse community of Tucson and southern Arizona. The outcome is a sleek, dynamic website with intuitive functionality required for seamless concert planning and ticket purchasing via Ticketmaster. Our strategy:
- Improve site navigation and user experience. Information is organized within simple categories that provide a clear paths to relevant content, such as upcoming events, education programming and ways to give. It prioritizes a simple ticket purchasing workflow and includes intuitive event filtering options, such as music type, so that users can quickly identify events they’d like to attend.
- Showcase a modern symphony experience. From its contemporary and diverse event offerings like Disney in Concert or rock ‘n’ roll tributes to the symphonic greats, the site reflects TSO’s desire to welcome all age groups, communities and music lovers. Visuals represent TSO’s approachable atmosphere to appeal to first-time and infrequent concertgoers.
- Engage and educate. The website’s new content hub shares the stories behind the music — and the musicians. Articles spotlight the organization’s connection to the community and its music education outreach to school children.
- Design for today’s needs — with room to evolve. We knew the site needed to feel dynamic and interactive to engage modern music lovers. But we also wanted to create easy-to-use back end to allow information to be easily updated as the organization grows, seasons and shows come and ago, and new musicians join.
- Create a seamless across all devices. The site uses today’s best practices in design, development and content presentation to offer a high-quality user experience on mobile, tablet or desktop.
Visit the website.
results Three MOnTHs after relaunch
Inspired Design
A harmonious fusion of creativity and functionality, the website embodies the spirit of “Your Tucson Symphony,” a motto that encapsulates the organization’s deep connection to its local community. The design goes beyond aesthetics; it is a thoughtful reflection of the organization’s commitment to connection and communication. Navigation is an intuitive experience, mirroring the seamless orchestration of a symphony. The user interface harmoniously guides visitors through a virtual journey, mirroring the grace and precision of a musical composition:
- Quality imagery and videography showcase orchestra members and the greater Tucson community
- A dynamic, visually appealing experience engage users with subtle animation and graphic treatments
- The modern color palette leans into the mood of the desert at dusk, while remaining in compliance with accessibility standards
- Large “mega menus” allow users to quickly skim and find information
¡Form y Funcionalidad!
For a concert venue, the calendar is a critical tool for users to research upcoming events and plan their concert experiences. From our website strategy, we understood our target audience needed simple and intuitive functionality to get their information. We designed a calendar that allows users to search for concerts in host of ways: Looking for a specific day in the future? Use the calendar view. Want to see events only at a specific venue? Use the filters. Hoping to introduce children to the magic of live music? Sort by series or genre.
Another important goal: Welcoming Tucson’s diverse community to its many performances, events and venues. Users can easily view content in English or Spanish.
FROM OUR CLIENT
— Gina Compitello, Chief Marketing Officer, Tucson Symphony Orchestra