The United States Botanical Gardens website had a lot going for it — rich content, a beloved institution, a story worth telling. What it didn't have was an experience that made any of that easy to find.

As part of a UC Berkeley UX/UI Certificate program, we dug into how real users were navigating the site across desktop and mobile, running a series of tests to understand where people got lost and why. COVID had shifted a lot of the garden's programming online — virtual yoga classes, digital events — and the navigation hadn't kept up.

We redesigned with accessibility at the center: updating the color palette to meet WCAG guidelines, integrating the brand's own typeface more consistently throughout, and adding seasonal secondary colors to bring the experience to life. The result was a high-fidelity prototype that felt more like the garden itself — welcoming, easy to move through, and worth exploring.