As an internationally recognised art museum, it's important for ARoS to give visitors a first-class experience - both physically and digitally. When the museum was given a brand new visual identity, it was important to roll it out both online and offline. And since their existing website was a few years old, it was only natural to create a brand new Umbraco website with the guest journey in mind from A to Z.

We wanted a digital extension of the physical experience our guests have at ARoS. Both brand-wise in relation to our visual identity - and in relation to the whole atmosphere of the building and the art. With the new website, art can live in a very user-friendly way.

Astrid Søes Poulsen, Head of Communications and Audience at ARoS

The guest journey in focus

"On our new website, we focus on the guest journey throughout," says Astrid Søes Poulsen, Communications and Audience Manager at ARoS. "Everyone should be able to use the ARoS website! Whether it's a nerdy art enthusiast, a family with children, an elderly person or a person with disabilities - they should be able to find the information they need or want to delve into. So we've focused a lot on usability, speed and accessibility."

"Yes, we could see from the data that our guests especially searched for opening hours, current exhibitions and how to buy tickets," adds Signe Filipsen, Digital Planner at ARoS. "On our new website, this information is therefore the main focus - along with the art, of course."

"The art is the main attraction," agrees Astrid Søes Poulsen. "It must be presented in the finest way - regardless of device. And that, of course, is another thing that has been important in the project. Figuring out how to present large images on a mobile phone has been a huge challenge, but we have solved it really well."

Plan your visit to ARoS

To enhance the guest experience even before the physical visit to the museum, the ARoS website has a Plan your visit feature. Here, a guest can choose a specific date, see current exhibitions and events on that day and put together their own programme - which can easily be shared with others.

We want to help our visitors in the best possible way. With this feature, they can optimise their day at the museum.

Signe Filipsen, Digital Planner, ARoS

Opening hours and content that automates itself

In a museum, opening hours are of course especially important to visitors. Now the current opening hours for the day are always displayed at the top of the site and update automatically.

"Our opening hours vary throughout the week and during holidays," explains Signe Filipsen. "We can plan the opening hours for a whole year and just update them in one place. If I then create a landing page for Easter, I just add the Easter opening hours using the opening hours module - then the times are automatically correct."

"Similarly, the status of our exhibitions is also automated," she continues, explaining: "When an exhibition goes from upcoming to current, it automatically moves to current exhibitions - and the same when the exhibition is cancelled and it changes status to previous."

Aesthetics and functionality in balance

ARoS' primary brand colours are black and white, but exhibitions and themed weeks often feature colour on the website, which has a special function. Signe Filipsen explains:

For some exhibitions at the museum, the wall colour plays a special role. The colours we choose for the exhibition pages on the website can be matched with the wall colours of the physical exhibition in the museum. By using the same colours throughout the exhibition, we create a common thread between the physical and digital visit, giving the visitor a total experience.

Signe Filipsen, Digital Planner, ARoS

The fact that ARoS is a place of spectacular experiences should of course be obvious to anyone who visits the website. But while art is important, it should never shine at the expense of usability, Astrid and Signe explain. It has therefore been important to balance aesthetics and functionality. And it's a task that has taken a lot of work.

"Our new brand guidelines existed in a brand manual, but were not thought of in a website context," explains Signe Filipsen. "Together with Illumi, we defined a lot of small details to bring the identity to life digitally. How big should the headlines be? How should the images be cropped? Should we have labels on our events? There was a lot we had to develop along the way, and it required a close dialogue.

Editorial freedom to go with the flow

In addition to thinking in terms of shapes and colours, a large part of the work on ARoS' new website has been about defining the many different content elements in the CMS. Astrid Søes says: "Throughout the project, we talked a lot about how we wanted to create a "rabbit hole" that our visitors just want to dig deeper into. We want to offer podcasts for those who love that format and video for others. It's important for us to have editorial freedom so we can create the kind of content our visitors want to dive into - in a visually appealing way. Also in the future, because we don't know what will catch on in a year."

"I'm particularly pleased with the overall experience we've created with the new website," Signe Filipsen concludes. "The calm and simplicity we have in our design manual is now also on the website - and we've also got some visually beautiful exhibition pages. We've been able to create more engaging content, and opening hours and ticketing have become more accessible. I think and hope we've hit what our guests are looking for. Now we're just looking forward to seeing how they use the website."

We have found working with Illumi to be very proactive and agile. They made a clear roadmap from the start, and we have been heard when we have wondered about something. They take enquiries seriously and respond quickly, so it has been a really safe collaboration.

Signe Filipsen, Digital Planner, ARoS

Special features and technical geekery behind the ARoS website

We have developed a number of special features and modules for the ARoS website, all of which contribute to making the editorial work easier and enhancing the guest experience.

Visit the ARoS website.