Statens Naturhistoriske Museum: A ticket purchase visitors can find their way through, for a brand new museum
Client
Statens Naturhistoriske Museum
Duration
April 2026 -> November 2026
Industry
Culture and museums
Services
User Research
UX/UI Design
Prototyping
Accessibility
React
Platform- and API architecture
AI
The challenge
Statens Naturhistoriske Museum, the Natural History Museum of Denmark, opens a brand new museum in 2027 after an extensive renovation. Ticket sales had to open as early as November 2026, and the old ticket flow was not well enough connected to the museum's website. Nor did it live up to the experience the museum wanted to give its visitors.
The ambition was high: buying a ticket should be among the best experiences you could imagine. That is why the museum chose a webshop tailored to its visitors instead of the ticket platform's standard solution.
Many choices, one calm flow
A museum visit is rarely just one ticket. Visitors choose between the museum and the Palm House, a day and an arrival time, tickets for the whole party, free entry, guided tours at set times, gift cards and annual passes. The complexity has to stay behind the screen, so buying feels simple, on mobile too.
3 phases.
From visitor to webshop.
01
Understand the visitor
We started with the museum's own people and the existing ticket flow. What had to be for sale, and where did the old flow get in the visitors' way? That became an early prototype during the initial analysis.
02
Shape the flow
The prototype was tested with users and reworked before the design was approved. Everything follows SNM's design guidelines and is designed for mobile first, with accessibility as a requirement from the start.
03
Build and connect
We built the webshop and a layer in between that connects the museum's Drupal with NaviPartner. Every purchase flow is tested automatically in a real browser.
The numbers behind the purchase
- 2venues in one purchase flow, the museum and the Palm House
- 4ways to buy, tickets, guided tours, gift cards and annual passes
- 15minbetween arrival times, with the available places shown for each one
- 6monthsfrom kickoff until ticket sales open
Six months
from kickoff to ticket sales.
28 April
Kickoff
Workshops with the museum's team and a walkthrough of the early prototype. Which tickets, rules and exceptions does the flow need to handle?
May
The design in place
A first prototype, user testing and a new version before the design was approved.
Summer
Built and connected
The webshop was built and connected to NaviPartner and the museum's Drupal, with short status meetings several times a week.
November
Ticket sales open
Soft launch on 2 November and ticket sales from the middle of November, well ahead of the museum opening in 2027.
Five steps from the front page
to the receipt.
How a family buys tickets for the museum, with a guided tour.
01
Choose an experience
The museum or the Palm House. Right on the front page, visitors can see whether there are places today.
02
Day and time
Today and tomorrow are one click away, and closed days cannot be chosen. Each arrival time shows if only a few places are left, if it is sold out, and if there is a guided tour.
03
How many are you?
Tickets for the whole party on one page, including free entry with an annual pass or as a companion. The basket keeps count while the visitor chooses.
04
Extras
If a guided tour fits the chosen time, it is offered here. Visitors decide how many should join, or skip it.
05
Pay and get the receipt
Payment happens in NaviPartner's secure checkout. Afterwards the visitor lands on a receipt in the museum's own design, and the ticket arrives by email.
The details
that make buying easy.
Places today
Availability is shown on the front page, so nobody gets a surprise at the checkout.
Times that speak for themselves
Few places left, sold out and guided tours are marked right on each arrival time.
A hint at the right moment
If a guided tour fits the chosen time, the visitor is told before choosing tickets.
Free entry without detours
Annual passes, membership cards and companions have their own line among the tickets.
A guided tour for those who want one
Visitors choose how many should join the guided tour. Not all or nothing.
A basket that keeps up
Date, time and price update while the visitor chooses. On mobile, the total is always at the bottom.
AI from the first meeting
to the last line of code.
Meetings become knowledge
Every meeting is recorded and summarised with AI, so decisions about tickets, rules and design are not lost.
Decisions live next to the code
Business rules and design choices are written down in a decision log in the code base, so the team can find and reuse them instead of having the discussion again.
The design speaks the agents' language
The prototype and the design system were built with AI and packaged so the agents follow SNM's design when they build.
Agents build, people judge
Agentic AI helps with development and testing, with the developers at the helm. Every purchase flow is tested in a real browser.
What the museum gets out of it
NaviPartner as the engine, the museum in front
NaviPartner provides the tickets, prices, capacity and payment. We built the entire user experience on top, so visitors meet the museum's own design all the way from the front page to the receipt.
Ready for the next step
School booking is already designed and built, and can be switched on when the museum is ready. Events are the next step.
The museum owns the solution
The code belongs to the museum. The layer between the webshop and the ticket platform makes it easier to replace NaviPartner later. A switch would still take some adjustments, but the webshop would not have to be built again.
Louise Dreyer
Creative Director
Abtion \
