AMFA Class Filter Redesign

Overview

The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) offers a wide variety of community classes for both youth and adults. But their class filtering and booking experience was fragmented and hard to navigate—spread across multiple systems and unclear in structure. I was brought in via Jixaw to help unify this experience, streamline filtering, and provide clarity across key decision points.

Key Challenges

Fragmented architecture: The marketing site, class directory (minisite), and cart lived on separate platforms.

Broken filtering UX: Users couldn’t easily tell which classes were for youth vs. adults, or filter by relevant criteria.

Transition friction: Users would unknowingly leave one system and enter another, often without context.

Stakeholder complexity: AMFA’s Head of Marketing, operations, and dev teams had overlapping priorities and expectations.

My Approach

I began by identifying and mapping all the systems involved in the booking experience, then worked closely with stakeholders to define entry and exit points between platforms. I facilitated discussions around goals and requirements, and used competitor analysis to identify best-in-class filtering UX.

From there, I designed an improved structure and interface flow:

Split the experience into clear “Youth” vs. “Adult” entry points: This simplified the IA and gave users more targeted filtering paths.

Created a flow diagram and wireframes: I illustrated how the minisite would handle filters, transitions, and cross-links to the cart.

Redesigned class detail pages: These included descriptions, preview images, and “see similar classes” functionality for better content discovery.

Devised a cart overlay return system: When a user transitioned away to the cart, they could return and continue adding classes with state preserved across systems.

Deliverables

Flow diagram / system map showing user journey across platforms

Mid-fidelity wireframes of filter pages, detail pages, and cross-system UI components

Overlay UI logic and documentation for developers

Facilitation summaries capturing alignment across stakeholder teams

Outcome

The new filter architecture is currently being implemented. Analytics are being set up to monitor improvements in navigation, registration flow, and drop-off reduction. Stakeholder feedback on the structural clarity and flexibility of the proposed system has been overwhelmingly positive.

Wireframe flow mapping youth vs. adult class filtering logic.

Learnings

Systems mapping is essential: Designing across multiple domains requires upfront clarity and buy-in from technical teams.

Progressive disclosure works: Asking one simple question up front (e.g. “Youth or Adult?”) drastically reduces user confusion downstream.

Cart logic matters: Even small enhancements like persistent cart overlays can meaningfully improve user trust and task flow.

The biggest takeaway? Good filtering isn’t just about UI controls — it’s about clarifying pathways and reducing friction at every system touchpoint.
Let’s connect if you’re working on something like this.

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