Overview
When I first encountered the Escape Reality website, I was immediately struck by its potential. As a premier escape room experience provider, their physical locations offered immersive, captivating adventures—yet their digital presence failed to match this level of engagement. The original website suffered from an outdated visual design, convoluted booking process, and poor mobile responsiveness, creating a disconnect between their exceptional in-person experiences and their online representation.
Problem Statement
After conducting a thorough analysis, I identified three critical issues to address:
- Poor Information Architecture: The original site featured a cluttered navigation system with inconsistent categorization, making it difficult for users to quickly find essential information about room themes, difficulty levels, and booking availability.
- Disconnected Visual Identity: The website lacked cohesion with the brand’s immersive physical experiences, using generic imagery and failing to convey the excitement and mystery that define the Escape Reality experience.
- Friction-Heavy Flow: The reservation process was not clear and created high friction, reducing booking rate significantly.
Design Solution
My redesign approach focused on creating a digital experience that would mirror the immersion and excitement of Escape Reality’s physical locations.
Information Architecture Refinement
I restructured the content hierarchy using card sorting sessions with potential users, implementing a clear top-level navigation with intuitive categorization. Each escape room theme received its own dedicated page with standardized information blocks for difficulty ratings, capacity, and theme descriptions—all presented in a scannable format.
Visual System Development
Drawing inspiration from the atmospheric qualities of their most popular rooms, I developed a cohesive visual language that communicates mystery and adventure. I implemented:
- A dark UI with strategic accent colors to create visual intrigue while maintaining WCAG AA+ contrast ratios
- Custom iconography that reflects the puzzle-solving nature of escape rooms
- Immersive photography guidelines to ensure consistency across room presentations
Responsive Implementation
Recognizing that most of their traffic came from mobile devices, I employed a mobile-first approach with particular attention to thumb-friendly interaction zones and adaptive layouts that maintain the immersive quality across all breakpoints.
Expected Outcomes
The redesigned Escape Reality website delivers significant improvements including:
- Reduced cognitive load through clarified information architecture
- Stronger brand alignment through thoughtful visual design decisions
- Improved accessibility with keyboard navigation support and semantic HTML structure
- Enhanced mobile experience addressing the needs of their predominant user base
By aligning their digital presence with the quality of their physical experiences, this redesign helps Escape Reality create a cohesive customer journey from first impression to post-visit engagement, ultimately supporting business growth through increased bookings and customer retention.