Virginia Lottery Case Study | Brian J Kinsley Consulting

Overview

As part of a larger Smithsonian engagement, I conducted a qualitative heuristic usability audit of the NMAL website. The goal was to identify clarity and navigation issues that were making the site harder to understand and harder to explore—especially for people encountering the museum for the first time.

The audit was also intended to support an upcoming rebrand, so findings needed to be practical, explainable, and usable by a team that had little prior exposure to usability work.

Problem

The NMAL site relied on unclear labels, inconsistent navigation, and unreliable content patterns that made it difficult for users to orient themselves and confidently move through the site.

Implication

These issues created unnecessary friction for first-time visitors and educators trying to understand the museum’s mission, programs, and resources. In several places, the experience undermined trust and made the site feel harder to use than it needed to be.

Users & Audience

This audit focused on two primary audiences:

General public / first-time visitors
Educators and researchers looking for specific information

Audience needs were evaluated heuristically based on content intent and common museum usage patterns rather than direct user testing.

My Role

I was the sole usability analyst on this project, responsible for the audit end-to-end.

That included defining the scope, conducting the review, synthesizing findings, creating recommendations, and presenting the results directly to the NMAL client team. I also brought in the Smithsonian website manager to the readout to help connect the findings to broader internal efforts.

Scope & Constraints

2–3 week timeline (approximately 40 hours)
Desktop-only review
Qualitative heuristic audit
Accessibility considerations baked into content and navigation evaluation
No analytics or user testing available
Client team had little prior familiarity with usability concepts

Process (What I Did and Why)

Established the audit framework

I used our team’s established heuristic framework, with emphasis on orientation, labeling, navigation clarity, interaction consistency, and visual reliability.

Why:
A structured framework was necessary to keep findings grounded and defensible, especially without user data and with a non-UX client audience.

Reviewed navigation and content patterns across the site

I evaluated how navigation behaved across sections, how content was labeled, and whether interaction patterns were consistent and predictable.

This included reviewing:

Navigation hierarchy and cross-page consistency
Label clarity and content grouping
Orientation cues and wayfinding support
Reliability of visual and interactive elements

Validated findings against best practices

To separate real usability issues from preference or taste, I validated findings against established standards from Nielsen Norman Group and Baymard Institute.

Why:
This made recommendations easier to justify and helped the client team understand that issues weren’t subjective.

Organized findings into usable themes

Instead of delivering a long list of isolated issues, I grouped findings into clear usability categories and paired each with concrete examples and recommendations.

Result:
The audit was easier to digest and more useful as an input to the rebrand.

Outcomes

Most recommendations were implemented as part of the NMAL website rebrand.

Following the presentation, client team leads shared positive feedback, and the primary client contact later noted that they valued the work and would recommend our services to other museums within the Smithsonian network.

While no formal metrics were available, the audit clearly influenced how usability considerations were incorporated into the rebranding effort.

What I Took Away

Heuristic audits work best when they help teams see problems, not feel criticized
Explaining why issues matter is just as important as identifying them
Orientation and labeling issues are especially costly on content-heavy cultural sites