Grand Lake Theatre Website Redesign: Our team re-designed the Grand Lake Theatre located in Oakland, CA using Google Sites, information architecture prinicples, and user research. This project involved redesigning the Grand Lake Theatre website with a focus on improving its information architecture and overall usability. The original site contained redundant content, inconsistent labeling, and a fragmented ticket purchasing experience. Through demographic research, user behavior analysis, and a closed card-sorting study, the team identified key organizational and navigational issues. The redesign introduced clearer labeling systems, streamlined navigation, and a more intuitive content hierarchy. High-level and low-level sitemaps, wireframes, and a functional prototype were created to demonstrate the proposed improvements. The final design prioritizes user goals such as finding showtimes, purchasing tickets, and accessing event information, resulting in a cleaner, more efficient, and user-centered website experience. This redesign improved usability by reducing content overlap and simplifying the site’s information architecture. Redundant pages were removed, and shared content was consolidated into clear sections. The ticketing process was streamlined by embedding ticket purchases within the movie browsing flow, allowing users to move seamlessly from film selection to checkout. These changes reduce clutter and create a more intuitive, user-centered experience.

Isheah Al-Sumairi is a senior at SJSU, majoring in Information Science and Data Analytics, interested in UX and user research.

Yi-Han Chang is an undergraduate student in the Information Science program at San José State University. His academic interests include information architecture, user experience design, and human-centered information systems. Through coursework and project-based learning, he has developed skills in user research, content organization, wireframing, and usability analysis. Yi-Han is particularly interested in how thoughtful information organization and clear navigation can improve user understanding and decision-making. He enjoys working on collaborative design projects that involve research-driven problem solving and the practical application of information architecture principles. He hopes to apply these skills in future roles related to UX, information design, or digital product development.

Ziyou Gan prefers to be called Rebecca. “I am a student in the ISDA major at SJSU, and I am honored that our work has been selected for the Exemplary Student Showcase. I contributed to the website redesign project with my collaborators to improve navigation, content structure, and overall usability.  My goal is to apply user research and information architecture principles to create effective digital systems.”