Designing a unified guest journey to drive ticket conversion
Website Manager → UX Designer
Role
2018-2019
Year
Scot Kryzenske
Website Manager @ Biltmore
Lindsay Miller
Creative Director @ Design Sensory
Matt Montgomery
UX Designer @ Design Sensory
Stephan Zerambo & Seth Harris
Developers @ Design Sensory
Team
Biltmore.com & Biltmoreshop.com Replatforming
Business Context
Biltmore’s primary revenue driver — estate visitation — depended on a five-year-old website that was difficult to manage, not optimized for mobile, and fragmented across multiple internal business units.
​
The redevelopment was not just a visual refresh. It was a shift toward a conversion-focused, analytics-driven digital platform supporting:
-
ticket sales
-
lodging bookings
-
retail revenue
-
visit planning
PreviousDesign
Designed in 2013 by The Richards Group
I was also a part of the previous Website Redevelopment project!
Goals for New Website
Our goal for this redevelopment was to create a more streamlined and connected digital guest experience. We wanted to quickly guide our visitors to the information that they find most valuable. The new website needed to be emotionally engaging and effectively communicate the Biltmore Experience.
• Increase share of online Ticketing and Lodging sales to 75% of total sales
• Increase website Guest Satisfaction score from 7.7 to 8.5 of 10
• Increase website Task Completion Rates from 68% to 85%
• Create clear visitor funnels for each of our conversion channels
• Implement single sign-on system for our 8 online transactional environments
• Decentralize CMS management, through planned website data structure and role based permission groups
My Role & Scope
-
Co-authored the website strategy and RFP
-
Defined success metrics tied to business goals
-
Owned the information architecture across all divisions
-
Led guest-centered problem framing with internal stakeholders and a third-party agency
This required aligning:
-
Estate experiences
-
Lodging
-
Winery
-
Retail
-
Weddings & groups
into a single navigation and content model.
The hardest decision was simplifying navigation across business units.
The previous model mirrored the internal organization.
The new model prioritized how guests plan a visit.
This shifted the site from:
“Where does this content live internally?”
to
“What does a guest need to do next?”
This decision unlocked:
-
clearer paths to ticket purchase
-
stronger cross-sell of lodging and experiences
-
a scalable IA for future growth
STRATEGY:
FROM ORG STRUCTURE → GUEST JOURNEY
Experience
Principles
-
Mobile-first visit planning
-
Clear pricing and packaging
-
Cross-promotion of high-value experiences
-
Searchable, indexable key content
-
CMS that enabled continuous optimization
Measurable
Impact
Post-launch usability testing showed:
-
Mobile usability improved from C to A+
-
Task completion significantly faster across key journeys
-
Higher task success rates for ticketing, lodging, dining, and events
These gains made it easier for guests to:
-
understand the value of visiting
-
plan multi-day trips
-
complete booking flows
Platform
Impact
The new CMS and IA enabled:
-
ongoing A/B testing
-
analytics-driven iteration
-
dynamic, audience-specific content
This transformed the site from a static brochure into a continuously improving revenue channel.
Leadership Reflection
This project shaped how I think about digital ecosystems.
​
I moved from managing a website to defining the strategy behind it — and learned that the most important design decision is often structural, not visual.
​
Aligning multiple business units around a single guest journey required clarity, persistence, and a deep understanding of both user needs and organizational realities.
​
Want to hear more about this project?