Traditionally, the arts are a patron-based world—largely comprised of a more mature, affluent audience. The push to diversify and reach new groups has grown considerably, and what started as an opportunity has become a necessity: engaging the next generation of dance enthusiasts and donors by providing a coherent experience across touchpoints.

San Francisco Ballet is America’s oldest professional ballet company and regarded as one of the most innovative in the world. Our work for San Francisco Ballet is one of the first projects that aims to expand participation through the innovative design of their new web experience. We were asked to redesign San Francisco Ballet’s online presence to illuminate the organization’s heritage and story, provide a richer informational and transactional experience, bring broader awareness and appreciation to the art form, and inspire audiences through dance.

The team accomplished creating an innovative but cutting-edge feel through a responsive, relevant, forward-looking digital experience that provides a direct path to the art form of dance.

Education and storytelling served as the primary drivers, laying the groundwork for the project, couched in the “changing season” as the overarching design theme. Due to Ballet’s repertory, off, and holiday seasons, we approached the design to flexibly adapt to the features of each distinct time period. The navigation stems from the content of each page instead of an actual navigational dropdown menu, enabling related content to live within the pages, while providing quick access to other sections within the site.

“One of the goals in creating this website was to create something that would grow with us. The new focus on storytelling and the modularity of the site will really allow us to grow and evolve the story of SF Ballet over time.” - Mary Beth Smith, Director of Marketing and Communications, San Francisco Ballet

Stats (as of Dec 1, 2016):?

21% Increase in mobile traffic in the first six weeks

420% Overall purchase conversion rate

420% on mobile in six weeks

29% Overall conversion rate increase on all devices