Nonprofit / Museums
How a 6-Month Website Redesign Flooded a Nonprofit Museum with Tour Requests
The Delta Flight Museum is a nonprofit preserving the history of Delta Air Lines from the airline's corporate campus in Atlanta. With no dedicated web or technology team, the museum manages its digital presence with a small operations staff. LUX first built the museum's website in 2013 and has served as its technology partner ever since.
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"As soon as the redesigned site launched, tour group requests started flooding in through the new forms. Our person who handles bookings went from manageable to swamped. That's the kind of problem you want."
Key Outcomes
- Tour group demand: Generated an immediate surge in online tour requests after launch, outpacing the museum's booking capacity
- Website design: Shifted from a 10-year-old boxy layout to a modern aesthetic matching the museum's physical renovation
- Information architecture: Reorganized from haphazard page growth to a customer-centric hierarchical structure built for first-time visitors
- Visitor engagement: Replaced unstructured email inquiries with online forms for event rentals, tour bookings, and group visits
- Content management: Introduced blog tagging, consistent templates, and plug-and-play formatting for a team with no web department
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Book a Complimentary ConsultationThe Challenge
LUX originally built the Delta Flight Museum's website in 2013 during the museum's first major renovation. Over the next decade, the site grew page by page without a governing structure.
By late 2024, a new physical renovation was underway for Delta Air Lines' centennial, and the website looked its age. The museum needed a complete rebuild that matched its renovated facilities, organized content for visitors, and equipped staff to manage it.
Visitors Had No Logical Path to Find Basic Information About the Museum
People looking for tour availability, event space, or exhibit details navigated a site that grew without a plan. Pages lived under incorrect parent sections. First-time visitors had no intuitive way to find what they needed.
Content Had Grown Organically Over a Decade Without a Governing Structure
New pages, subpages, and blog posts were added as needed without a hierarchy. No templates existed for consistent formatting. Fonts, colors, and layouts varied across the site.
Event Inquiries and Tour Requests Arrived as Unstructured Emails
Customers interested in renting event space or booking a group tour sent free-form emails. Staff manually sorted requests without standardized fields. Responses were slower than they needed to be.
An Outdated Website Undermined the Museum's Identity and Visitor Confidence
The boxy, dated design no longer reflected a museum in the middle of a major renovation. Visitors arriving online saw something that didn't match the physical experience being built. The website was out of step with the institution behind it.
"They pushed us to think beyond what we already knew. We know the museum, so of course we know where to find things. But they asked: if somebody is not familiar with us, how would they think to use our website?"
The Solution
LUX partnered with the Delta Flight Museum to redesign its web presence within six months. The work centered on reorganizing content, replacing manual processes with forms, and building a site staff could maintain. Each phase balanced design updates with operational self-sufficiency for a team with no web department.
Restructured Information Architecture to Guide First-Time Visitors
The entire page hierarchy was rethought from the visitor's perspective. Exhibits, tours, events, and venue rentals each received logical placement within a visitor-first structure. Visitors now find what they need without guessing.
Created Standardized Templates to Bring Consistency Across the Site
A new set of plug-and-play page templates established consistent fonts, colors, and layouts. Staff now build new pages within a fixed design system instead of improvising. The blog received a tagging structure that sorts content by topic.
Built Online Forms to Replace Unstructured Email Inquiries
Event rental inquiries, tour bookings, and group visit requests now flow through structured online forms. Each submission captures standardized fields that route to the right department. Staff respond faster with the right information from the start.
Upgraded the CMS Platform to Preserve Staff Familiarity and Independence
Rather than migrating to a new CMS, LUX upgraded the existing Sitefinity platform to a current version. The team kept their working knowledge while gaining modern capabilities. Staff with no dedicated developers could continue managing the site on their own terms.
Delivered a Modern Design That Drove an Immediate Surge in Tour Requests
The redesigned site replaced the boxy 2014 layout with a visual identity matching the museum's renovated facilities. Combined with structured booking forms and clear navigation, the new site converted visitors into action. Tour group requests flooded in the moment it went live.
"They pointed us in the direction we wanted to go, but we just didn't know how to get there. If I had to start a new project tomorrow, I would definitely call LUX. The pricing was fair, the timing was great, and the end product speaks for itself."
— Tiffany Meng, Director of Operations, Delta Flight Museum
Before and After LUX
| Metric | Before LUX | After LUX |
|---|---|---|
| Website Design | 10-year-old boxy layout from 2014 | Modern aesthetic matching the centennial renovation |
| Information Architecture | Pages added haphazardly over a decade, no hierarchy | Customer-centric structure built for first-time visitors |
| Visitor Inquiries | Free-form emails for event rentals and tour bookings | Structured online forms routing to the right department |
| Tour Group Bookings | No online booking process | Immediate surge in requests after launch |
| Blog Organization | No categorization or tagging system | Tagged and sortable by topic |
| Content Management | Inconsistent fonts, colors, and layouts across pages | Plug-and-play templates with fixed design system |
| CMS Platform | Outdated Sitefinity version, not updated in years | Upgraded Sitefinity, staff can self-manage without developers |
| Staff Independence | Reliant on external support for basic updates | Team manages content on their own terms |
What Would a Partnership Like This Look Like for Your Organization?
The Delta Flight Museum went from a decade-old website to a tour request surge in six months with a partner it has trusted for 12 years. Book a 30-minute conversation to find out where your systems stand and where the biggest opportunities are. Within five business days, you receive a written brief. No commitment.
- An honest read on where your current systems are strong and where they're creating drag
- The two to four highest-impact opportunities based on what we find, ranked by priority
- A clear sense of whether now is the right time to act and what the first step would be
