Australian Open Pathway 2027
Role:
Product Designer
User Research, Interaction, Visual design, Prototyping & Testing, Pitching
About the Project
AO Pathways is a product design solution for the 2027 Australian Open, engineered to streamline precinct navigation and discovery for families visiting Melbourne Park. By combining pre-event preference profiling, dynamic crowd-load distribution, and physical-digital discovery touchpoints, the platform provides Ground Pass families with a stress-free, shade-optimized event experience.
The Challenge
Exploring Melbourne Park during Australia peak summer heat creates severe decision fatigue and physical strain for families with young children. Congestion at major show courts, long lines in unshaded zones, and uncoordinated precinct movement often lead to overwhelmed parents and tired kids. Existing navigation tools fail to account for family walking paces, shade availability, or real-time crowd distribution.
Problem
Precinct Congestion: Unmanaged family foot traffic creates severe bottlenecks at major show courts and central hubs.
Parental Cognitive Load: Managing heat exposure, hydration, and child engagement in direct sunlight creates high friction and fatigue.
Uneven Precinct Utilization: Visitors cluster in high-density areas while quiet, shaded, and lesser-known zones remain underused.
Approach
Pre-Arrival Onboarding: A short quiz captures family pace, accessibility needs, and interests to auto-generate adaptive itineraries.
Load-Balanced Phygital Quests: Staggered "Stamp Stops" featuring Milo are placed in lower-traffic zones to naturally redistribute crowds.
Low-Screen Navigation: Physical activity booklets and NFC totems pair with simplified, high-contrast directions and quiet rest zone routing
What We Did
Spatial & Behavioral Research: Mapped Ground Pass visitor behaviors, shade availability, and microclimates across Melbourne Park.
Figma Design System & UI: Designed a high-contrast, sun-legible digital app prototype utilizing the official AO brand palette.
Physical Touchpoint Integration: Prototyped the Milo activity booklet, physical NFC totems, and the exit souvenir redemption experience.
Survey
13 families (Ground Pass)
Interviews
6 parents with kids (ages 4–12)
Survey Results
78.8% of parents reported that managing heat, shade, and hydration was their top stress factor during all-day events.
67.3% of Ground Pass families struggled to find available seating at unreserved show courts during peak match hours.
82.7% of respondents felt that standard event maps were too cluttered to navigate quickly while walking with young children.
61.5% of children experienced fatigue or meltdown episodes due to lack of quiet, low-sensory rest breaks.
86.5% of parents expressed strong interest in a pre-event quiz that customizes routes based on their family's walking pace and interests.
PRE-ARRIVAL-QUIZ
Personalized Preferences
Families complete a 90-second onboarding quiz prior to arrival. The Quiz captures child age groups, walking pace, shade preferences, and accessibility requirements to eliminate pre-event planning anxiety.
ADAPTIVE ROUTING
Balanced Family Timelines
Generates a flexible daily itinenary combining main arena sessions, shaded rest breaks, and two staggered Discovery Stamp Stops tailored specifically to the family's place.
REAL-TIME CROWDS
Live Precinct Heatmaps
Provides parents with transparent court capacities, shade coverage, and food line wait times, enabling choices without wandering through direct sunlight.
CROWD REDISTRIBUTION
Low-Traffic Discovery Stops
Randomized staggered stamp locations encourage families to explore quieter precinct regions, effectively heavy crowds away from major show courts.
DIRECT-SCREEN UI
Simplified Wayfinding
Replaces cluttered satellite maps with high-contrast, glanceble direction prompts and color coded physical signage cues to keep parents focused on their kids rather than their phones.
PHYSICAL-DIGITAL LOOP
Milo Keychain Reward
Completing discovery stamp stops unlocks a dynamic QR claim pass in the app. Families present this screen to exit staff to collect a physical collectible Milo Keychain Souvenir
Primary & Brand Colors
Royal Blue
Primary
#1E8FD3
Elite Blue
Background
#1254A9
Silver Cloud
Surface
#E8F7FE
Volt Lime
Accent
#D1EC46
Secondary Branding
Tangerine
Accent
#ED9C54
Peach
Accent
#DAA1B4
Lime
Accent
#B9DE5E
Design that speaks before words do.
Typography is the foundation of visual communication. Every typeface choice, every size, every weight shapes how a message is received — from the first headline to the finest caption.
Poppins
Aa
this is Poppins
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890