Overview

Princess Cruise Lines partnered with Bounteous to re-platform their website to Adobe Experience Manager (AEM). The objective was to enhance content velocity, streamline authoring workflows, improve personalization, and align the digital experience with the refreshed brand. As a UX Designer, my role was to facilitate a seamless migration while optimizing the digital experience for both content authors and end users.

Challenges

Large-Scale Migration: 1,565 pages needed to be restructured and migrated.
Content Complexity: A mix of new, enhanced, and out-of-the-box AEM components was required.
Content Consistency: Maintaining brand alignment while navigating evolving brand styles.
Multiple Content Sources: Assets stored in Rhythmyx (the existing CMS) and Widen (DAM) required strategic mapping and migration.
Component Standardization: Balancing customization needs with reusable AEM components.

Business Goals

Increase content velocity by enabling faster and more efficient updates.
Improve authoring workflows to ensure scalable content management.
Enhance personalization for different country-based locales.
Modernize content architecture to support future flexibility and growth.

Understanding Users

To develop a user-centered content strategy, we conducted comprehensive research:

Stakeholder Workshops: Gathered insights on authoring workflows and business requirements.
Content Mapping Sessions: Aligned existing content with AEM’s structure for a seamless transition.
Usability Reviews: Identified content migration and management pain points.

Key User-Centered Goals:

Ensure an intuitive asset management experience for content authors.
Reduce manual updates through reusable content structures.
Support localization needs while maintaining brand consistency.

Process

A Collaborative Approach

We worked closely with Princess Cruise Lines stakeholders to define, refine, and execute the AEM migration strategy.

Methods & Collaboration

Component Mapping Workshops: Identified existing components and determined gaps for enhancements.
UX & Content Alignment: Partnered with content strategists to structure a cohesive migration plan.
Design & Development Integration: Ensured seamless collaboration for scalable AEM components.

Iterative Design & Testing

Developed wireframes and prototypes to validate design decisions.
Created component libraries to standardize layouts and functionality.
Conducted QA testing to ensure a smooth component integration process.

Design System & Implementation

To ensure a cohesive and scalable design, we implemented:

New & Enhanced AEM Components:

5 New Components
6 Major Enhanced Components
17 Minor Enhanced Components
12 Out-of-the-Box Components

Experience Fragments: Enabled content authors to reuse structured content across pages.
Scalable Taxonomy & DAM Organization: Established a structured approach for asset management and future scalability.

Solution & Impact

Launch & Adoption

The re-platforming project resulted in a more efficient, scalable, and user-friendly website for Princess Cruise Lines.

Key Results:

Optimized content authoring workflows, reducing manual effort.
Accelerated content updates through reusable Experience Fragments.
Enhanced content management experience for localization and personalization.
Strengthened design system with modular, scalable AEM components.

Metrics & Business Impact

1,565 pages migrated to AEM with streamlined workflows.
38 standardized components created for efficient content updates.
8 page templates developed to support flexible content structures.

Future Work & Learnings

Lessons Learned

Understanding content variations early is essential for an effective migration plan.
Designing for scalability ensures long-term usability and growth.
Early collaboration between UX, content, and development is crucial for seamless implementation.

Next Steps

Enhance personalization capabilities for improved content delivery by locale.
Continue refining AEM components based on user feedback.

Expand design system adoption across additional digital properties.

Conclusion

This project demonstrated the power of a structured UX approach in a large-scale CMS migration. By focusing on content strategy, UX best practices, and cross-functional collaboration, we successfully transitioned Princess Cruise Lines to a modern platform. The result is a scalable, efficient, and intuitive digital ecosystem that supports business growth and enhances the user experience for both content authors and cruise customers.

Work

Princess Cruise Lines Case Study