Disney Imagineering engaged UEGroup to research what drives Cast Member job satisfaction and identify key pain points in their workflows. Insights from this mixed-method research shaped the design of a unified dashboard that integrated five data sources and three products into a single tool. Using generative AI and data visualization, the dashboard predicts issues and offers quick solutions based on guest data. The result: a tool that empowers Cast Members to deliver the best guest experience, earning a 90% value rating from users.
Increasing Cast Member Satisfaction with Generative AI
INDUSTRY
Entertainment
AI
B2B
AI
B2B
PLATFORM
Mobile, Desktop, Emerging Technologies
SERVICES
Design: UX/UI, Visual Design, Prototyping
Research: Discovery Interviews, Focus Group, Usability Testing
At a Glance
The Challenge
Disney sets itself apart by crafting immersive, performance-like experiences that transport guests into a magical world. Because a Disney trip is a major investment, visitors arrive with high expectations.
The Guest Experience (GET) and Guest Relations (GR) teams serve as both concierge and problem-solvers, ensuring issues are resolved quickly while preserving the magic of each guest’s visit. Their success often determines whether a vacation feels stressful or unforgettable.
Cast members face significant challenges: they work under constant time pressure, often managing high volumes of guests while trying to turn around negative situations with empathy and efficiency. Each interaction brings a unique problem that requires quick adaptation and problem-solving, often while juggling multiple disconnected tools and combing through long logs of guest information to find what’s relevant.
Disney’s goal was to improve cast member satisfaction by enhancing tools and processes that make guest interactions smoother while also creating a more fulfilling work experience.
The UEGroup design streamlines park operations and guest management by bringing all data and tools into one unified view designed to communicate dense information at a glance. Using Gen AI to predict problems and recommend solutions based on guest and park data, Cast Members can spend less time combing through data and more time focusing on creating meaningful, personal connections with guests.
"We are visual beings, it feels way more interactive, more accessible and visually appealing. It keeps me more focused and more efficient. I would be more engaged."
Disney Springs, 9 years at Disney
How We Did It
Observe cast members to identify challenges and opportunities
- Went to the parks to observe cast members in action and conduct informal 1-on-1 interviews
- Hypothesis formed about using the technology to help form connections with guests through surfaced insights
- Identified tradeoffs and created a range of ideas and features to facilitate priority conversations with users
Focus groups to inform a design direction
- Shared concepts to understand user priorities and preferred tone. Concepts tested the boundaries of data access vs privacy and a neutral, efficiency-driven experience vs an experience that fostered team and guest connections.
- The results were clear. Users needed efficiency above all when interacting with guests. Downtime between guest interactions is the best moment for satisfaction-based features.
Refined solution and remote user testing
- We focused the design effort on making guest interactions as efficient as possible, surfacing insights to facilitate communication, and automating laborious record keeping. We added in Disney magic through personification of features with Disney characters and added team and personal reflection features that drive employee satisfaction.
- The final design recieved great feedback, with high ratings in value, ease of use, and helpfulness
The
Outcomes
Outcomes
We combined automated record-keeping with a comprehensive view of the guest experience, culminating in a single platform that delivers consistent, high-quality guest interactions.
The project's final deliverable was a design strategy, prioritized feature set, and conceptual product design for key workflows captured in a high-fidelity prototype. The deliverable was created for team members to drive buy-in from executives for the production of the new tool direction.
