Return to flip book view

Gardens by the Bay August 2023

Introduction Gardens by the Bay is located in Singapore and is one of the city s prime attractions and one of the most famous gardens in Asia Conceptualised as a part of the city wide vision for a sustainable and green city of the future Gardens by the Bay brought nature back into the urban sprawl of Singapore 101 hectares of natural park divided into three lush waterfront gardens The Flower Dome located in a Bay South Garden holds the Guinness World Record as the largest glass greenhouse in the world Gardens by the Bay is supported by a multidisciplinary team of experts from designers and engineers to arborists and orchid breeding professionals and the fruits of their labour are a sight to behold The gardens dazzle the visitors with 19 000 species of plants from all over the world art exhibitions and events for the whole family Monstarlab s own philosophy the Art of Change takes great inspiration from nature and its capacity for growth adaptability and evolution So when the opportunity to work with Gardens By The Bay presented itself we knew that our cooperation will be fruitful Together with the Gardens By The Bay Monstarlab s team embarked on an exciting journey that grew into a long term partnership Gardens by the Bay 2

Key Attractions The Flower Dome This stunning megastructure is as big as 75 Olympic swimming pools and can accommodate up to 1 000 people The Flower Dome is a cooled conservatory that houses plants from all over the world Africa Australia and the Mediterranean Its glass construction is an engineering marvel special glass panes let through ample sunlight that plants need to flourish but minimise solar heat helping cool the biggest glass greenhouse in the world efficiently and sustainably Supertree Grove A fusion of sustainable architecture and cutting edge horticulture the Supertrees are a sight to behold These giant structures are vertical gardens powered by clean solar energy and serve as a stunning landmark while housing 200 species of plants The tallest of the Supertrees stands 50 metres tall and in its canopy one can find a gem of the Gardens the Supertree observatory that offers a breathtaking view of Marina Bay Kingfisher Wetlands Deep in the Gardens visitors can find a secluded haven for exotic animals and plants the Kingfisher Wetlands Visitors can walk the trails among mangrove trees and fresh water cascades and spot numerous animals like herons otters monitor lizards and of course multiple species of kingfishers that give wetlands its name Gardens by the Bay 3

Guests of the Garden Gardens By the Bay is a place of beauty in all forms It attracts people of all ages from all over the world families couples bustling tourist groups and businessmen on work trips taking a break from their busy schedules Locals Tourists Families with Children School Groups Photographers Nature Lovers Event Visitors Adventurers Such a broad demographic posed an interesting challenge All digital products must be understandable and accessible to everybody and must help make experience in the gardens pleasant and memorable While some digital consultancies would have started with ways how new technology could be implemented across the business we decided to take a moment to look at the people visiting the Gardens Monstarlab s digital transformation philosophy is technology enabled yet profoundly human centric Thus our journey with Gardens by The Bay has started with research and observation Gardens by the Bay 4

Planting The Seed Supertree Observatory App Supertree Observatory App 2019 One of the things that amazes visitors of the Gardens by the Bay is how modern and futuristic they are while still demonstrating the beauty and serenity of nature The Supertree Grove is perhaps the best example of this fusion evoking a sense of wonder with its blend of architecture engineering and horticulture Our pilot project with Gardens by the Bay was an Augmented Reality app for the Supertree Observatory Augmented Reality The Observatory gives a commanding view of the Marina Bay and of the Gardens themselves An opportunity for visitors to admire nature and a beautiful cityscape and also a perfect set piece for memorable photos We decided to look for ways to use technology to improve these experiences yet not distract the visitors from what s important That s why the app we ve built is clean easy to use and in many ways symbiotic with the Observatory For people visiting Singapore and not familiar with her sights and features we created an AR overlay that gives helpful information about the landmarks To make sure the visitors can experience the full splendour of the Observatory the app includes a Simulated Mode that can be toggled between daytime and night time High quality drone footage helps visitors experience the views no matter the weather and the time of day Photo Mode We also included photo filters to encourage the users to take selfies and engage with the Observatory Sharing feature helps Gardens with organic promotion on social media Gardens by the Bay 5

but most importantly helps people capture memorable moments on top of a 16 storey tall Supertree to be explored and we looked for ideas to help people to do just that That s how the game element came about Using the Supertree Observatory App we decided to gamify people s experience in the gardens giving them objectives to visit and points to earn History Lens Those interested in how much effort went into creating the Observatory a History Lens feature offers a glimpse into the past with beautiful fully interactive content Gamification The idea to create a game came from two things Firstly we wanted to come up with a way to better utilise all the space the Gardens have to offer instead of focusing on a single point Secondly Pokemon Go was ubiquitous in Singapore at the time and popular among people of all ages To test the idea we went into the Gardens to talk to the visitors and give them a chance to play the prototype and give us some feedback Humanity cultivated gardens since ancient times creating places to reconnect with nature to think or to spend time with others The contemporary rhythm of life made people less contemplative We noticed that visitors were rushing from point A to point B missing large swathes of the Gardens We wanted to emphasise that this is the place Gardens by the Bay 6

Test Audience Response The feedback from the users was positive and we moved forward with the idea This feature rewards exploration and counts steps using them as an in game resource serving as a great excuse to stay active in the Gardens and see as many of them as possible No Yes It Depends The app was developed as the newest Supertree was being built so we had to deliver a workable product within 3 months Supertree Observatory successfully launched Dec 27 2019 No Yes Gardens by the Bay 7

Letting It Grow Gardens by the Bay App Gardens by the Bay App After the success of the Supertree Observatory App Gardens by The Bay chose Monstarlab to create a replacement for Gardens By the Bay App using the Supertree project as a base Before we were brought on board the Gardens already had two mobile apps and since Monstrarlab s methodology is based on observation and analysis we went to work gathering data and feedback from the visitors The visitorship has reached a record high 12 million people just a year prior and we wanted to make sure people will love the solution we are building No information on events and their start time Many events and shows went completely unnoticed About 60 of visitors did not know about the Garden Rhapsody Light Show It s hard to describe something as spectacular as Gardens by The Bay And the first thing that one realises is that they are absolutely huge Finding anything in an area of 100 hectares is a daunting task The fact that people were missing shows and events in the Gardens was also a business critical problem To keep natural beauty and splendour accessible for everyone the entrance into the Gardens by The Bay is mostly free except for optional attractions like Cloud Forest the Flower Dome and the Supertree Observatory The ticket sales constitute 58 of the Garden s income Problems of the old app Here is what we found Trouble with navigation App screens and icons were not intuitive Information about newer areas of the park was missing as well as the transport options Features that relied on GPS did not always work as intended causing frustration People wanted the app to be faster The app tested users patience with long load times The experience needed an upgrade The users wanted a more enjoyable interface Convoluted UI and dated design and font decisions made using an app difficult Gardens by the Bay 8

The light show that the majority of people were missing is one of the crucial ways to promote the Supertree Observatory one of the key attractions but the larger problem was of course that Garden s team put so much time money and effort to make the Gardens a memorable and enchanting experience and people were missing out on all that To help the Garden grow Monstarlab needed to create not just an app but a way to transform the experience We were looking for a way to help the Gardens evolve Challenges and Solutions Challenge 1 We needed to avoid crowds Solution One thing that is never lacking in the Gardens by the Bay is space Utilising technology we made sure it s used as efficiently as possible Using AR wayfinding tools and game elements we managed to guide the flow of people away from each other Additional Crowd Map feature that represents the number of people as a heatmap helped visitors socially distance while enjoying the gardens As for the popular attractions we implemented a remote queueing solution Gardens by The Bay weren t losing on their important revenue stream and the safety was maintained A win win COVID 19 In 2020 COVID 19 pandemic rocked the world and changed it overnight Businesses were closing down factories were stopping and millions of people had to self isolate at home Of course Gardens by the Bay being a public place felt the impact immediately Visitorship fell sharply dropping from 12 million to 6 4 during the height of the crisis and with it revenue fell as well Monstralab and Gardens by the Bay needed to adapt quickly and find ways to let people visit and explore safely The pandemic hit just as our project was taking shape and we needed to make adjustments Ticketing which was a desirable feature before became an absolute priority and some of the elements that we implemented for the Supertree app came in handy to address social distancing Challenge 2 We needed to increase visitorship Solution We implemented a seamless modern ticketing experience that required no unnecessary interaction Dynamic ticket pricing was also proposed to regulate the surges and take advantage of the times of low occupancy Challenge 3 We needed to create remote experiences Solution As fewer people had a chance to see the gardens firsthand and experience them fully we wanted to keep Gardens accessible to everyone We expanded on the simulation features we ve built for the Supertree App and came up with a 360 VR experience Gardens by the Bay 9

Gardens by the Bay App Features Seamless ticketing experience Tickets can be bought through the app and scanned directly from the device It s quick easy and user friendly AR Wayfinding The app serves as a helpful guide providing navigation in the 100 hectare area of the park 360 Experience Flower Dome and Cloud Forest A high quality 360 degrees panorama lets the users have a chance to experience gorgeous surroundings of the garden s key attractions the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest For the first time visitors a small taste of what the garden has in store for them and for those who have already witnessed it a chance to revisit a happy memory Plant Scan and Identification It s always nice now what you are looking at Plant ID feature leverages Augmented Reality to support an educational aspect of the Gardens Machine Learning in Transport Logistiek 10

Go Supertree Go The beloved game we have created for the Supertree project of course was also included in the new app Friends of the Garden E Membership Plant enthusiasts and nature lovers can save on tickets and parking by purchasing a Friends of the Gardens membership through the App Dealing with traffic Physical and Digital To make sure the new app holds up to tens of thousand downloads and hundreds upon hundreds of users at a time we needed to make it stable and resilient Poor performance was one of the main problems of the old app that we identified and to avoid similar problems we decided to doubleand triple check everything As a start we mitigated the risk by having a mix of native and web based content making sure that only dynamic content has to be downloaded with the rest being installed along with the app We also carried out load and stress tests on the AWS infrastructure hosting the app as well as coverage tests throughout the Gardens to make sure the app functions well even in its remote corners Besides making sure the visitors have all the app s features always at the tips of their fingers we wanted to make sure their actual physical experience is as pleasant as possible We consulted interior designers landscapers and other subject matter experts to optimise wayfinding and pathfinding avoiding bottlenecks and crowds A mix of physical and digital experience that Monstarlab and Gardens by The Bay have created is there to guarantee that visiting the Gardens is more convenient pleasurable and enjoyable than ever Gardens by the Bay 11

For this reason even if you were lucky to visit the Gardens before make sure to do it again in the future to experience new ways how nature and technology can go hand in hand Focusing on the needs of the customers allowed us to achieve great results Monstarlab and Gardens by The Bay Letting the Garden Flourish Monstarlab and Gardens by The Bay have developed a long lasting symbiotic relationship We used technology to help people enjoy the beauty of nature and to bring them closer to the hard work of the horticulturists landscapers plant specialists engineers and other talented people that make Gardens by The Bay special While it s a pleasure to recognize business success and see the fruits of all the hard work put into the Gardens naturally there is always room to grow Gardens by the Bay is a living evolving project for the Monstarlab team Our teams are constantly engaged in finding new ways to make Gardens better and to stay ahead by always offering visitors something new and exciting Visitor Satisfaction from 86 in 2019 to 91 in 2021 Willingness to recommend the venue to friends and family Stayed at 88 for multiple years another acknowledgement of the high level of service the Gardens provide Visitorship 6 4 million people in 2020 8 1 million people in 2021 8 8 million people in 2022 Income Growth from 7 858 299 in 2021 to 11 413 524 in 2022 in ticketing income from 1 369 267 in 2021 to 2 994 901 in 2022 in memberships Source Gardens By The Bay Annual Report Project Timeline The garden doesn t grow overnight Monstarlab started with careful research of the Gardens By The Bay business case and studied the needs and pain points of the visitors After the first project was successfully launched Monstarlab and Gardens by The Bay expanded cooperation and continued on the road to digital transformation First discussions 2018 2019 Supertree Observatory App Delivered Dec 27 2019 Gardens by The Bay App Project awarded to Monstarlab 2020 Gardens by The Bay App launched 2020 2021 Gardens by the Bay 12

About Monstarlab Originally established in 2006 in Tokyo Japan Monstarlab has grown into a borderless digital consultancy with 29 global offices and powered by 1 200 strategists designers and engineers who excel at strategy and delivery Specialising in end to end enterprise level digital solutions the company has successfully delivered more than 2 200 projects including for world renowned corporations such as Alibaba Group Fujitsu and The Met The company has strong expertise in a number of sectors including health life science banking financial services and insurance BFSI wholesale retail and eCommerce as well as transportation Visit us at www monstar lab com Stay connected with us on LinkedIn Gardens by the Bay 13

Contact Us Max Oglesbee US EVP CEO Americas Email max oglesbee monstar lab com James Hall UK Managing Director UK Email james hall monstar lab com Martin Kahl DE Commercial Director DE Email martin kahl monstar lab com Tobias Lund Eskerod DK Country Commercial Director DK Email tobias lund monstar lab com Saad Kamal SG Managing Director SG Email saad kamal monstar lab com Gardens by the Bay 14