.png)
Improving the interface and Information Architecture (IA) of the children’s museum site so users can access content they need with more ease.
The Pittsburgh Children's Museum website was difficult to navigate and find information on due to the high number of pages and inconsistent footer content.
For the sake of this class project, user research was “already conducted” (i.e. given) by professors and summarized in the form of the following five user archetypes:
Parents who visit website to plan a visit. Want to know museum’s hours, ticket prices, current exhibits, events, and any special considerations.
Teachers or educators looking for field trip opportunities, educational resources, and workshops.
Children who access the website, possibly alongside parents, to see what they can look forward to.
Individuals or families who are members of the museum and want to keep abreast of member benefits, events, and news.
Parents who recently moved to Pittsburgh or are visiting and are looking for kid-friendly activities/venues.
How might we redesign the information architecture and page layout of the Children’s Museum website such that various types of users are able to access the content they need with more ease?
Prior to starting any wireframes, I started looking at existing museum websites and website designs. This is always one of my favorite steps because I love gaining inspiration from other designers (it’s very motivating to see great designs!). My main purpose in this step, however, is to gain an idea of existing conventions for websites of similar content, and also to start brainstorming what theme (typeface styles, color combinations, etc.) I might want to use in my own work.
In the content model, I focused on solely where to place information.
For this process, I wanted to make sure I was still addressing user needs, so I referred back to the user archetypes and Jobs to be Done in order to figure out what content sections should be included in the homepage.
I then structured that information in order of priority. In order to do this, I asked myself the following questions:
Using the content model as a guide and referring back to my design research, I sketched out wireframes for my site. I selected and combined the parts I liked from the design inspirations for use in my design. I have included the design inspirations side-by-side to demonstrate this.
While working on the initial draft, typeface and color choices were made to match the existing Museumlab site.
I also explored different variations of elements, such as the event spotlight in a more traditional carousel format. (I decided against the carousel because it was important to display multiple events at once to capture the user’s attention, and because the original grid design look best with the boxy theme and the Museumlab website.)
Although there existed a section in the “more opportunities” for children at home, it wasn’t very noticeable, especially for young children who might only look for “cool pictures.” This did not meet the need of engaging visuals that build anticipation for the "Curious Kid" user archetype.
Added an interactive “explore exhibits” section focusing on eye-catching images.
The first section of the home page, despite promoting “a day of fun” at the museum, had an image that did not match the energy of the text.
Replaced section image to dynamic photograph of a kid having fun!
Through this project, I learned how to create interfaces that truly address user needs from multiple angles, mainly:
My biggest takeaway from the design process was:
