DES 3340 UX/UI Case Study - Detroit Historical Museum.
About the Project: My objective was to redesign and restructure Detroit Historical Museum's current website into a strong brand identity, while implementing a cohesive and stable hierarchy of information that flows seamlessly into its design.
The Problem: Detroit Historical Museum's current website has no definitive brand identity and is very vague in its hierarchical cohesion. The flow of information is sporadic and heavy, and there is no clear unity within any of its color pallets or its structural layouts. Information is too cluttered and there are too many buttons that reach to the same page.
The Solution: I set out to create a website that encapsulates the historical style of the museum's legacy, while also catering to an older, more sophisticated audience, such s middle-aged adults. I divided what information I thought was necessary into an orderly, more refined composition than what Detroit Historical Museum's current website has to offer.
Target Audience: My target audience ranges from older teenagers to middle-aged adults who are interested in Detroit's rich history. While this is a more minor audience in comparison to the multiple families that visit the museum with their children, I sought to create and inform an interest in Detriot's Historical Museum through a purely historical lens.
Sitemap
Brand Identity Design
The colors I chose reflect the vintage, historical feel of the museum, while also keeping a few modern aspects, something I hadn't planned for my original design. I was inspired to incorporate the timeless feel of the museum's legacy throughout its hundred years of history.
Jacques Francois was the typeface I used for both the headlines and body copies due to it's more sophisticated, vintage aesthetic. I chose Gelasio for the subheads due to it's contrasting and skinnier leading.
Wireframes
High-Fidelity Prototype
What I learned:
As this was my first experience in the realm of web design, and also the first time using Figma as a web design platform, this assignment was very new to me. A significant portion of time is dedicated in fabricating a website and if you wait until the last minute, that haste will be reflected in the resulting project.
Challenges and Follow Up Procedures:
Probably one of the most toughest challenges I faced when it came to this particular assignment was figuring out how to design my vision, and how to accomplish the interactives, given this was the first time I've made a functional website while having absolutely no prior web design experience in my career until now.
Managing my time between this and other projects was also a challenge for me, as I have a bad habit of procrastinating, though I was able to overcome this.
As a follow-up procedure, I would probably go back and redesign some imperfections and faults before I'd send it out for user-testing. Based on that feedback, I'd either go and revise, or try and send it out for publication.
THANK YOU!
