In most historical society and museum websites, you will find these sections, which essentially encompass the most critical elements of these types of sites. They showcase the content and activities, offer educational resources, and encourage donations or other forms of support to sustain the organization.
Almost all of these websites prominently display a donation section at the end of various pages as a reminder for visitors to support the organization.
CHSNE does not have its own physical space for exhibitions. Visits must be arranged in advance through email with the volunteers, which is different from other historical societies and museums. As a result, I will place more focus on enhancing the online exhibition experience, and change the "Plan a visit" option to a "Contact us" section.
This project was my first web design UX project (yay! 🥳), and it was a challenging but ultimately rewarding journey. I gained so much experience along the way, and here are a few things I learned:
1. Iteration and testing are designer's good friends.
At the start of the project, I conducted extensive research and exploration to find the best possible solution for my main user group, the "Explorers." I explored many different design options and ended up restarting the project over three times to ensure that every aspect of the website was designed with intention. However, iterating on my own was not enough, user testing also provided me with additional insights that helped me perfect the project from the user's perspective.
2. Clear documentation makes life a lot easier.
While designing in Figma, I made it a habit to clearly name each component and group and arrange them in a logical design order. I also made sure that padding and other formatting were consistent throughout the project. This somewhat compulsive habit really saved me a lot of time during the design process, as well as during feedback and presentations to my professor as I didn't have to spend extra time searching for things like layers.
3. Design the website with text copies ready.
It is important to use real copy instead of placeholder text because placeholder text can be easily adjusted to fit the design, whereas real copy often has a fixed length. Designing with placeholder text may result in having to completely redo the design to accommodate the actual copy. To save time and effort, it is best to communicate with stakeholders and obtain website content in advance to use as a basis for design.