Canadian Hispanic Latin American Virtual Museum
UX/UI Design | Content Strategy | Project Manager | Communications Lead
Project Summary
Over the course of a college semester, myself and four classmates were assigned the task of developing a digital design strategy for the Canadian Hispanic Latin American Virtual Museum’s website to enhance the user experience, and help the organization gain credibility to receive funding.
The mission of the Canadian Hispanic Latin American Virtual Museum (CHLAVM) centers around developing a digital environment for users to immerse themselves in and learn about the history and contributions of Hispanic culture in Canada. CHLAVM hopes to provide a strong user experience for people from the comfort of their own home, and feel as though they are immersed in the Hispanic community.
In the future, CHLAVM aims to develop a VR Dome on their website with interactive galleries for visitors to navigate through as if they were truly in a museum. However, the museum is currently relying on receiving donations (both monetary and the donation of content) and grants in order to make this dream home true.
Project Type
Academic
Role
Project Manager, Communications Lead, UX Researcher, UI Designer, Content Strategist
Timeline
10 weeks
Tools Used
Miro, Invision, Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma
Deliverables
Current State Analysis
Competitive Analysis
SWOT Analysis
User Journey Analysis
Personas
Recommendations Report
Wireframes
Interactive Prototype
THE CHALLENGE
Lack of credibility due to missing content, structure, and interaction
THE SOLUTION
Introduce a new information architecture and embrace a sense of community
CHLAVM aims to share a variety of information and topics on their website to connect the user to the culture and history of the Hispanic-Canadian community. However, the current website lacks content, making the interaction between the system and the user not engaging. Additionally, the navigational structure of the website is confusing, and can easily make users feel lost and want to leave the site.
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The CHLAVM website should be educational, engaging, and inspirational to showcase the contributions of the Hispanic-Canadian community. The website must look more legitimate in order for the organization to receive funding or donations.
How might we engage users and inspire visitors to recognize and support CHLAVM by providing an enhanced user experience and content strategy that will increase the user's interest and encourage them to return to the site and consider making a donation?
USER RESEARCH FINDINGS
A user research survey was conducted both virtually and in-person to better understand our users needs. We specifically targeted students, people in the Hispanic community, and those who are retired and have more leisure time.
Our questions were broken into 6 categories: Personal Demographics, Technology Level, Online Store, Donations, Engagement, and User Behaviour.
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The results from the user research survey concluded the following:
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People are more willing to donate to a charity if they feel emotionally connected to the issue
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The majority of people have experience using VR technology
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Since the COVID pandemic, some people still fear going to crowded places
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People will avoid going to museums due to high prices, or lack of interest
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Immersive exhibitions are becoming more popular
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People prefer going to physical museums with someone
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TikTok, Instagram, Youtube, blogs, and News applications are the most common sources of information when it comes to finding out about upcoming events or learning about new experiences
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When learning about a new culture, people are most interested in the history, food, notable people and traditions
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PERSONAS
UX THEME
Immersion in Community
The UX Theme is based on the following sub-themes:
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Education
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Sense of community
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Immersion in culture
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Appreciating history
VOICE & TONE
Educational, but not boring
CHLAVM wants to educate Canadians about Hispanic-Latin America's history and culture, but it needs to be done in a way that is engaging and catches the users attention.
Welcoming, but not overbearing
The teaching of Hispanic-Latin culture should be bold and enthusiastic, but not overwhelming for the user. ​
Innovating, but not complicated
The idea of using VR technology to present Hispanic-Latin American culture is innovative and exciting, but must be easy to navigate for all users with varying technological capabilities.
Inspirational, but not over-the-top
The storytelling voice is inspirational, but not exaggerated.
CONTENT AUDIT & CURRENT STATE ANALYSIS
Main Findings
01.
The navigation of the website is confusing, and there is no clear route of links, so users are likely to get lost on the website.
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02.
The website has a wealth of topics, however they are not presented in a systematic structure.
03.
Many pages of the website could be combined (i.e. Fashion and Designers), while others are combined but have separate navigational buttons in the menu.
04.
The website is still under construction, and many pages only have headings and lack content. This does not attract people or generate funds.
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05.
There is no online donation page on the website, either for funds or content.
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06.
The majority of information is presented in plain text and lacks visual imagery to engage users.
SITE MAP / INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
USER JOURNEY'S
