IDbGlam

UX Research • Redesign

Reimagining Cultural Discovery:
The IMDb for the GLAM community

Designing a database to help connect GLAM enthusiasts and professionals and provide a new way to discover cultural institutions

Team

Merlyn · Chu · Joanne

My Role

UX Research, UX Design

Tools & Method

Usability Testing · User Interviews · Figma

Timeline

6 weeks

Project overview

The Brief

IDbGLAM is a startup, inspired by IMDb, that connects galleries, libraries, archives, and museums into a shared platform for collaboration, learning, and cultural discovery.

Our client's goal was to create a virtual hub for cultural and GLAM enthusiasts, and providing ways for professionals and institutions to connect and collaborate. The platform has many features designed to serve diverse audiences, from institutions to educators, GLAM enthusiasts, and the general public.

Defining the problem & Scope

Initial Client Meeting

After our initial meeting with our client, we identified target users and key goals of the platform. We decided to focus on the Explore Page and Add Listings features. As the main entry point to the website, improving the Explore Page was especially important for attracting new visitors and supporting the platform’s growth.
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How Might We

How might we improve user engagement with IDbGLAM’s platform, specifically through its Explore feature?

Where We Landed

Our Redesign

SCROLL TO Interact with live prototype ⤵

Our Timeline & Process

How did we get here?
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Timeline

6
Weeks

User Research + Design + Iterations

User Research

9
Participants

Moderated Usability Testing + User Interviews

Design Iterations

3
ITERATIONS

Design iterations backed by user research testing

Research Methods

Informing Our Designs

For this redesign, we followed a research - led iterative design process that included three targeted rounds of usability testing and design iterations.

We developed usability scripts, questionnaires, and consent forms, then recruited participants for the study based on these demographics:

Group 1: Students interested in museums, libraries, galleries, and archives

Group 2: Professionals working in the GLAM sector, preferably with marketing knowledge

Moderated Usability Testing

We conducted usability testing of the original platform to collect data to support our redesigns.

User Interviews with GLAM Enthusiasts

We spoke to GLAM enthusiasts and students interested in museums, libraries, galleries, and archives

User Interviews with GLAM Professionals

We spoke to two professionals working within the GLAM sector, to gain industry perspective

Competitive Market Research

We researched the following competitor websites:Europeana Museums of the World Google Arts & Culture

Key Findings

What Did Our Research Reveal?

Problem 1

Poor content organization causing information overload

Problem 2

"Add Listing" feature was confusing and failed to engage target users

Problem 3

Users found website outdated and lacking visual appeal

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OUR Recommendation

Simplify design, focus on content, and improve key user flows

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OUR Recommendation

Condense multiple user flows to a single form to enhance efficiency

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OUR Recommendation

Modernize visual design to elevate brand and increase trust

Finding 01

Users were overwhelmed by poor content organization and cluttered, moving content on the Explore Page:

Many participants were overwhelmed by the amount of content and moving elements on the screen, and expressed confusion about the key features presented on the page.
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✦

OUR redesign

We simplified the design of the Explore Page to focus more on content and discovery

• We introduced better visual heirarchy and sections to improve page flow
• Added filters for searching based on institution types
• Location-based suggestions for nearby institutions
• Created a section for featured exhibitions

Finding 02

"Add Listing Page" was confusing and failed to engage target users:

Participants were confused and struggled to understand their purpose of this page. Although an explanatory video was provided, none of the participants chose to watch it.

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OUR redesign

We reduced friction in the for "Add a Listing" feature

• We restuctured the "Add a listing" flow to be more streamlined and approachable for new users and combined two similar forms into one streamlined flow
• Replaced technical jargon in form labels with clear, approachable language
• Introduced a side tab and expandable fields for easy navigation between sections of the form

Finding 03

Users found website outdated, which resulted in distrust:

Many users expressed the website looked outdated, which they associated with unreliablility. As a result, they did not trust the website enough to want to engage with the content.

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OUR redesign

We improved the visual design of the website, to make it more modern and engaging

Before

After

Outcome

Our team presented our redesigns to the Founder of IDbGlam, who was impressed with our work and expressed appreciation for our contributions to this project.

"I can see the effort you’ve all put into this, and I truly appreciate the time and dedication. It’s better than I expected, and it feels great to know others see its value too. I’m really satisfied with how it’s turned out!"

Thanks for reading :)