Museums Sheffield website design

Museums Sheffield are responsible for all Sheffield's publicly-owned museums - Weston Park, Millennium Galleries, Graves Gallery and Bishops' House. Their previous online presence was dated and fragmented, requiring a string of separate systems to manage website content, events, and blogging. And, at a time when budgets are being squeezed, their management decided a more effective online presence would help reduce marketing costs.  

After winning a competitive pitch, we went back to basics: auditing existing content, organising it, creating user personas and planning user journeys in order to make the site as effective as possible. The organisation already has a strong visual identity, so the site was designed to feel a part of this, without overwhelming the content itself (it is, after all a visual arts organisation). Content was entirely rewritten to bring it up to date, and social media (such as Flickr images relevant to a particular event or exhibition) integrated into the site. The database of the Museums' collections was also integrated into the site. A great deal of care was taken to ensure all pages were standards compliant and accessible.

Everything was pulled together with a user-friendly administration system, allowing all members of staff to edit content directly relevant to their areas of expertise. 

In addition, we launched an online shop, selling merchandise and gifts based on local artists and the museums' exhibitions - and importantly generating additional revenue by taking donations and selling friends' membership.