Needs Analysis

Some museums have wonderful websites, while others could use some work. But, of course, no website is perfect. There is always some aspect that makes navigation difficult for one user or another. I have been studying various museums' websites and am starting to pick out what I feel are the best and most user friendly features. I am trying to replicate these features in a webpage. I know my page will have problems, too, but, overall, I think simplicity is key.

For bigger museums, like the Met or a museum specializing in technology (in other words, museums with a large user group), a fancy website with interactive features could be useful, if done well. However, I see my "museum" as small and specialized. It's not a local museum, but it's also not the Louvre. I don't think I need to have any interactive features to make it interesting. I think the users going to my museum would go because they like craftwork, and therefore the emphasis will be on the crafts themselves. That is, after all, what the users would probably be interested in.

The site will include digitized images of my grandfather's carvings with explanations. Also, my grandfather wrote a book a few years back on his carvings, and I plan to include it in the exhibit in some way.

Finally, I am combining this project with my final project for cataloging. Therefore, some of the birds will have metadata. (I am currently considering EAD, VRA core 3.0 categories, and CDWA to catalog them.)