The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
At Citrus Studios, we faced a significant task – the complete overhaul of The Huntington’s digital presence. The Huntington, a revered institution, encompasses an impressive library, art museum, and botanical gardens.
Our objective was to design a website that would effectively showcase these facets while remaining user-friendly for a diverse group of users, including scholars, educators, general visitors, and contributors.
With over 800,000 visitors each year and nearly 50,000 member households, the new website needed to be robust and scalable while maintaining a user-friendly design. It was crucial that the site could efficiently manage a variety of needs, from browsing online exhibits and scheduling events to submitting fellowship applications and accessing educational resources.
Our Approach
The journey started with an in-depth discovery phase, aiming to understand The Huntington’s various digital audiences’ needs. We relied on surveys, user journey maps, persona development, and thorough data analysis to guide our design process.
Our insights underscored the need for an innovative approach to present the vast collections and enhance their accessibility to both physical and digital users. We also recognized the need to foreground The Huntington’s educational programs, fellowships, and events to stimulate increased user engagement.
Given the diversity of the audience, our focus was on crafting a design that was both responsive and intuitive, providing a seamless user experience across multiple devices.
Our Solution
The result was a dynamic, immersive website that truly encapsulates The Huntington’s identity and mission. The website’s homepage features a rotating showcase spotlighting the library’s collections, current exhibitions, and upcoming events, offering visitors a continuous stream of fresh and engaging content.
We incorporated a comprehensive search function, enabling users to navigate the collections and educational resources effectively. Furthermore, to improve the planning of in-person visits, we integrated interactive maps of the gardens and museum spaces.
In addition to these, we developed an easy-to-use interface for the fellowship application process, catering to The Huntington’s ambitious scholars. For donors, a dedicated section with detailed information on donation options and benefits was created, backed up by a secure and simple donation process. And not to forget the sizable membership, a special members’ portal was designed where they can manage their profiles, keep track of their membership benefits, and get updates on exclusive member events.
The Impact
The success of our redesign effort was reflected in the significant uptick in user engagement, decreased bounce rates, and increased time spent on the website.
The user-friendly navigation led to an increase in fellowship applications and member registrations. We also saw a rise in online donations, thanks to the easy and secure donation process we implemented.
Conclusion
Our work successfully condensed the essence of The Huntington into its digital presence, allowing their world-class resources to reach even further. We are proud to have played a part in enabling The Huntington to continue inspiring creativity, fostering learning, and offering transformative experiences to a global audience in the digital realm, much as they do within their physical space.
Digital presence overhaul. For a diverse, yet unified, digital experience.