Designing the Jackie Robinson Museum Website
Just two months before the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum in New York City, the foundation needed a website that befit its mission to inspire and challenge people around the ideals embodied in the legacy of its namesake.
My Role
On a team of three designers and one developer, I served as project lead and drove site strategy, information architecture, and content strategy.
The Client
Established in 1973 by Rachel Robinson to perpetuate the memory of her husband, the Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) administers one of the nation’s premier scholarship and leadership development programs for minority college students.
Duration
A 7-week freelance project with agency Bartley & Dick.
Overview
The Challenge
Spark Dialog. Attract Visitors.
Nearly 15 years in the making, the Jackie Robinson Museum opened in New York in July 2022. Just two months before the museum opened its doors, I was asked to lead the digital strategy, IA, and content development for the museum website.
Apart from hosting transactional tasks like ticketing and membership, the client also wanted the website to reflect the aesthetic and emotion of the museum experience—one that befit the legend of the man himself: #42.
Problem Statement: How might we provide NY residents and tourists with the information and inspiration to make visiting the museum easy, fun and eye-opening.
The Solution
A Mobile-Ready Guide
There’s nothing worse than waiting for content to load when you’re lost in the big city. We designed a site to assist a wide range of users plan their trip, buy tickets, explore resources, and more—even while museum-hopping in Manhattan.
The Outcome
A Foundation to Build On
In order to hit our ambitious deadline, we focused on critical flows and key pages so that users will be able to perform the most important actions on day one. We also made sure to create infrastructure that can host future content, such as educational resources, digital collections and more. We’re currently preparing our final design for handoff to development.
Full list of deliverables: Landscape analysis, site map, content strategy, visual design system, and wireframes.
Let’s get into it
Research
Speed and Focus
To make the most of our timeline, we had to gain insights quickly and decisively. Rather than skipping research all together, I proposed methods that required minimal time and budget.
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Competitive Analysis
We reviewed the websites of four other museums to understand conventions and find inspiration. We found most museum websites use common navigation patterns, and the best ones strategically order content to emphasize the most important information.
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Secondary Research
To gather insights, I reviewed research published by Pew, Google, marketing pubs, and more. I learned that, above all else, the site needs to be functional so the user can easily perform key actions, but convey the essence of the museum through visual design, copy and interactions.
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Stakeholder Interviews
We hosted video interviews with three JRF stakeholders. Our discovery revealed that, in addition to museum visitors, the website needed to empower students and scholars who come to the foundation with research queries. It’s also important to convey Jackie’s impact beyond baseball.
The User
Learners of All Ages
Though the museum hopes to spark dialog and reflection among people of all ages and backgrounds, our client identified three priority audiences to focus on:
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Sports Fans
Recently published research on sports fan attitudes and behaviors suggests this audience varies widely, but team attachment can be a bonding force. This group also embraces digital experiences as consumers of sports entertainment.
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People of Color
Social media is widely used by Black Americans with 81% engaging on a smartphone. According to Pew, Black and Hispanic adults are more likely to depend on mobile connectivity and are less likely than White adults to have high-speed internet.
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Young People
It’s no secret that Gen Z and Millennial users are mobile natives and expect digital experiences to just work. They also expect institutions like the Jackie Robinson to have a clear point of view on cultural and political issues.
Ideation
Information Architecture
Keep it Familiar and Actionable
I predict most visitors will be exploring several other New York cultural sites in addition to the Jackie Robinson museum. Therefore, I used common organization and labeling patterns toe help users can easily transition from one website to another. Providing educational resources will be important in the long-term, but we decided to take a phased approach and focus on in-person visitors for launch.
Design Solutions
Mobile and Welcoming
Lightweight Design
We used accordions, module tabs, and ‘load more’ buttons to help pages load faster on mobile and show information in digestible amounts so users don’t get overwhelmed.
User Engagement
Creating ways for users to engage and leave their mark was a priority for the client. We proposed a user-generated social media gallery where visitors could tag the museum to share photos, artifacts and stories.
Action-Based Menu
We chose action-oriented labels in primary navigation because most users will visit the site to perform certain tasks such as purchasing tickets or exploring resources. This also follows patterns found on other museum websites.
A Work in Progress
Next Steps
Keeping Our Eye on the Ball
We are in the process of getting final approval on visual design direction and website copy before moving wireframes into high-fidelity prototypes. To stay on track with our timeline, we will be conducting usability in tandem with early-stage development.
Check back for more updates and learnings as this project advances!