The Nor Collective
Project Description
Nor is a living and open commons for design in Canada. It is a not-for-profit, co-operative and collective effort to document, preserve, and question Canadian material culture. Digital archives are a critical component in preserving a nation’s history and culture. Currently, Canada does not have an archive that comprehensively documents and represents it’s vast history of design. Our client, Nor, is challenging the conventional notions of archives—from their structure and interactions to the type of content featured.
Role
User Research Lead
UI Designer
Collaborators
Estée Goel
Kelli Kuramoto
Adriana Poznanski
Nicole Xiang
Timeline
12 weeks
Project Goals
When we first met with our clients, they came to us with a broad goal: To improve the experience of Nor by challenging the idea of what a design archive should be. However, as the project evolved and through a deeper conversation, we broke down the goal into three components, selecting those we felt would have the largest impact:
The Process
Our team took on an iterative process when understanding and tackling this problem space. We utilized a wide range of HCI research and data analysis methods to develop the best design solutions for Nor.
The Nor Collection REIMAGINED
Keeping in mind our project goals, by the end of our journey we improved the experience of Nor by challenging the idea of what a design archive should be through our final solution:
The Home Page
At first glance, users are met with a playful animation that embodies the purpose of Nor with rotating themes and associated images to represent the breadth of the collection.
Searching Through the Archive
As a part of our design update, we introduced to the NOR Collection an advanced sorting and filtering feature that significantly enhances the navigation and accessibility of creative assets within the archive.
The Detail Page
To enhance user engagement with the archive, we expanded the work detail page by streamlining the layout, incorporating attribute tags essential to the work, and presenting creative viewpoints of related works across unique categories such as location, medium, and colour.
Serendipity Mode
While our previous features focused on visualizing works through various storytelling mechanisms, we realized our second prototype concept of dynamic discovery with Serendipity Mode, where chance guides users through the uncovering experience.
If you wish to learn more about this project, please reach out to me directly to access the slide deck.
