The River & Rowing Museum, UK launched their new and improved website in 2012. The redesign aimed to create a clean modern look to the site with better use of photography as well as creating a more engaging user experience. We incorporated new technologies using an open source content management system that would be easier for staff to use and allow for on-going upgrades. The previous site already had access to the collection through the Vernon browser, but this site was created in 2001 and had become disjointed from the main site due to previous redesigns and it was not very user friendly.
As part of the redesign the Museum aimed to create a seamless integration of the Vernon browser pages and make the collection more accessible by improving the search facility and including various browsing options. Collections management staff and the Museum’s web designers worked closely with the Vernon team to fulfil this brief. The Museum provided Vernon with an outline of what they wanted to be available on the browser, including subject specific lists that visitors could browse from the front page, a simple search facility, guest selectionas well as highlight tours and simplified landing pages with the option for more details. Vernon was able to find solutionsfor all of these requests as well as provide a site that incorporates the design of our main pages. Feedback about the new collection site has been entirely positive and the Museum is delighted with what has been achieved.
Eloise Chapman
Collections Manager
River & Rowing Museum
Vernon Systems develops innovative software for cultural organisations to manage and share their collections. We've been dedicated to the cultural sector since 1985.