The Metropolitan Museum of Art website had not had a redesign since 2000. The home page inevitably became stale and dated in a society where online presence is becoming essential. The site featured a splash page requiring additional clicks from the user to reach content. It also had small static images, namely special exhibition posters originally designed for print that were then re-sized to smaller web versions and icons. To the web visitor, these adapted versions lacked clear meaning. Also, small text placed against a dark background caused poor readability. Since the museum is currently involved in a complete redesign of their website, a new home page was needed to ease the transition from the old design to the new design, for both museum employees and visitors.
With the removal of the splash page, this interim home page is the first thing people see when they come to the site. Now, large banner images featuring a current special exhibition rotate in an unobtrusive slideshow. Simple, logical controls allow the user to pause on and page through different banners. Dynamic content from the Museum’s online publication, Now at the Met, is displayed beneath the banner. Since new articles are published on a regular basis, a frequent visitor will be able to see what’s new at the Museum since the last time they visited. Visiting hours and information are clearly displayed, eliminating the unnecessary search for basic content. Four large promotional boxes with photographs replace the former iconography. These photographs draw the visitor’s eye and a mouse-over box further informs them about where a click will take them. The overall coloring of the page is lighter and the text is black on white. This allows the user to focus on the content of the page instead of the bold colors of the former page.
The new home page is much more visually interesting and improves the communication of pertinent information while remaining true to the rest of the website.
Note: As of September 26, 2011, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has launched a newer website.
