Database Optmimization and design of UI for Smithsonian NMNH

Aim: To develop a web interface for the 'World of Map' project and reduce the time of search query.

Duration: 8 days (Spring 2010 | Washington DC, US)

Mentor: Jim Harle

Methods Used: Personal Interviews, Prototyping,Interface/Visual Design, Database Optimization, Cataloging, Collection, Referencing, Information Architecture, Task Flow Conception, Heuristic Evaluation, Validation, Wirefram Modeling.

Project Brief: There are over 30, 000 maps in various research Departments of the National Museum of Natural History dating from the 1830s to the present. A project has been underway to organize the maps, create images of them and enter data about them into a database. This project, 'World of Maps', was going to be made public by May, 2010. So a web interface was required that would meet the template requirements of the Smithsonian UI patterns. Along with the interface, it was important to optimize the database entries and reduce the search query time considerably.

Goals and Learnings:

• Optimizing the database storing around 30000 maps
• Introducing features that will improvise the usage of intranet map catalog website
• Making the collection of maps public through web interface
• Learning and practicing map cataloging and archiving
• developing and designing intranet web template and UI patterns for the Botany department
• scanning and storing rare and delicate maps, of great importance

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Convert presently naive and crude web interface into a professional looking, template based UI for Smithsonian Intranet website
• Developing Information Architecture of the website
• Studied and designed Navigation pattern and Task flow
• Optimize the database, for quick display of search query
• To Work on the auto-suggest module of the database

The image below shows the original UI used by the researchers for map search.

Deliverables: A web site with following modificaitons and features was deleiverd.

• Introduced horizontal navigation bar in the website
• slice and dice of the features to fit them into the optimum navigation flow
• making the task flow intuitive
• restructuring the search results page, so as to display the results with images in a structure way
• checking the cross-browser compatibility of the website
• improving the advanced suggest feature

Note: the above image has been blurred due to copyright and IPR constrains.