Jim Thorpe Architecture Archive

JIM THORPE ARCHITECTURAL ARCHIVE

UX/UI WEBSITE CONCEPT

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

UX CAPSTONE COURSERA

MY ROLE : CONCEPT, WIREFRAMES, PROTOTYPE

DURATION : 6 WEEKS

DESKTOP

ONLINE ARCHIVE

DESIGN BRIEF

TARGET USERS

Primary Users :

People who need information on the town for research or people in town wanting information on different places in town.

Secondary Users :

People interested in Jim Thorpe’s history or those interested in visiting the town and looking for places to stop during their stay.

DESIGN PROBLEM

Jim Thorpe is a small town in Eastern Pennsylvania that is known for its history, festivals and scenery. As you walk through town you can see a variety of beautiful architecture and details. But the only way to gather architectural information on buildings in the area as of right now is to physically go to the town and shift through books in the local library. There are tours available for specific buildings, not all and lack in architectural information and focus more on historical events or people. The information online for buildings is limited and much like the local tours goes more into the history of each of the buildings. The only architectural details about buildings in the area I could find were a series of watercolors created by an architect that is available for purchase at the local library. The archive that is in town only has information such as birth certificates, deeds, death certificates, etc.

Without an architectural archive of the town structures, those not kept in tack could be lost in time or not properly restored due to the lack of architectural records. This could mean that the details of the town could be completely lost years from now. When it comes to the architectural integrity of the town, those preserving it need to spend months to find all of the details they need to keep the integrity of the town's structures. Those interested in the architecture of the town could miss a series of details due to the lack of information they can do ahead of time online.

OVERVIEW

Those interested or in need of architectural information of structures in town need to physically go to each building or need to go to the library there to spend hours shifting through books to find the information they need or not even find what they are looking for. The tours tend to focus on the history of each building and tend to focus on the building's history more so than the architecture. So those interested or in need of the information may need to do even more outside research. I would like to focus on creating an online architectural archive that can go into the details of the building rather than just the history. I think this could be greatly beneficial to researchers and architectural preservationists as well as those just wanting to learn more on the topic.

SYSTEM GOALS

By creating an architectural archive I hope to give people that live in town and those interested in Jim Thorpe outside of the area a place where they are able to research the rich architectural history there. This platform would give access to people now and into the future to know how structures look in the past and present years from now. I’m hoping that the architectural history can be preserved in this online archive and continue to be updated as time goes on for future generations. I feel that these structures deserve to be appreciated long after they are gone to remind people of architecture of the past and its charm and characteristics. I believe that one should be able to appreciate these structures from wherever they are and on a platform that can be upgraded as technology advances and not rely on books that deteriorate in age.

INTERVIEW STRATEGY

NEEDS FINDING STUDY PLAN

HIGH-LEVEL STUDY GOALS

The study goal is to better understand how user’s interested in Jim Thorpe’s architectural history find
information on buildings in the area. I’m interested in if users are able to find the information on an online
resource or if they have to branch out and call for a lot of the information. I’m also eager to see how they are finding this information now and how they navigate the web to find the information.

KEY QUESTIONS

How are people finding information on Jim Thorpe’s architecture?
How long are people spending searching for bits of information?
What do people struggle with when looking for this information?
What types of information on buildings in the area effect the way they choose to search for said
information?

RECRUITING CRITERIA & PLANS

CRITERIA

Anyone interested in architecture or has a background in architectural research.
Students in the architectural preservation field/ architectural researcher.
Local resident of Jim Thorpe that wants to learn more about their town.

STRATEGY

I plan to make a survey to send out to local architecture groups and forums to find people who meet the criteria and are interested in surveying. I will also leave information at places like the local library there, on Jim Thorpe pages such as their Facebook page, community page, etc. to find locals interested in the architecture there. I’m planning on asking some research technique questions in my survey to see how people initiate research and what they find difficult in the research process when it comes to architectural research.

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

How are people acquiring information about Jim Thorpe’s existing architecture? What problems or limits
are people acquiring when obtaining this information and how can the process be improved?

INTERVIEW SCRIPT

INTERVIEW FINDINGS

NEEDS FINDINGS REPORT

This study focused on how people are currently partaking in architectural research and how an architectural archive would be beneficial for the town of Jim Thorpe. Currently the town is filled with beautiful pieces of architecture but as of right now the only documentation for these buildings are located at the specific location or by guides who give tours of the structures. Interviews were conducted and reviewed to see how both people in the architecture field as well as those who love Jim Thorpe’s history could benefit from this site and how to proceed in its structure. These interviews helped me to understand current user needs and the practices of my target user groups. This is the following information I was able to gather through these interviews:

USER NEEDS

Architectural archives of information are a great aid in the preservation and construction process when it comes to towns with a lot of history.
People seem to be very interested in the buildings around town but don’t have a collective place to learn more about it.
An architectural history collective would be helpful to both residents and tourists.
Architectural preservation of the existing buildings in town is important to residents of Jim Thorpe.

USER'S CURRENT PRACTICES

Those interested in the town’s architecture take tours set up by locals for specific buildings but not all buildings have guided tours.
Most information on the town’s architecture is collected online through each building's website.
Most information people are able to collect is historical events that happened in the building rather than specific information on the building.
The only book on the towns architectural information as of right now is a collection of watercolors done by an architect, Ed Benjamin, that is available for purchase at the local library.

FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

The system must be easy to use for both those experienced in architectural knowledge as well as for locals interested in the topic.
The system should have a collaborative space where people can post upcoming history events or gatherings.
There should be a place where people can leave bits of information or newly discovered information.
A self guided tour section could be beneficial for those visiting the town and looking forward to the interesting architecture there.

CONSTRAINTS

The system should be accessible to the public, and should not be overly complicated to new users.
The system needs someone to check in to see if anyone submitted new information frequently enough so information is not outdated.
Since the public can interact on the site to notify users of updates it needs to be monitored so no one takes advantage of the public platform.
The system must be accessible from both a computer and a mobile device.

PERSONAS & SCENARIOS

USER PERSONAS

SOPHIE ROBERTSON

Age : 27
Occupation : Architecture Preservationist
Location : Philadelphia, PA
Life Stage : Been in their career a few years

MOTIVATORS :

Professional Success
Make research faster for projects.
Not have to rely on physical copies for research and have online resources.
Have access to information at all times.
Wants an online resource they can easily shift through rather than spending extensive time in an archive.

CONTSTRAINTS :

Needs a quick and reliable app that contains a lot of information.
High Technical Literacy
Needing to confirm information with clients.
Clients could give conflicting information to archive research.

WENDELL LOGAN

Age : 62
Occupation : Retired
Location : Jim Thorpe, PA
Life Stage : Enjoying Retirement

MOTIVATORS :

Exploring a new area of research.
Wants to explore the town he retired in.
Wants to get involved in his new community.
They want to be able to show his family around town when they visit.

CONTSTRAINTS :

Mediocre Technical Literacy
Has a harder time learning new things.
Prefers finding information through a book, through tours rather than online.

SCENARIOS

SCENARIO 1

Sophie is beginning her new project in the small town of Jim Thorpe. As she arrives she notices the small down charm and beautiful details in the town's architecture. Her client wants to bring the exterior of the home back to its original condition. The home is painted a modern white and looks like some of the original details were removed. Sophie sees that the hours at the local archive are limited this week and can’t spend a lot of time there with her schedule. She goes online and notices that Jim Thorpe has an online archive with information, photos and videos of the town's architectural history. She searches the address of the home and is able to find photos of the street that include photos of the home. She notices the home originally had an ornate cornice and different shutters than the home has now as well as a medallion over the front door. She also finds a detailed passage about the street describing the home's colors. She brings the information she found about the home to the client and it turns out the medallion was in the basement and they had never known why it was there. She is looking forward to the project and is excited she was able to find this information for her client with such ease.

SCENARIO 2

Wendell has recently retired after working in the engineering field for 35 years. He and his partner had visited the town during a film festival and completely fell in love with it. They knew from that time they would love to retire there one day. He had always had a love for architecture and was interested in learning more about the town. He went to the local library where they told him about the self guided tour available through the town’s online archive. He was thrilled that he was able to print the tour out at home even though it was available on his phone. He took his partner around town and they were able to appreciate the architecture around them and also learn a lot about the town's history. They were looking forward to showing their family around on their next visit. When they got back home they were able to see what tours were available for the Asa Packer Mansion so they could go some time this week. They both are looking forward to their time at Jim Thorpe and are embracing their new surroundings.

STORYBOARDS

WIREFRAMES

MICRO-USABILITY TEST PLAN

MICROUSABILITY TEST PLAN

MID-FI PROTOTYPE

WEBSITE PROTOTYPE

MID-FI PROTOTYPE

After evaluating the feedback I had received from my wire frame of my original architecture archive I
went through and updated and added the following :

Create a logo for the architecture archive
How the pages interact with one another
The language I was using for certain aspects of the pages
Create menus for each of the pages

HEURISTIC EVALUATION

UX REPORT

FINAL PROTOTYPE & REPORT

UX REPORT

UI DESIGN

LOOK & FEEL

OVERALL CONCEPT

EASY TO NAVIGATE, PROFESSIONAL, HISTORIC

After creating the site I realized that the layout was there and the site was functional but looked very outdated and not very appealing. I challenged myself to go back and update the website to look more professional.

COLOR & TYPOGRAPGHY

COLOR PALETTE

#BDAA6F

#EBCC9C

#563D2A

#C74748

#E4A37F

#D5A565

TYPOGRAPHY

WIREFRAMES

FINAL PROTOTYPE

DESKTOP DESIGN

OTHER WORKS

TREK

JAWNS @ DAWN

HEART THROB