Maria Lorena Lehman is an architectural designer and author who writes on a blog called Sensing Architecture. I do enjoy her articles, and I am always taken (but not surprised) by the parallels between great architecture and great web design. In a recent post, Lehman outlined the Top 10 Tips to Great Museum Exhibit Design. Each of her points, it seemed, were talking about web design with little need to change nary a word. Here is the list verbatim.

1. Motivate Visitors: Target an audience — the general public and/or specific communities
2. Focus Content: Filter content so visitors are not bombarded with information overload
3. Immersion: Engage visitors within a “story”
4. Modularity: Present smaller themes instead of one larger complex topic
5. Skimmability: Information should be easy to take in because visitors are often standing and/or have different levels of education
6. Patterns: Incorporate traffic/circulation patterns, exhibit sequence patterns and pre-existing framework patterns (architectural elements)
7. Capture Curiosity: Use storytelling techniques to engage visitors
8. Interaction: Give visitors a “fun” experience by tapping into their emotion
9. Integrate Technology: Technology should enhance visitor’s experience, not detract from ii.
10. Layer Content: Present information in a hierarchical manner

As you can see, this is incredible advice for anyone creating or running a web site. I think that the arts have a lot of overlap in their lessons, and this is just one example. Next time you want some guidance about your site, maybe you should step away from your computer and head to your nearest gallery or art museum. The answer may be there.

| Category Web & Tech