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Cogapp is delighted to announce that The British Museum has launched its new website (http://www.britishmuseum.org) after an intensive eighteen-month period of re-development that saw Cogapp win two competitive tenders to deliver both Information Architecture, and design work.

Cogapp won the competitive tender to develop the site Information Architecture (IA) in July 2006, and set about mapping user and business goals to establish a clear definition of the sites' key objectives. Working with user research partners, Web Usability Partnership, the Cogapp team conducted interviews with Museum stakeholders and with over forty users and also collected user feedback via an online survey.

Having developed the broader web strategy in collaboration with the client Cogapp carried out extensive user and stakeholder research, card sorting and iterative development of the IA, which included five rounds of user-testing. The outcomes of this phase of the project - a site hierarchy, metadata framework, IA strategy and wire-frame templates - provided a specification for the website's graphic design, also undertaken by Cogapp after winning a separate competitive tender for the work.

Engaging the visitor in a visual journey that celebrates the diversity and scale of the Museum’s collection, all levels of the website were seamlessly integrated through the use of simple object navigation tools and a well balanced, clear and inviting design. The British Museum brand was expanded for screen-based applications, and a comprehensive set of design guidelines were produced to provide inspiration and outline the character of the website. Cogapp’s technical team rose to the challenge of delivering visually rich HTML templates with level AA accessibility to the British Museum team for integration with its content management system.

Matthew Cock, Head of Web Group for the British Museum, commented:
“The Cogapp team developed a good understanding of our organizational objectives for the site, and were equally dedicated to developing a creative site with user goals as a focus, even when faced with challenging deadlines. The new website is proving a successful platform for a more integrated experience for users. And the architecture and design allows the Museum to develop exciting new ways to communicate with our many audiences online in the future.”

Cogapp’s Managing Director, Alex Morrison added:
“The British Museum has completely transformed its website and taken on board the lessons of user-centred design. Credit to the teams from the museum and Cogapp for having worked so well together. The results will deliver value for the British Museum's online visitors for many years to come.”