As a trained art historian I browse museum websites on a regular basis and I’ve seen the quality of museum’s web presence improve dramatically over the past few years. I’ve come across two websites lately that impressed me with their design and functionality:

The Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam is located in the house where Anne Frank’s family went into hiding. In April 2010, at the museum’s 50th anniversary, a new website was launched including a The Secret Annex, an interactive Flash walkthrough through the hidden annex, which was a winner at the Webby Awards 2011. The website – built in a EPiServer CMS – has attracted 2.2 million visits in its first year, and visitors spent an impressive 17 minutes average time on site. Here’s why:

• Fully multilingual content (six languages)
• User defined content accessible through prominent header links (teachers, students)
• A very good mobile version
• Bright, clean template design with a clear navigation
• A nice feature is the citing from Anne’s diary each day from the same calendar day
• A timeline microsite filled with historical information, personal documents and videos about the Frank family
• A microsite with a flash walktrough through the hidden annex which displays the house now and during occupation
• Prominent social media integration

Another fine example is the Victoria and Albert Museum’s website, which launched a complete redesign in May 2011 powered by Squiz Matrix. The website received over 24.9 million visits in a year between 2010/2011, ranking as 2nd most visited museum and gallery website in the UK and 7th most visited in the world. It’s a rich portal to V&A’s vast collection:

• Clear layout with visually attractive imagery
• Intelligent site search by subject, period & style, activities to display tailored content
• An easy to use events filter with integrated ticket booking system
• Display of recently viewed pages, which is useful when browsing through such a depth of information
• High quality interviews and behind-the-scenes footage throughout the site
• A Search the collections microsite which contains a database of one million objects, with open API, and an image ordering system
• A channel microsite that holds a vast video collection, again with an intelligent filter system
• An extensive shop microsite

Both websites make it an enjoyable online experience by offering intuitive navigation and a clean, visually appealing design. Anne Frank Museum’s challenge is to make the depth of documentation about Anne’s personal story and the historical context of the third Reich accessible to a worldwide audience of all ages. The multilingual content, the timeline, the 3D walkthrough and the all over clear and simple tone of voice fulfil that aim. The mobile website and the strong social media integration are also a plus.

The Victoria and Albert Museum on the other hand has to present a very broad collection which embraces all forms of art and craft throughout centuries. Its intelligent content filter and the excellent Collections search ensure that users find content matching their interests.

This blog was written by Claudia Manns.