Smithsonian Office of the Under Secretary for Education: "Civic Education at the Smithsonian"
Overview
To support the Smithsonian’s America 250 initiative, Interactive Knowledge partnered with the Smithsonian Office of the Under Secretary for Education (OUSE) to build Civic Education at the Smithsonian —a comprehensive exploration of the many civic education offerings available for educators and the general public. As a section of si.edu, the site invites visitors to explore various civic education programs and learn more about where the programs occur around the country using an interactive map. The site incorporates ArcGIS StoryMaps, providing visitors with an interactive storytelling experience that highlights student experiences in the various civic education programs.
Challenge
The Smithsonian offers a wealth of free educational programming; often, the biggest hurdle for educators to make good use of this vast resource is understanding what is available and how to use it. There are several civic education programs held at multiple Smithsonian museums throughout the year, and educators need a central place to find information about available programs. The solution needed to help visitors quickly understand large and complex programs with multiple layers of information in a way that feels achievable and not overwhelming.
Approach
Interactive Knowledge worked with OUSE to identify educators' needs and develop a content strategy to help educators find what they need while exposing them to content they didn’t know they needed. With strong index-focused sections, users can easily find content by concept and category. However, the overall flow of the site supports a scroll experience, revealing new and interesting content as the user progresses through the page. Features like the interactive ESRI map help visitors to understand a broader narrative about the abundance of civic education offerings at the Smithsonian, while also providing interesting touchpoints to draw users into the student stories. In addition, IK worked with OUSE and the SI web team to ensure that the user experience design and user interface worked within the broader design system for si.edu, while crafting features specific to the civic education content. In using features like ArcGIS Storymaps, IK developed content that is easy to maintain and update, providing the OUSE team with a product that can evolve as their needs continue to grow and new civic programs are made available.
Key Features
- Interactive National Map: An ESRI interface that enables users to explore Smithsonian civic education programs and student stories by location.
- Innovative Design within a Design System: Creative implementation of a broader design system for curated user needs.
- Intuitive Navigation: Strong visual cues help users to quickly scan and “shop” for resources.
- Scalable Architecture: Built within Drupal while utilizing ArcGIS Storymaps, allowing for future content expansion.
Results
Civic Education at the Smithsonian offers a comprehensive and comprehensible way to access valuable civic education resources, ideas, and information, while helping educators to develop an emotional connection to the content through student stories and testimonials. Providing multiple pathways for users to discover and engage with content and experiences offers a streamlined experience in which users find new ideas while achieving their goal of finding known content.
