What I Learned-ed 2: Beautiful CHIN

The plenary session of the CAIS conference was with Danielle Boily, Manager, Portal Management and Design, with the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN). (So if they had their budget cut, would it be “taking one on the chin”?)

This department's mandate is to "allow Canadian museums to engage their audiences through the use of innovative technologies." Started in the 1970s with a mandate to record the collections of Canada's museums, CHIN has substantially increased its size as the organization has matured. (Does that mean they have a middle-aged double chin? :-p ) She spoke about the work they are now doing to publicize Canada’s artifacts and treasures (do you have any Canadian treasures?). One branch of CHIN (cleft chin?) is the Virtual Museum of Canada, and they have engaged in a re-design of the websites. She shared some of the inspiring design principles they were following: (I believe she said that these originated from a presentation at Southwest by Southwest).

• Beauty in Design: there is an Aesthetic-Usability effect as beautiful things are easier to use. The tips: get emotional, think bigger, lead, be brave.

• The art of persuasion: persuasion versus manipulation. The tips: use curiosity, play hard to get, lighten up, take a chance, and be frisky.(Can you imagine how the “be frisky” went over in a room of librarians and information scientists? Then imagine what happened where they tried to imagine “frisky” web designers.)

• Thinking Visually: Solve any problem with a picture (portrait, chart, map, timeline, flowchart.)

I was thinking about these ideas in relation to both church and library websites. Both are information institutions, that rely heavily on text to communicate. I looked at some "best" church websites particularly for their aesthetic qualities. Some are very visual like Watermark or Renaissance. Others are edgy like Red Rocks. I don't know if I saw any site that was particularly beautiful. Suggestions?

Then there are library websites. Many are very functional but are any really beautiful? Or inviting? Something to think about as we re-design our own website. I know I want it to be functional but "a thing of beauty" as well? Can you think of a beautiful library website?