Smithsonian Affiliations

Led the full design process for a digital learning hub, from exploratory research through learning and content strategy to final designs across three pathways.

We built three learning pathways instead of one linear course, because affiliates arrived with very different levels of readiness and a single path would have bored half of them and lost the other half.

Smithsonian Affiliations wanted to better articulate its value to attract and support high-caliber Affiliates, but had no engaging, accessible way to show prospective partners what affiliation could offer.

• Collected ongoing input and guidance from current Affiliates to keep stakeholder needs and motivations core to the strategy and design.
• Ran contextual inquiry, problem-space definition, and co-creation workshops to shape the learning and content strategy.
• Built and tested the digital learning hub through user testing and UX prototyping, pairing short reads with practical worksheets.

A new curricular experience that sets expectations for prospective Affiliates and builds a supportive community for active ones. Smithsonian Affiliations reported 10x more traffic to their site in the first months after launch.