The Transformation of Our Website

by Frank Migliorelli, Director, Digital Experience
 
About a year ago, I stepped into a newly created role, Director of Digital Experience at The New York Public Library. The position came with an exciting and challenging charge: to transform how the Library creates digital experiences in both virtual and physical spaces, across programs, collections, and events throughout the institution. My team and I embarked on a new and exciting series of initiatives, including the redevelopment of the Library’s website.
 
Concept image of new mobile experience
How our website will look on your smartphone
The Library’s website has grown since its original launch over 20 years ago. More information, programming, and media has to be integrated into the site. The site has become highly complex, and being able to discover all the amazing things in The New York Public Library is getting more difficult to do. We’ve also come to realize that many of the technologies that can allow us to connect with communities, create a dialog with our experts and patrons, and make use of interactive tools are becoming harder to integrate into our aging technical infrastructure. It’s time for an upgrade!
 
We want to make the site easier access and use if you are looking at it on a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone. We need to rebuild, redesign, and reorganize. We’ve launched a web redevelopment project that will take us into next year and allow us to begin offering new interfaces and tools for you to interact with NYPL. You’ll start seeing some of these changes as we roll up our sleeves and begin building this digital platform. 
 
Our vision for the site’s rollout is iterative. New parts and features of the site will be released over time. And even after the whole thing is “complete,” it still won’t be “done.” NYPL is always re-evaluating what it can provide for the public, and our approach to the new website will follow this philosophy.
 
Over the next few months we'll be communicating our progress on the overall project and soliciting your input. I’d like to offer the following email address: webfeedback@nypl.org. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or features you think we should consider, feel free to send us a note and let us know what you are thinking. 
 
This is an edited version of a post that originally appeared on NYPL's blog.