Website Time Machine

This week was no different from any other in my life as a history student: for class we had to look into the past.  What was cool though was that we needed to look at the evolution of a website over time using the very fun Wayback Machine through the Internet Archive.  This is a really fun site to mess around on and see how what I have become used to looked like even just 5 years ago.  For instance, I learned that the school where I did my undergraduate work had done a total overhaul of their site just a few months before I enrolled.  Also Target’s URL, target.com, was originally owned by a completely different company called Applix Inc. for a year before the giant corporation that is Target stores was able to get a hold of it.

After messing around for a bit I got down to what I was actually supposed to be doing and looked at a site that was historical in its content: the Milwaukee Public Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Growing up near Milwaukee, I had taken several class fieldtrips there when I was younger and thought it would be interesting to see how it has changed over the years, and it has definitely changed over the last 15 years.

The Wayback Machine’s first snapshot of the site was taken February 26, 1997 (probably close to the first time that I would have taken a field trip there), and it has all of the characteristics of the first websites.  It is almost all one bright color (along with black and white), a font that is easy to read in print but a little difficult on screen, and very simplistic.  Though looking at it, it is nice that there are not huge blocks of text on the screen.  It is just a list of links that will take you further into the site and hopefully where you want to go.

In December 2002 the site had vastly improved.  Now instead of just links on the front page, there were some highlights of current and future exhibits and programs with pictures to go along with them.  The links were still there, but they had been moved to the now familiar position of the left-hand sidebar of the screen.  These links were a bit confusing, however.  For example, there were Visit Us, Events & Programs, School Programs, Travel Programs, andExhibits links that could be a little confusing.  If I want to visit to see the temporary holiday exhibit on display, which link would I choose?  This style must have worked for them though because they stuck with it for several years.

Today the website has been overhauled yet again.  Now instead of a bright color or being mostly black, it is nice neutral beige that is less straining on my eyes.   It has also become a bit bigger in font size which has also helped.  Those links are still on the left side of the page, but they have been consolidated quite a bit.  There is also not only one way to get somewhere.  If I want to buy my admission I can click on the Buy Tickets link or through Visitor Info there is also a link titled Tickets. The main events and exhibits are still highlighted on the from page, though now there are more of them with a nicely changing picture above them to catch your attention.  All in all, this site has drastically improved, however there are still things that I find uncomfortable as a user.  For example the links forOnline Media, Press Room, and About Us seem as if they could all be under the same title of just generically About Us.  Plus, although their links have been cut way down and simplified, there are still a lot of them which means a lot of choices that I have to think through, not something I want to do.

I suppose that the thing to remember is that for a not-for-profit museum this is a pretty sophisticated site, and in only 15 years it has changed drastically.  For being so young, web design has improved leaps and bounds to make our experience as pleasant and easy as possible.  In another 15 years who knows where we could be.