Web and mobile: January 2014

P&O Heritagetimeline

A new interactive timeline on the P&O Heritage website uses old film footage and photographs to tell the story of the company’s 175-year history, writes Rebecca Atkinson

The design of this P&O timeline is straightforward. Users can browse by decade, with each one given a broad theme. A quote from an annual report for each period helps set the scene, as do photo slides of archival images. I enjoyed the 1970s posters, which are a world removed from the trade union disputes of the era.

The timeline provides an interesting view of history told through a niche story. In the 1850s, P&O won the mail contract for Australia but “scarcely had the joys of the new faster mail service been felt before P&O was forced to suspend the route on account of the war in Crimea”.

Rather than providing too much text, the website designers have included a “discover more” list of related articles.

The timeline’s navigation bar looks strange in my browser (Firefox); at first glance it seems to end in the 1970s, although further investigation revealed I could browse down using my keyboard.

P&O Heritage is run by DP World, which purchased the ferry company in 2006, so I was concerned about contemporary information slipping into marketing speak. And indeed, the final section is themed “cause for celebration”.

For me, the 2000s and 2010s are the least interesting sections, but the amount of archive content available elsewhere still makes the P&O Heritage timeline a useful and interesting tool.


South East Museums help hub
 
Online help for those in the south east needing advice, items and support

South East Museums has relaunched its development website, which includes a help hub where museums can post wants and offers. This section is for anyone working in the museum, heritage, arts and wider cultural sector in the south east and beyond, and is potentially a great resource for those looking for a quick answer to a problem, support or advice.

The help hub is also a forum for people new to the sector or area to introduce themselves and build networks.
 
There are three categories to choose from: help wanted, help offered and anything else. At the time of writing most of the posts were in the first category. As most website editors know, forums often take time to grow.

I like the way posts are displayed in boxes across the page, so users can quickly scan to see what people are talking about. Responses are listed below, so users do not have to click through into posts to read these – they just scroll down. And it’s easy to post a reply without having to log in or click through to new pages.

As the forum grows, this design may make it look at bit busy. Most recent posts are displayed at the top of the page, which is great in terms of relevance but could mean older points quickly vanish. The key for users whose posts are not satisfactorily answered
is to repost these to keep them at the top.


Iron Insight
 
Map app aims to put a ‘curator in your pocket’

Iron Insight, a prototype mobile app for the village of Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, was developed over three days as part of the Museomix UK conference at Ironbridge Gorge.

Visitors to the museum can download and use the app to listen to stories related to the site, ask curators questions and add their own personal experiences. Described as a curator in your pocket, the app uses GPS and OpenStreetMap to locate interesting objects as the visitor explores.

For example, the apps explains the Pillar of Friendship, a statue made from 15 pieces, which was forged at the international conference of British Artists Blacksmiths Association in 2007.

The question – “What does it do exactly?” – has been answered by one of the museum’s curators (“It is purely a work of art, a sculpture made for modern blacksmiths to show off their skills”) and there is a link for people to post further questions.

There wasn’t a lot of content on the app at the time of writing, but it is designed to grow organically as people use it. It is a good example of how to develop a simple app in a short space of time without a big budget.