In late 2008 I was hired by the digital library services office of The New School to develop basic wireframes for a new library website for the university. The existing design was a usability nightmare in desperate need of modernization. My new design needed to not only tackle important functionality and accessibility issues, but also maintain the delicate balance between bureaucratic wishes and client-side usability. The information architecture of the site and its navigational systems were longwinded and obtuse and also needed a complete redesign.

In my design I consolidated related pages to clean up the scattered information systems already in place, made space for dynamic news and hours panes, and reorganized the hierarchy of the main page according to most used services. I brought the catalog search - the most used section of the site - to the forefront of the main page (on the old design it had been a click away), and helped develop possible redesigns for the results page of the catalog search as well.

The library is currently doing behind-the-scenes work updating their search catalogs and systems; the new design is scheduled be fleshed out and implemented sometime in the 2009-2010 school year.