Culture & Content Strategy

Makeup Museum Content & Inventory System

Product-led website + CMS modernization for a virtual museum—re-architected content, rebuilt publishing workflows, and launched a public-facing inventory experience for a 10,000+ piece collection with loan tracking.

CultureContent StrategyCMS ModernizationInventory SystemService Design

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Project Overview

The Makeup Museum is a virtual museum (no physical location) dedicated to the exhibition, preservation, and research of cosmetics across eras and cultures. While the museum has no permanent public building, collection pieces are loaned to physical exhibits and shown in various locations.

I led a full modernization of the museum's digital presence—from discovery and UX framing through solution definition, approvals, and delivery—so the site could function like a credible "online museum" (not a personal blog) and so the team could manage a large collection at scale.

We redesigned and rebuilt the WordPress site to match the museum's established logo and brand, re-engineered the blog and vlogging foundations, strengthened social media integration, and implemented a custom CMS plus an inventory system enabling the museum to manage 10,000+ items—including location, whether an item is on loan/borrowed, and public-facing visibility of the collection.

Goals

Modernize the site to reflect the museum's established brand identity and improve credibility as an online museum
Improve navigation and findability so visitors can quickly understand 'what this is' and explore content confidently
Launch a scalable inventory system supporting 10,000+ items, including location + loan/borrow status
Improve blogging + vlogging capability to reach a larger audience and sustain ongoing publishing
Reduce manual operational burden by enabling structured workflows

Constraints

The museum is virtual (no public physical location), but the collection is loaned to exhibits—site messaging and workflows must support both realities
Inventory operations previously relied on manual processes; the CMS and inventory system needed to reduce friction for non-technical staff

What I Led (Product + UX Leadership)

Business Development + Approvals

Sold the website engagement, led stakeholder alignment, and drove approvals through key decisions

Product Direction

Owned the end-to-end plan, defined the phased approach, and prioritized what to build first

UX Strategy + Service Design

Led discovery and framing, designed workflows across discovery → exploration → requests → operational management

Information Architecture

Rebuilt structure and labeling to shift perception from 'blog' to 'museum,' improving clarity and content findability

CMS + Inventory Workflows

Designed the admin experience and operational workflows for managing a 10,000+ item collection

Execution Leadership

Led Scott through implementation and QA to ensure build fidelity and maintainability

Phased Timeline

Phase 1 — Web Design

Design mock-up for homepage + up to two revision cycles

Phase 1 — Web Development

Development begins after design approval; test URL review → final approval → launch

Phase 2 — Museum Inventory

Public-facing inventory archive + admin method to add/manage inventory + sorting/filtering

Project Details

Role: Product Manager & UX Director (UX SME)
Timeline: Phased delivery
Team: Christina Alchus (PM & UX Director), Scott (Designer/Developer)
Deliverables: • UX discovery + framing (requirements, prioritization, success criteria)
• Heuristic evaluation + prioritized UX recommendations
• Information architecture + taxonomy/category model
• Website redesign aligned to existing brand
• Re-engineered blog + vlogging foundations
• Custom CMS for non-technical publishing
+ 4 more deliverables
Tools: FigmaWordPress (custom build)Google AnalyticsAdobe Creative Suite

Research & Discovery

We used UX discovery and a heuristic evaluation to identify the biggest usability and credibility breakdowns—especially around clarity of purpose, navigation, and content structure. Findings informed a redesigned information architecture, improved publishing workflows, and a phased approach to launching a public inventory experience with the operational CMS foundation behind it.

UX Discovery

Conducted stakeholder interviews and requirements gathering to understand the museum's goals, content management challenges, and operational pain points.

Identified confusion between "blog" vs "museum" positioning
Documented manual inventory tracking pain points
Mapped loan request workflow inefficiencies

Heuristic Evaluation

Performed a comprehensive heuristic evaluation to identify usability and credibility issues with the existing site.

Navigation and findability breakdowns
Content hierarchy and structure issues
Brand alignment opportunities

Key Findings

Clarity of Purpose

Site needed to clearly communicate "virtual museum" identity vs personal blog

Navigation & Findability

Visitors struggled to explore content and understand site structure

Operational Friction

Manual processes for inventory and loan requests created bottlenecks

UX Research Deliverables

Discovery artifacts that informed design decisions and prioritization

User Personas

4 research-based personas covering museum staff and public visitors

•Dr. Sarah Chen (Academic Researcher)
•Marcus Johnson (Casual Culture Enthusiast)
•Rachel Martinez (Collections Manager)
•Elena Rodriguez (Content Curator)

Empathy Maps

Deep understanding of user mindsets, pain points, and needs

•Museum Staff: Goals, frustrations, and workflow needs
•Public Visitors: Discovery behaviors and expectations

Journey Mapping

End-to-end user flows for key scenarios

•Public Visitor Journey: "The Deep Dive" (45 mins)
•Staff Journey: "The Loan Request" (3 days)
•Critical touchpoints and opportunities identified

Heuristic Evaluation

Systematic usability analysis against established heuristics

•Navigation & structure recommendations
•Content clarity & purpose improvements
•Design/UX/UI refinements
•Compliance & transparency requirements

Key Persona Insights

Academic Researcher

Dr. Sarah Chen

Needs high-resolution images with proper attribution for thesis work. Deep-dive browsing sessions (30-60 min). Requires advanced search and filtering.

Casual Enthusiast

Marcus Johnson

Short browsing sessions (5-15 min). Mobile user. Discovers content through visual thumbnails and Instagram Stories. Shares on social media.

Collections Manager

Rachel Martinez

Efficiently catalogs new acquisitions with complete metadata. Tracks loan requests and object locations. Maintains consistent data standards.

Solution & Implementation

Phased approach from website modernization to inventory system launch

Phase 1

Website + CMS

Modern Website Redesign

•Custom WordPress build aligned to established brand identity
•Shift perception from 'personal blog' to 'online museum'
•Improved navigation and visual hierarchy
•Responsive design for mobile visitors

Content Architecture

•Restructured information architecture
•Clear taxonomy and category model
•Dedicated pages for news, press, and articles
•Beauty Library relocated to dedicated subpage

Publishing CMS

•Non-technical content publishing workflow
•Re-engineered blog and vlogging foundations
•Social media integration hooks
•Google Analytics instrumentation

Museum website redesign showing homepage, exhibitions, and collection search

Phase 2

Inventory System

Custom inventory system enabling management of 10,000+ collection items with public archive and admin workflows

Public-Facing Inventory Archive

Searchable, filterable collection browser for 10,000+ items

Inventory Management System

Admin CMS for adding, editing, and organizing collection items

Location & Loan Tracking

Track item location, loan status (on loan, borrowed, available)

Automated Loan Request Workflow

Structured intake replacing manual email back-and-forth

Spreadsheet Import

Bulk import capability for efficient data migration

Operating Mechanisms & Tools

Technology stack and operational workflows supporting the museum's digital operations

Tools & Technology Stack

Figma

Design & Prototyping

WordPress

CMS Platform

Adobe Creative Suite

Design Assets

Google Analytics

Analytics

MySQL

Database

Custom PHP

Backend Development

Content Publishing Workflow

Non-technical museum staff can create, edit, and publish articles and exhibition content without developer support

Inventory Management Workflow

Add new items, update metadata, track locations, and manage loan status for 10,000+ collection pieces

Loan Request Workflow

Automated intake and tracking system replacing manual email coordination for collection loan requests

Data Import Workflow

Bulk import capability from spreadsheets for efficient collection digitization

Outcomes & Impact

Measurable results from the website modernization and inventory system launch

~90%

Increase in Site Traffic

Key Outcomes

Increased site traffic by ~90%
Replaced a manual paper-based inventory process with a scalable digital inventory system (10,000+ items)
Improved operational control of inventory (location + loan/borrow status) and made the collection easier to publish publicly
Expanded blogging/vlogging capabilities to reach a larger audience with consistent publishing workflows
Reduced manual back-and-forth by automating loaning requests through structured workflows