Discovering Made Easy

Pow Enhances Global Access to Cultural Knowledge

Museums, libraries, and archives collectively steward millions of cultural artifacts, but those materials are often distributed across disconnected digital systems, limiting discovery and cross-collection research.

In collaboration with a leading Ivy League university, Pow led the user experience design for Collections Explorer, a digital platform that brings together millions of collection records into a unified, intuitive interface. Pow focused on designing an experience that surfaces connections across previously siloed systems, enabling users to search, browse, and explore materials across institutions, fields of study, and time periods with greater clarity and ease.

Collections Explorer supports research and discovery through natural language search and relational exploration. Users can move fluidly between objects, creators, and ideas, uncovering connections that would be difficult to identify within isolated systems. The experience is designed for a range of audiences, including academic researchers, students, and the general public.

Pow developed a scalable design system to bring clarity and consistency to complex datasets. Search interactions were optimized for both desktop and mobile devices to ensure accessibility across contexts. A save feature was designed to allow users to collect, organize, and return to relevant materials, supporting longer research workflows.

Since its public launch, the platform has seen steady adoption. Over the past fiscal year, it generated nearly two million page views from more than 200,000 unique visitors across 220 countries. Nearly half of all users access the platform from outside the United States, underscoring its global reach.

Engagement metrics also reflect sustained use. More than 200,000 sessions include three or more page views, and tens of thousands of searches are performed each month, indicating repeated exploration and extended research sessions.

Collections Explorer demonstrates how thoughtful interaction design and clear data presentation can improve access to cultural information. By simplifying discovery and enabling meaningful connections across collections, the platform supports deeper research, broader visibility, and more open access to cultural knowledge.