Greensboro History Museum Logo

Greensboro History Museum

Web Design

Web Development

Analytics

Greensboro History Museum is North Carolina’s oldest and largest city history museum. As its 100th anniversary approached, the team recognized it was time for the Museum’s web presence to more accurately reflect its legacy and support the essential cultural happenings within its walls.

Greensboro History Museum home page on a laptop

Challenge

When the Greensboro History Museum team approached Social Design House about a website redesign, they knew their current site was overdue for a refresh. The real challenge lay in capturing the Museum’s role as both a cultural cornerstone for locals and a must-see destination for visitors.

Solution

We partnered closely with the Greensboro team around two key pillars: story and structure.

The new site tells the Museum’s story through carefully curated visuals and concise, compelling language. Drawing from the Museum’s vast archives, SDH wove imagery throughout the design to celebrate Greensboro’s history and position the Museum as a living resource that connects the community to its roots.

Structurally, the previous site lacked a clear hierarchy. Through collaborative sitemapping and interactive wireframing, we built a navigation system that serves every visitor, whether exploring the Archives, planning a visit, booking a field trip, or becoming a member.

Together, these improvements created a modern, easy-to-manage site ready to carry the Museum into its next century. 

Engagement Length
9 months
Organization Size
10+ employees
Organization Type
Museum
Website
www.greensborohistory.org

96%

mobile accessibility score

275+

posts migrated from archives subdomain

5%

reduction in bounce rate in 90 days after launch
Connecting a community to its shared history through engaging experiences.
A screenshot of the current exhibitions slider on Greensboro History Museum's site
A list of 3 events from Greensboro History Museum's website
A hand holding a phone with Greensboro History Museum's site on it
A painting of young child in dark clothing sitting and hugging a black and white dog.
Vintage market scene with people shopping for produce, including a woman with a basket of vegetables and a man in overalls selling goods.
Black and white photo of eleven women wearing MBC embroidered uniforms, arranged in two rows, smiling and posing indoors.
Cover of a 1910 special souvenir issue of The Daily Record newspaper featuring 'The Gate City Greensboro' with a black-and-white photo of a city street.
Wooden surface covered with colorful graffiti messages including 'We stand with you,' 'Black Lives Matter,' 'Love you,' and a small blue cat drawing.
Person entering the Greensboro History Museum through a red door set in a stone archway on a brick building.
Black and white photo of a group of men in suits and ties posing indoors, some standing and some seated on a couch.
Vintage poster with a smiling soldier and text saying 'Victory Thru You! Welcome to Greensboro, N.C.'.
A painting of young child in dark clothing sitting and hugging a black and white dog.
Vintage market scene with people shopping for produce, including a woman with a basket of vegetables and a man in overalls selling goods.
Black and white photo of eleven women wearing MBC embroidered uniforms, arranged in two rows, smiling and posing indoors.
Cover of a 1910 special souvenir issue of The Daily Record newspaper featuring 'The Gate City Greensboro' with a black-and-white photo of a city street.
Wooden surface covered with colorful graffiti messages including 'We stand with you,' 'Black Lives Matter,' 'Love you,' and a small blue cat drawing.
Person entering the Greensboro History Museum through a red door set in a stone archway on a brick building.
Black and white photo of a group of men in suits and ties posing indoors, some standing and some seated on a couch.
Vintage poster with a smiling soldier and text saying 'Victory Thru You! Welcome to Greensboro, N.C.'.
Young girls in red traditional dresses dancing indoors on a wooden floor with a blue wall background.
Screenshot of the latest news section on Greensboro History Museum's website
A card from Greensboro History Museum website with a woman looking at a table and a blue arrow that says "View Collections"
A card from Greensboro History Museum website with 2 people in a library and an orange arrow that says "Search the Archives"
An online presence honoring a century of work and empowering the next.
Aligning Structure Before Style

Wireframes are where clarity begins. We organize content, hierarchy, and flow before design so everyone is aligned on structure, purpose, and user journey.

A collage of Greensboro History Museum's website wireframes
Greensboro History Museum mobile website header showing kids interacting with a tablet, text about connecting shared history, and buttons for planning a visit and a second option.
Section titled Current Exhibitions with sample text about Greensboro, NC, and a highlighted current exhibit named NC Democracy: Eleven Elections showing people viewing an exhibit inside a museum.
Mobile view of upcoming Events listing with a button labeled All Events and a featured event on July 20, 11 am to 12 pm, titled Little Lions Saturday in LeBauer Park.
Mobile view of two arrow-shaped buttons over images: top one blue with text 'View Collections' and a person’s hands over a display case, bottom one orange with text 'Search the Archives' and two blurred people walking in a library.
Mobile view of the about page with a night view of a green-lit pedestrian bridge leading to a building with three tall smokestacks in the background.
Mobile museum news section promoting a Juneteenth Bike Tour event on June 22, 2024, with a group of cyclists posing with their bikes in front of a building near a Magnolia House Motel sign.
Mobile view of a newsletter signup form inviting users to subscribe for updates on public programs and exhibitions; below is a help section for Greensboro History Museum visitors with buttons to find answers or contact support.
Greensboro History Museum mobile website header showing kids interacting with a tablet, text about connecting shared history, and buttons for planning a visit and a second option.
Section titled Current Exhibitions with sample text about Greensboro, NC, and a highlighted current exhibit named NC Democracy: Eleven Elections showing people viewing an exhibit inside a museum.
Greensboro History Musuem website menu on desktop
Cutting room floor
An early version of the home page hero for Greensboro History Museum's website
Old version of Greensboro History Museum homepage with text 'Connecting the Fabric of Our Shared History' and images including a historic group photo, vintage postcards, a painting of people at a bus stop, and a red brick building.
An early version of Greensboro History Museum's website drop down menu
Screenshot of Greensboro History Museum's old website

Before

Screenshot of Greensboro History Museum's new website

After

Technical Breakdown
  • Powered by the WordPress Content Management System
  • Turn-key hosting service and CDN
  • Data migration and redesign of hundreds of posts from the Archives subdomain
  • 8 unique custom content types with custom themes and data fields
  • MailChimp, Events Calendar & Eventbrite integration
  • GA4 integration
  • Ongoing WordPress updates and support

Next Project

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Chelsea Pagliuca
Amanda Mangiarelli
Taylor Foxx
Ben Visser
Jesse Shoffstall
Adam Phillips