RIT New Media Design & Ganondagan Historic Site
"Preserving a Past, Providing a Future"

The Challenge

The Ganondagan Historic Site had a strong desire to expand their availability to the world. They needed a way to reach their target audience that would both entertain and educate, though mostly to allow visitors to catch a glimpse of Ganondagan's vivacity, so they too would want to take part.

Keeping in mind the hope displayed on Ganondagan's website, "Preserving a Past, Providing a future," the goal of the project was to develop an online interactive experience using new and advanced technologies that would leave viewers understanding the balance of time at Ganondagan. We needed to design an interface that would be appropriately engaging, including intuitive use and appealing graphics. Furthermore, the project demanded to fulfill a need or a question from the viewer. These needs and goals were to be fused to create an outstanding mini-site for Ganondagan's main website.

The Approach

With extensive research and considering the needs of anticipated site visitors, Banango decided to create an interactive trail map. As we visited Ganondagan, and as we spoke with some of the people there, we continually refined our ideas, exploring new possibilities and eliminating irrelevant ones.

There are three main divisions of the interface. An aerial view of Ganondagan opens first. This contains trail information and featured overlays. Clicking on any trail will take the viewer to the second main division - the photos. Photos uploaded by the admin at Ganondagan can be viewed and will have titles and descriptions. With the viewer in mind, they are designed to display in order, something like a virtual tour of different areas of each trail. The third main feature of the project is the printable map. Likely, visitors to the site will also be visiting Ganondagan and would have use for such a map. Adding to the interface, the implementation of our graphics reflects the feeling of the forest and trails that exist at the Ganondagan Historic Site.

The Result

The final product is a functioning, updatable trail map that has a database of photos for viewers to enjoy. Its presence and mood are in line with Ganondagan's needs and goals as well as enhance the user experience. The viewer should leave our site well-equipped to come to the Ganondagan Historic Site, knowing what to expect as well as have the resources they may want.

The Experience

The last ten weeks have given the members of Banango an opportunity to learn about ourselves, our strengths, weaknesses, and ability to work as a unified machine for the client. We have learned about the dedication it takes and when to expect difficulties along the way, as well as how to deal with those obstacles. We learned to listen and take feedback from the client, our professor, other classmates, and each other to streamline the interface and the design. In the end, we were able to see in our final product the fruits of countless hours of work that each member put into it.