This project has been handed off and is expected to ship by April 2026.
In partnership with UofT Blueprint, a student-run product team that builds software for nonprofits, I served as a Product Designer for the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (MADE). I took ownership of an artifact lending platform that allows administrators to efficiently approve, monitor, and track inventory requests.
CONTEXT
A playable archive of your favourite classic video games
The MADE is a nonprofit museum with a vast archive of 50,000+ video games, consoles, and digital artifacts. Unlike traditional museums, it invites visitors to play with the collection, treating games not just as objects to observe but as cultural works meant to be experienced.
THE PROBLEM
So what happens between checkout and return?
Despite its scale, the MADE relies on a Google Sheet to manage its inventory. Every checkout, move, or return is logged by hand, and once an item leaves the shelf, its record can quickly become outdated. As a result, admins have no reliable way to track an item's availability and location.
USER RESEARCH
Through staff interviews, we identified three recurring pain points
We conducted user interviews with staff members who handle lending requests to understand how items move through the museum. Our goal was to pinpoint the challenges they face.
Visualizing the full inventory request lifecycle
I transformed the museum’s informal request process into a clear, five-stage workflow. These checkpoints give admins visibility into each step of an item’s movement, allowing them to evaluate requests, track transit, and confirm arrivals. This creates accountability by establishing clear ownership at every handoff point.
IDEATION
I focused on two core screens that handle the approval workflow
My research revealed two tasks admins juggle daily: scanning dozens of pending requests then gathering enough context to make decisions. I explored low fidelity sketches that support both actions.
Admin Dashboard
Displays all requests in one place with status indicators and urgency signals.
Request Details
Surfaces important context including item location, availability, and lender message.
DESIGN DECISIONS
Request cards need to be scannable without sacrificing key information
After establishing the dashboard structure, I focused on optimizing individual request cards to better serve the admin workflow. I worked closely with my PMs throughout this process to ensure the design was technically feasible and aligned with product goals.
How might we support decision-making during ambiguous cases
While the dashboard enables rapid triage, some requests require deeper evaluation. A lender might have conflicting requests, items could be located in hard-to-access storage, or the event context might warrant special handling. Admins need a way to access full context without opening multiple systems.
BUT WAIT
Keeping digital records in sync with real-world movement can be tricky
Once a request was approved, the item began physically moving through the museum, passing through multiple locations and being handled by different staff members. My challenge was making sure these transitions were accurately reflected in the system without requiring admins to dig through multiple requests.
SOLUTION
I revised the status filter and defined admin tasks for each stage
By adding numbered badges to all tabs, admins can immediately see how many items need attention at each stage. Contextual CTAs within the tabs let them update requests intuitively, and these updates automatically sync across both the dashboard and the request timeline, keeping digital records aligned with movement.
FINAL PROTOTYPE
A dashboard to approve requests and track artifact movement
Understand Technical Constraints
Working with UofT Blueprint meant designing within the boundaries of what a student dev team could realistically build. Rather than limiting creativity, these technical constraints made tradeoffs more visible.
Prioritize Team Alignment
Collaborating with another designer taught me how to contribute thoughtfully within a larger ecosystem. Clear communication was essential to avoid inconsistencies in complex products.
