Explore the Collection 2.0

The V&A collection contains over 1.3 million objects, spanning art, design, fashion, technology, and culture. Explore the Collection is the digital gateway to this vast collection, helping visitors discover objects beyond the museum galleries.

Ahead of the launch of Order an Object, we evolved Explore the Collection from a static collection index into a more engaging discovery experience, designed to support different visitor needs and encourage deeper exploration.

Understanding visitor needs

We identified three key visitor modes:

• Discover – Visitors looking for inspiration and unexpected connections.
• Ideate – Visitors with a general interest who need guidance and curated pathways.
• Study – Experts and researchers looking for detailed object information.

The challenge was creating one experience that supported both inspiration-led discovery and focused research.

Evolving the experience

The first version of Explore the Collection focused on curated collections, which worked well for Ideate and Study visitors but provided fewer opportunities for Discover audiences.

For Explore the Collection 2.0, we introduced new discovery pathways, including:

• Most Searched – surfacing popular themes and objects to inspire exploration.
• Trending – introducing timely editorial content linked to cultural moments, events, and conversations.
• Flexible content cards – creating a reusable component system that supported both curated collections and editorial content.

We also redesigned curated collections into carousel formats, improving content visibility while reducing page length.

Impact

Explore the Collection 2.0 transformed the experience from a collection directory into a dynamic discovery platform — making the V&A’s collection more accessible, engaging, and relevant for a wider range of visitors while creating a more scalable publishing model for content teams.