Order an Object

Order an Object is a pioneering digital service that transforms public access to the V&A’s collection. While only around 10% of the museum’s collection is typically on public display, the remaining 1.25 million objects are housed at V&A East Storehouse.

The service enables visitors to discover objects online, reserve them in advance, and view them in person—creating an unprecedented level of access to one of the world’s most significant museum collections.

The ambition was simple but transformative: make the V&A’s stored collection as discoverable and accessible as the objects displayed in its galleries.

The Challenge

The project centred on two connected experiences: helping visitors understand which collection objects could be viewed, and creating a seamless booking journey from discovery through to confirmation.

A key challenge was making requestable objects immediately recognisable within a collection of over 1.3 million items. Working closely with stakeholders across the museum, we explored several approaches before introducing a new collection status: View by Appointment.

The new status sat naturally alongside existing labels such as On Display, On Loan, and Not on Display, giving visitors a clear, consistent way to identify eligible objects at a glance.

Beyond improving clarity, the new status became a meaningful part of the collection’s search experience. It enabled visitors to filter results by View by Appointment, making requestable objects easy to find without needing prior knowledge of the service. This transformed the status from a simple metadata label into a powerful discovery tool, helping visitors move seamlessly from browsing the collection to booking an object.

Extending Explore the Collection

Order an Object builds upon Explore the Collection, the V&A’s online catalogue of more than 1.25 million objects.

Rather than creating a separate service, the new experience was integrated directly into the existing platform, allowing visitors to move seamlessly from discovering an object to requesting an appointment.

Object cards were enhanced to communicate an item’s availability at a glance and introduce a clear call to action: Order an Object.

Designing the Crate

One of the most important design decisions was how visitors would collect the objects they wished to view.

Traditional ecommerce language such as Basket or Bag felt inappropriate, suggesting ownership or purchase rather than access to museum objects. After exploring a range of options, I proposed the term Crate—a familiar museum object that reflects how collections are safely transported and stored behind the scenes.

The Crate became a central part of the experience, reinforcing the museum context while creating a memorable interaction unique to the V&A.

Designed as a persistent element fixed to the bottom of the interface, it provided visitors with continuous visibility of their selected objects throughout the booking journey.

To balance visitor flexibility with operational constraints, appointments were limited to five objects. Given the extraordinary variation in the collection—from jewellery and ceramics to large tapestries and furniture—we also introduced both a selection counter and a remaining capacity indicator, making the limits easy to understand without adding unnecessary complexity.

As easy as booking an Uber

A Frictionless Booking Experience

Booking an appointment was designed to feel as straightforward and familiar as using a modern consumer service.

Rather than introducing a completely new system, we extended the V&A’s existing exhibition booking platform, allowing the museum to build on established technology and operational processes.

The booking flow was intentionally simple, guiding visitors through selecting a date and time, providing essential details and confirming their request in just a few steps.

By reducing friction and using familiar interaction patterns, the experience encourages visitors to focus on the excitement of accessing extraordinary objects rather than the mechanics of making a booking.

Impact

Order an Object fundamentally reimagines how visitors engage with museum collections.

Instead of limiting access to the small proportion of objects on display, the service opens the doors to over 1.25 million objects, giving visitors the opportunity to experience items that would otherwise remain hidden in storage.

The project demonstrates how thoughtful product design, careful language and close collaboration across disciplines can remove barriers to access, transforming a complex operational process into a simple, intuitive and uniquely memorable visitor experience.

As a Product Design Lead, my role was to shape an experience that balanced visitor needs, operational requirements and technical constraints while creating a service that feels unmistakably part of the V&A. Every interaction—from the introduction of View by Appointment to the museum-inspired Crate—was designed to reinforce the story of bringing the collection closer to the public.