Building a web app front end user interface for the Hexology platform has taken our designers and the web development team from the University of Bath Impact Development Lab, on an extensive journey of discovery. Not only have we adopted an Agile software development methodology and taken iterative steps, to ensure we stay on track and create a product fit-for-purpose, but we have also explored how we will take our next steps, and integrate AI in the future.

Funded by Innovate UK via a DCMS Create Growth Award

A prototype of the web app has been in existence and in operation since April 2025. This has been in use, by the in-house Hexology team throughout the duration of the Global Digital Citizenship and Digital Cultural Curation of Global Heritage Internship at Hexology. Specifically, the web app was used to create the location-based source for geospatial content posted into London and Ukraine. Unlike the free mobile apps, that limit your ability to write content into your current location only, the web app enables you to write content into any location, anywhere in the world.

Winner of an Innovate UK DCMS Create Growth Award, Hexology conceived the web app project to overcome two different points of friction:

• access content on the Hexology platform via a web browser on your smartphone without having to install the app
• enable content creators to build geospatial content via a web browser on a desktop, viewing content on a large monitor using a keyboard and mouse, with easy access to images and other content via network attached storage

A priority decision was made to focus on developing the workflows and interface designs for the desktop version of the web app. Rather than replicate the full functionality of the existing iOS and Android apps, we opted to make the smartphone version of the web app a simple reader that opens a pathway for the viewer to transition to the smartphone app for the full Hexology experience.

It would be fair to describe the work we have done so far, as research!

Whereas, we’ve really pushed the innovation design of the desktop version and we are preparing to release the latest revision. It was during the internship project that the prototype of the web app was really put to the test in a real-world project environment and the real innovation took place. The insights we gained shifted our thinking and perspective, and we abandoned the patterns and workflows established in the smartphone apps and took a more enlightened approach. This is the power of user-testing and would not have been possible without the open-minded dedication of the team at the University of Bath, who pounce on every opportunity to advance the technology and its design

Interface design has a propensity to evolve, it takes work to streamline graphical elements on a webpage so that the web app is cohesive and lean.

An investment in design-thinking at the start saves time and money in the long run as changes evolve. Simplifying the web app has meant fewer moving parts that require less servicing and if planned correctly, the foundations for new features and upgrades can be put into place. Some of this is under-the-hood, but some of it has literally revolutionised the front-end user-experience.

Web App Front End User Interface

Now that the design of Version 1 of the web app is fixed, and the foundations for an AI-Powered Cultural Content Curator tool are in place, we are thinking about how to present the web app to our partners and prospective users in travel, tourism and cultural heritage institutions.

The design thinking we have done for the AI powered cultural content curation tool is advanced, and beyond a Feasibility Study stage – we have a project plan and a cultural institution as a partner in place.

We are at present however, involved in an analysis about how the web app should behave on different size screens and devices, from large to small monitors, laptops, tablets and different web-browsers, Windows or MAC, we have a strategy to implement and test.

Call to Action

We aim to give a trusted group of professionals full user access to the web app and invite them to give us feedback. We are at this stage looking to share the web app with cultural heritage institutions, local councils and organisations operating specifically in Travel and Tourism. If you would like to gain access to the web app please get in touch via our contact form or email [email protected]