Designed for Historic Hudson Valley by C&G Partners, a new interactive documentary experience entitled People Not Property: Stories of Slavery in the Colonial North leverages unique web design and technical characteristics to tell the often-overlooked story of enslaved individuals in the North. The content-rich resource is intended for students, teachers, and the general public, and its responsive and UX design elements help to deliver a personalized narrative of the past that connects to issues of race in America today. “The design puts people at the forefront of the experience, telling the story on the human level,” says Maya Kopytman, partner-in-charge of the project.
Site architecture enables users to engage at different levels, providing top-line summaries for casual viewers and enabling viewers with greater interest to go deeper by reading, watching videos, exploring interactive documents, answering questions, and making comparisons. A “TimeMap” navigation element enables viewers to learn what was happening at different points and places in history. Numerous short-form reenactment videos based on how enslaved individuals lived and worked drive the documentary and were shot on location in Sleepy Hollow NY.
