Rijksmuseum
Collectie Online

Rijksmuseum
Collectie Online

Client

Rijksmuseum

Year

2023-Ongoing

Website

www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie

Collaborators

• Creative director: Chin-Lien Chen

• UX director: Anna Offermans

• UX designer: Ruben van Bambost

• Development: Q42

Revamp of the Rijksstudio, with an updated look and interface and introducing more creative tools to search through the collection and create visitors’ own stories.

Web

Web

Digital Product

Digital Product

Content Production

Content Production

Cultural

Cultural

First introduced in 2012, the Rijksmuseum’s online collection made over 800,000 artworks available in high resolution.

With the launch of Collection Online in 2024, the underlying Linked Open Data was brought to the surface, transforming the collection into an explorable knowledge system. Relationships between artworks, artists, periods, and materials now actively shape search and browsing, combining curatorial expertise with system-driven discovery to support both open-ended exploration and deeper research through a visually led, user-facing interface.

First introduced in 2012, Rijksmuseum Collection Online has over 800.000 artworks digitized in high resolution. The new search functionality powered by Linked Open Data and thoughtful and intelligent curation of highlighted pages bring endless explorations and allows deeper research in a more intuitive and strikingly visual way.

1/4

Grid view: Eestablished as the default browsing mode, prioritizing visual immersion.

1/4

Grid view: Eestablished as the default browsing mode, prioritizing visual immersion.

1/4 Grid view: Eestablished as the default browsing mode, prioritizing visual immersion.

The artwork detail pages were restructured to surface the full richness of the museum’s data, replacing generic “related artworks” with subject-specific relationships that offer more meaningful contextual connections.

Node pages function as thematic entry points, grouping artworks through shared subjects and relationships rather than rigid categories.

These pages were a balance between curatorial narratives from the museum and data-generated groupings.

Filterable attributes are paired with their relation types, exposing the underlying data structure and helping users understand how artworks are connected.

For general audiences, these relations act as a low-friction navigation layer, enabling intuitive exploration. For academic and expert users, the same structure supports more precise, in-depth investigation.

Search and filtering through various relation types

Learn more about progress on search and filter functions.

Refinement on Search & Filter

Alongside the updated interface, a suite of Studio tools was introduced and refined to support different modes of engagement—ranging from collection-building to comparison and storytelling—while maintaining coherence across the Studio ecosystem.

Each tool addresses a distinct user intent while sharing a common interaction logic and visual language.

  • Set: Collect and create your own sets of artworks

  • Comparer: Compare details of artworks next to each other

  • Clip: Create short video clips with the artwork

  • Gallery of Honour: Hang your favourite artworks to your own Gallery of Honour

  • Art Explorer: Let AI guide you to interesting artworks tailored for you

New tools, along with the new interface for existing tools, were introduced for visitors to engage with the artworks in various ways.

  • Set: Collect and create your own sets of artworks

  • Comparer: Compare details of artworks next to each other

  • Clip: Create short video clips with the artwork

  • Gallery of Honour: Hang your favourite artworks to your own Gallery of Honour

  • Art Explorer: Let AI guide you to interesting artworks tailored for you

1/4 Mobile overview of Studio tools, ensuring parity in creative functionality while adapting interaction patterns for smaller screens.

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Mobile overview of Studio tools, ensuring parity in creative functionality while adapting interaction patterns for smaller screens.

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Mobile overview of Studio tools, ensuring parity in creative functionality while adapting interaction patterns for smaller screens.

Flow examples of creating a comparer. Each tool was designed to support multiple entry points, allowing users to initiate comparisons from different contexts without losing orientation or intent.

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