Orpheus
Led product strategy and design for a digital archiving platform used by Harvard, MIT, and humanities institutions worldwide.
“Damir is one of the best designers I've worked with in 10+ years. He understands frontend, empathizes with users, and delivers value.”
The Product
Orpheus is a digital collection tool built by Cambridge startup Archimedes Digital, aimed at Harvard, MIT, and humanities professors and archivists worldwide. The product initially suffered from scope creep and a fragmented user experience — my job was to clarify what we were building, reel in the feature list, and create a coherent design direction. The philosophy was simple: Orpheus should be like an art gallery — the UI recedes into the background, letting the content take the spotlight.
Strategy & Alignment
I facilitated remote design sprint workshops to realign the team's strategy. A lean canvas clarified business goals and constraints. We narrowed the target audience to three personas: the tech-savvy archivist, the hardline traditionalist, and the hobbyist collector. The workshops ran with a distributed team of six across different locations and time zones.
Design System & Internationalisation
I built the Orpheus UI library using Storybook.js alongside web developers, based on a customised Material Design foundation. The platform needed to support the world's cultures — Latin, Greek, Arabic, and minority scripts — in both left-to-right and right-to-left layouts. I chose Google's Noto typeface for its support of over 500 languages. The design system served as the single source of truth across web, mobile, XR, and wearable platforms.
VR Experiments
Orpheus wasn't limited to 2D interfaces. I prototyped a VR exhibition experience using Figma mockups and Vrooms, testing the concept before committing to an expensive VR build. Users could explore 3D models of cultural sites, inspect metadata, and start guided tours — all in virtual reality.
Digital Preservation
Orpheus became the foundation for several digital preservation projects. I also designed a 360° virtual tour concept for Tripureshwor, Kathmandu's largest Hindu temple, damaged in the 2015 Nepal earthquake — balancing free exploration with structured storytelling, inspired by Google's Bagan experience. The concept included 3D laser scans, aerial 360° drone imagery, video, and audio to create a rich, multi-format exploration.
Outcome
Orpheus serves multiple institutions including Harvard and MIT, hosting digital collections ranging from ancient manuscripts to personal archives. The design system supports content across web, mobile, XR, and wearable platforms in over 500 languages.