§ masterplan.md
Migration Stories Map
A storytelling map where visitors explore migration routes and listen to first-person audio stories at each stop.
01
App overview and objectives
An oral history archive of migration: recorded interviews, transcripts, family photographs and objects, organised so that both a casual visitor and a researcher can find what they need.
02
The problem worth solving
Migration histories live in the memories of people who are dying. Recording them properly, with transcripts and metadata, turns private memory into a public and searchable record.
03
Target audience
- Primary — Diaspora families documenting and discovering their own histories.
- Secondary — Researchers, teachers and museums.
04
Roles and permissions
- Visitor — read-only public pages, can sign up.
- Member — owns their own records, cannot see other users' data.
05
Core features
- Interview pages with synchronised audio and transcript
- Full-text search across transcripts with timestamped results
- Contributor submission flow for new interviews with a guide
- Object and photograph archive with provenance
- Decade and route browsing
- Downloadable transcripts and citation formats
Deliberately later
- Automatic transcription in more languages
- Museum kiosk mode
- Family tree linking
06
Technical stack
React front end, Postgres full-text search over transcripts, audio on a CDN, transcription pipeline with human correction.
Why: Searchable transcripts are the entire value of an oral history archive; audio without text is effectively unfindable.
Alternatives: A digital repository platform (archival standards built in, rigid interface) or a podcast feed (easy to publish, not an archive).
07
Conceptual data model
Interview — narrator, interviewer, date, language, audio file, duration, consent
TranscriptSegment — interview, start, end, text, speaker
Narrator — name or pseudonym, birth year, origin, migration route, consent scope
ArchiveObject — narrator, photograph or item, description, provenance, rights
Collection — theme, curator note, included interviews
08
Integrations
- Speech-to-text service
- Audio CDN
- Citation and metadata standards export
- Map for routes
09
UI design principles
- Scroll is the narrative device: each section reveals one beat of the story.
- Full-bleed imagery alternating with quiet text-only moments to let the reader breathe.
- Always offer a skip-to-summary path for readers who want the facts fast.
10
Security considerations
- Consent forms recorded with explicit scope: public, research-only, or embargoed until a date.
- Narrators can restrict or withdraw material; embargo dates enforced by the system, not by policy alone.
- Third parties named in interviews can request redaction of identifying detail.
11
Development phases
Phase 1 — Prove the core
- — Interview pages with synchronised audio and transcript
- — Full-text search across transcripts with timestamped results
- — Contributor submission flow for new interviews with a guide
- — Static content and design system in place
- — Basic analytics
Phase 2 — Make it real
- — Object and photograph archive with provenance
- — Decade and route browsing
- — Downloadable transcripts and citation formats
- — Accounts, sign-in and password reset
- — Empty, loading and error states everywhere
Phase 3 — Polish and launch
- — Performance, accessibility and SEO pass
- — Legal pages, contact route and 404 handling
- — Wire up: Speech-to-text service
- — Wire up: Audio CDN
Phase 4 — Grow
- — Automatic transcription in more languages
- — Museum kiosk mode
- — Family tree linking
12
Challenges and solutions
Risk — Transcription accuracy in accented and mixed-language speech
Solution — Machine draft plus community correction with a visible confidence marker per segment.
Risk — Archival longevity
Solution — Store masters in open formats with standard metadata and deposit copies with a partner institution.
Risk — Contributor drop-off
Solution — A short recording guide and a phone-based submission path lower the barrier dramatically.
13
Future expansion
- Institutional partnerships
- Traveling exhibition
- Cross-archive federated search
14
Page list (13 pages)
- 01 PUBLIC Archive — Browse all interviews.
- 02 PUBLIC Interview — Audio with synchronised transcript.
- 03 PUBLIC Search — Full-text across every transcript.
- 04 PUBLIC Contribute — Record and submit a story.
- 05 PUBLIC About — Method, ethics, rights and partners.
- 06 AUTH Sign up — Create an account with email or a social provider.
- 07 AUTH Log in — Return to the account, with error and lockout states.
- 08 AUTH Reset password — Request a reset link and set a new password.
- 09 APP (signed in) Account settings — Profile, email, password, language and delete account.
- 10 PUBLIC Contact — Contact form plus real address, phone and email.
- 11 LEGAL & SYSTEM Privacy policy — What data is collected, why, and how to remove it.
- 12 LEGAL & SYSTEM Terms of service — Rules of use, liability and account termination.
- 13 LEGAL & SYSTEM 404 not found — Friendly dead end with search and links back.
15
Page map
PUBLIC AUTH APP (signed in) LEGAL & SYSTEM ───────────── ───────────────── ─────────────────── ─────────────────── ├─ Archive ├─ Sign up └─ Account settings ├─ Privacy policy ├─ Interview ├─ Log in ├─ Terms of service ├─ Search └─ Reset password └─ 404 not found ├─ Contribute ├─ About └─ Contact key flows: Archive ──▶ Interview Search ──▶ Interview About ──▶ Contribute Interview ──▶ Archive