Illustration of impact device selection has on the museum visitor's experience.
Improving Museum Wayfinding
Handheld Device Flash Prototype
Role: User Experience Lead
Problem
A major museum hired Sapient to help craft the request for proposal of an upcoming project. They needed us to develop concepts for digital wayfinding within the museum. Traditionally, signage and other attempts to help visitors find their way had met with only limited success. Finding bathrooms and other basic user needs have never been well addressed. The museum found a donor with a deep interest in using GPS technology and handheld computers to address the problem. (A surprisingly low number of museums have successfully applied current technology to wayfinding challenges.)
Solution
I converted the museum's needs into user-oriented requirements and led intense visitor and staff research to help further flesh out our understanding of the challenge. I introduced three modes that would support most visitor experiences and based the design of a Flash prototype around the modal approach. I also incorporated the museum's favorite potential elements, digital tours and treasure hunts. I assessed the handheld devices available at the time and plotted their value along a spectrum that had simple interaction at one end and sophisticated interaction at the other, arguing that only a sophisticated approach would be successful.
