The document discusses the development of a social mobile application aimed at fostering engagement and reflection in museum visits. The application's design goals were to increase social interaction and engagement through features like social networking, simplicity, and participatory design. Over 75 students contributed to the design, implementation, and evaluation of the application. A comparative study of 53 participants found that the application helped users spend more time with each artwork and consider details they may have otherwise overlooked.

1. Art App-reciation
Fostering engagement and reflection in museums through a social-
mobile application
Orit Shaer 1, Jim Olson 2, MaCherie Edwards 1, Consuelo Valdes 1
1 Wellesley College, 2 Davis Museum and Cultural Center

3. Attendance only
when required

4. ~30 seconds
per work of art

5. Sociality & Engagement
DESIGN GOALS
THE

6. DESIGNSTRATEGIES
Social networking
Simplicity
Participatory Design
Learning-based Design

7. Participatory Design
Over 75 students contributed to the design, implementation, and evaluation

8. Learning-Centered Design
MULTI-SENSES
DISCOVERY
CHOICES

9. Simplicity

10. IMPLEMENTATION
THE

11. How to start?

12. Interact

13. Closure

14. EVALUATION
THE
• 53 participants
• Comparative study
• Conditions:
–Without device
–With device

15. “I liked the interactive
aspect and how it made
me consider details I
didn’t notice before…”
“It [the application]
defiantly helped me to
form my own opinion
about a piece, which I
normally don’t go out of
my way to do”

16. More than
3 MINUTES
with each piece
“it made me look longer and think
about things I wouldn’t have

17. Acknowledgments
A special thanks to:
Lisa Fischman, Ruth Gordon Shapiro ’37 Director of
the Davis Museum.
The following Wellesley College students:
Lia Napolitano, Michelle Ferreirae, Heidi Wang, Taili
Feng, and all of our study participants.
Orit Shaer
oshaer@wellesley.edu
Jim Olsen
jolsen@wellesley.edu