MW2010: N. Proctor, The Museum Is Mobile: Cross-platform content design for audiences

The Museum is Mobile Cross-platform content design for audiences on the go Museums & the Web 2010 17 April 2010 Nancy Proctor proctorn@si.edu

The Museum is Mobile Social Media Designing mobile content & experiences beyond the ‘tour’ and the ‘stop’

In the Museum as Distributed Network…

… at least half of the Museum’s platforms are already mobile.

So if we want to meet our audiences where they are
And take them some place new…

Mobile is a great vehicle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

But if we want to avoid this guy… We need to think outside the audio tour box

Thinking outside the audiotour box means…

Thinking beyond the research
2009
CHNM survey on Museums and Mobile Adoption
Learning Times International Survey on handheld use in museums.
2008
Whitney Museum of American Art: Audio Guide Technologies Survey Final Report
2007
Matthew Barney: Multiplatform interpretation at SFMOMA
La Placa Cohen Culture Track 2007 (with Antenna Audio)

Fraunhofer Institute, Kunstmuseum Bonn: ‘Beat Zoderer’ exhibition (Listen project) 2003 Fraunhofer Institute, Kunstmuseum Bonn: ‘Beat Zoderer’ exhibition (Listen project) 2003 Thinking beyond the technology

Question mapping in the gallery: Thinking beyond what we want to tell them
Semi-structured interviews
FAQs and comments cards
Questions posed to staff…

Thinking beyond the ‘stop’
+ - + - + - + - + Soundtracks
o o o o Soundbites
x x x x Interactives
| | | Links
^ ^ ^ Feedback
§ § § Social media
Narrowcast/ Offline or Networked Networked only

Thinking cross-platform & about pre-, during & post-visit Audio player Multimedia player Personal media player Cellphone Smart Mobile Browser phones Mobile App Short Soundbite X X X X X X Long Soundtrack x x X (x) X X Interactive X X X Links X X X Feedback X X X Social media X X

Thinking outside the Acropolis The Reynold’s Center, home of the Smithsonian American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery

Thinking about the Agora Kogod Courtyard of the Smithsonian American Art Museum; quotation by Steven Zucker, 2008

Make the Museum relevant to our lives;
Inspire us to connect, learn & experience;
Help us see, read & think critically;
Engage us in conversations with experts and ‘citizens’.
And mobile experiences that: Raphael, The School of Athens , 1509-11, Vatican Museums

Photo by Mike Lee, 2007; from the American Art Museum’s Flickr Group And reach audiences beyond the museum’s walls…

Thinking outside the audiotour box Means going from headphones to microphones

From “We do the talking” to “We help our audiences do the talking.” http://smithsonian20.si.edu/schedule_webcast2.html

From “We do the talking” to “We help our audiences do the talking.”

Museums are very good at niches
Niche collections
Niche expertise
Niche content
Can we be good at long tail markets too? “ It's possible to be niche and popular at the same time. – Natasha Waterson Royal Observatory

Thinking beyond the blockbuster Edward Hoover , 2010, from Flickr.

Mobile is personal and social

The Un-tour
What would a mobile experience look like
That plays to museums’ natural strengths
That is not built for the mass market
That does not aim to be a blockbuster
That connects small communities of passion
That is not a tour?
That is mobile social media?

Gardening Change Model* Build a platform & cultivate Web 2.0 as a way of thinking about work * Via Josh Greenberg, NYPL & Mike Edson @mpedson Every user is a hero In their own epic journey http://tinyurl.com/y4g5c27

Faster than traditional committee-driven process (Time is the enemy)
Increase size of brain trust (Joy’s Law)
Improve the odds for change
Improve odds for execution (public promises not easily forgotten)
Outside champions more likely to support “commons” goals than status-quo insiders
Walking the Talk vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and innovation model
“ You get what you practice”
The advantages of public, transparent, and fast Very important slide!

So I tried that…
Data capture & feedback on where visitors go, what they see, and what questions they ask
Analytics & metrics
Search & interactive maps (don’t forget the services!)
‘ Create (comment), share, connect’ functionality
Contributors decide with whom they share their contribution
And here’s what I got:

Museum helps communities of interest form around objects/exhibits; facilitates the conversation
Supports the community/conversation with comments, answers, or new content ‘just in time’
“ Don’t be stingy” – or cheap! Quality content is worth the investment (in time & expertise as well as money)
Strategies and events to help connect individuals: SlowArt; Nina Simon’s work; Brooklyn Museum…
Sketch of an Un-Tour

A personal adventure, surprise & serendipity:
Taking the museum into the world with LBS
AR
‘ Easter Eggs’
Meeting people
e.g. connecting web & on-site visitors
Games and other rewarding things to do

Connecting the dots
Every platform is a community
Using established social media platforms
Deciding where a museum-specific version (like ArtBabble) adds value
Building a ‘distributed network’, not just a multi-platform museum
Avoiding ‘one-offs’
Iterative development

Tate’s Miroslaw Balka: How it is
American Museum of Natural History’s Dinosaurs
Scopitone, CultureClic
Musetrek
SM in Toura, Autour (Tristan), Nousguide
SCVNGR
Foursquare, Gowalla
Some models to look at

Let the artists be our guides Oxygenate! 2006-7 Joanna Rajkowska Words Drawn in Water, 2005 Janet Cardiff Follow Through , 2005 Jennifer Crowe & Scott Paterson Euphorium 2002-3 Antenna Theater

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