Mobile is social media: In the museum as distributed network

Mobile is Social Media
In the Museum as Distributed Network
Design for Mobile, Chicago, 22 Sep 2010
Nancy Proctor proctorn@si.edu

Are museums a fad?
Nancy Proctor, ProctorN@si.edu
3

What is the Museum
in this Web 2.0 world of information on demand?

The Smithsonian Institution
The world’s largest museum & research complex
137 million collections objects

A Network for the Increase & Diffusion of Knowledge
19 Museums
156 Affiliate museums
9 Research centers
And a Zoo
More than 30 million visitors in 2009
& 180 million ‘virtual’ visitors

Our audiences now access the Smithsonian through a wide range of platforms beyond our walls and websites
Photo by Mike Lee, 2007; from the American Art Museum’s Flickr Group
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The Smithsonian has become a Distributed Network
8

The Museum is a Social Network

The Museum is transforming from Acropolis…
10

… into Agora
11

In & Out
– Curator David Allison, Chair of Information Technology & Communication, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
12

What is mobile
in the museum as distributed network?

Some challenges
For mobile design in the 21st century museum:
Thinking outside the audiotour box
Thinking beyond the blockbuster

1. The Audiotour Box

It’s NOT about the Technology
Fraunhofer Institute, Kunstmuseum Bonn: ‘Beat Zoderer’ exhibition (Listen project) 2003
Fraunhofer Institute, Kunstmuseum Bonn: ‘Beat Zoderer’ exhibition (Listen project) 2003

Thinking outside the audiotour box
Means thinking about content & experience

Edward Hoover, 2010, from Flickr.

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

Thinking about what they want to know
… Capture data & 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

Helping communities of interest form around content & experiences
… Help audiences connect: with content, collections, each other
Support 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)
Develop strategies and events to help connect individuals: SlowArt; Nina Simon’s work; Brooklyn Museum…

Thinking beyond the ‘stop’
+-+-+-+-+ Soundtracks
ooooSoundbites
xxxxInteractives
| | | Links
^ ^ ^ Feedback
§ § § Social media
Narrowcast/
Offline or
Networked
Networked
only

Creating adventure, surprise & serendipity
… Take the museum into the world
LBS
AR
‘Easter Eggs’
… Connect people, places & content
e.g. connecting web & on-site visitors
… Give audiences meaningful things to do

Thinking cross-platform& about pre-, during & post-visit

Building a ‘distributed network’, not just a multi-platform museum
Every platform is a community
Using both generic & museum-focused social media platforms
Iterating
Evolving
Connecting the dots

2. Thinking beyond the blockbuster
Invaluable = highest possible quality
Public good = relevance & service for all
Forever business = must be sustainable

The Costs of Mobile
Platform
Minutes
Text messages
Rev shares: 30% to Apple, n% to platform provider
On-site infrastructure
Project management & staff time
Content, include licensing of assets
Marketing
Interface design
Development (app/mobile website)
Software: CMS, statistics, distribution
For-fee services (or staff time)
SaaS
Players, charging racks, headsets, lanyards
Software: statistics, distribution
Operations staff
Opensource platform
+ Free Marketing (off-site)
+ MAINTENANCE

Business Models
Cost to end user
Rental (on-site; usu. revenue share)
Donations (e.g. by text message)
Digital retail (app/download)
Freemium (e.g. in-app sales)
Subscription (in discussion…)
Free to end user
Loss leader/mission imperative
Sponsorship
Ad-supported
Monetize data

Non-profit network effects
Mobileis social media

How is social media useful to the business of museums?
http://smithsonian20.si.edu/schedule_webcast2.html

Leveraging niche markets

Museums are very good at niches
Niche collections
Niche expertise
Niche content
“It's possible to be niche and popular at the same time.”
– Natasha Waterson Royal Observatory

Mobile is personal
andsocial

Meet them where they are…

And take them somewhere new
Photo by Mike Lee, 2007; from the American Art Museum’s Flickr Group
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Mobile is a great vehicle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8
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1. Quality
Wikipedia Saves Public Art
Tate Trumps

2. Relevance
http://stedelijk.medialab.hva.nl/

3. Sustainability
http://www.si.edu/
commons
http://www.gipuzkoa2.net/

4. Revenues
Exhibition apps
Freemium content to support the (free) experiences
Micropayments
Microdonations
Sponsorship & advertising
Datamining
Paid games
eCatalogues & subs…

From Headphones to Microphones
Visitor-led mobile experience design for museums
Nancy Proctor, Smithsonian Institution
Design for Mobile Workshop, 24 September 2010

Opportunities to continue our work:
http://museummobile.info/ wiki, blog & podcasts
MCN Conference Oct 27-30, 2010, Austin, TX http://MCN.edu
Mobile Content Standards Summit 27 Oct, at MCNhttp://wiki.museummobile.info/standards
http://tatehandheldconference.pbworks.com
Koven Smith: http://kovenjsmith.com& http://www.archimuse.com/mw2009/papers/smith/smith.html
SFMOMA (Peter Samis & Stephanie Pau): http://www.archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/samis/samis.html & http://www.archimuse.com/mw2009/papers/samis/samis.html
Nancy Proctor: ProctorN@si.edu @nancyproctorhttp://MuseumMobile.info
http://si.edu/mobile
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Mobile

Mobile is social media: In the museum as distributed network

by nancyproctor on Sep 22, 2010

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Mobile is social media: In the museum as distributed network — Presentation Transcript