Notes to accompany 'Mobile Engagement' slide presentation. Keynote from Matthew Cock, Head of Web, British Museum

1. Museums Computer Group and the Digital Learning Network’s
Engaging digital audiences in museums
11 July 2012, University of Manchester
Mobile engagement
Matthew Cock, Head of Web, British Museum
SLIDE This is a badge I unlocked recently on Foursquare, having checked in at the
summit of Snowdon after a four hour hike to the top with my son. On the way down, I
started to think about how we could evaluate our use of mobile devices to engage
people in our Museum galleries.
Of course, museums have been doing mobile for decades with audio guides- but that
has primarily been about the space here *waves hands either side of face behind
the eyes* - the guiding voice leaving this space *waves hands in front of the
body* free.
I don’t need to explain why it’s the move into this space that is a game-changer.
We’re putting something between the eye and the object.
A recent article by Catherine Bennett in the Observer that took as it’s starting point
Samantha Cameron’s comment about her husband being an addictive mobile phone
fiddler (this was days after the Prime Minister was spotted texting while at the recent
Royal Wedding - but well before LOL-Gate.
SLIDE
“in the Cameronian belief that this unapologetic multi-distractedness is a
token of cool, presentee-ist, super-modernity rather than, as some
educationalists argue, a sign of flawed concentration and disengagement,
incivility and disrespect.”
Catherine Bennett, The Observer 13.05.2012
So – is this true?
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2. In a Museum, when you see someone using their phone in a gallery, what do you
see?
• Are they present in front of the object? Are they absent? What space do they
inhabit?
• Are they engaged? Distracted? Focused?
• What about their relationship with the other visitors in the group?
• Is the use of the device a sign of disrespect and disengagement?
• Or a bonding one?
Over the last several years, the BM has been measuring the impact of their
exhibitions on their visitors, through a three-pronged model which follows the
processes and interactions between visitor and object.
Essentially the aim is to ….
SLIDE
Attract > Engage > Impact
Looking at mobile, it seems we’re still wrestling with the first of these – with QR
codes giving very low take up – at least for us. Of course, it’s not just about the code,
you have to have a compelling call to action - and the environment has to be right.
OK, once you’ve attracted them, you have to engage them – and in the Museum,
that means knowing what has motivated them to visit.
Working with Morris Hargreaves McIntyre, the British Museum also uses a
classification for audience segmentation by looking at the different motivations of
museum attendees,
SLIDES
Motivations
• Social
• Intellectual
• Emotional
• Spiritual
So, how do we connect these to mobile?
Use of smartphones can be divided into different activities –
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3. chatting, reading, recording, listening, playing, sharing
Each of which has its own motivation; each a response to a possibly different need
We need to do some work on how each of these segments will respond to a mobile
engagement offer – and perhaps different segments will respond better to different
activities.
For example, I imagine someone from the socially motivated segment to use their
camera, but little else that their smartphone offers – when in the Museum. Interaction
with their companions is an important part of their visit – and their use of a mobile
might show too much disengagement for their liking.
The spiritually motivated might be happy to listen to spoken commentary – like the
traditional audioguide). But would they browse for contextual information or play a
game?
The content and interaction we offer them on the mobile device has to do two things:
1. It has to contribute to satisfying their motivation to visit the Museum, the
exhibit, or even the individual object
2. It has to match the role that the smartphone plays in that person’s life.
What need does it satisfy in their life?
The BM’s segmentation can be connected to:
SLIDE
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Physiological – breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, etc. etc.
Safety – security of body, employment, resources, morality, family, health, property
Love/Belonging – friendship, family, sexual intimacy
Esteem – self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by
others.
Self-actualization – morality, creativity, problem-solving, lack of prejudice,
You can look at this hierarchy from a number of viewpoints – you can see it as how
human civilisation has developed, to enable individuals in each era to move up to the
next level, or as an individual grows up and negotiates life.
Its’ interesting to see where mobile devices fit into this.
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4. There’s an article: Ryan Kim, Mobile phones shifting from fun to fundamental,
http://gigaom.com/2011/08/05/mobile-phones-shifting-from-fun-to-fundamental/
That looks at the trends last year in mobile phone apps and compares them with
Maslow’s hierarchy.
Kim comments that a lot of the biggest app categories at the time were geared
toward self-actualization and interpersonal communication. But health apps, like
Azumio’s Instant Heart Rate and RunKeeper, were also breaking into the charts.
He summarises:
“These are sometimes overlooked as not as exciting or interesting as the hot new
mobile game. But these “boring” utilities speak to where some of the growing
opportunities are. It’s in things like healthcare, safety and education, basic needs,
where mobile is able to leverage connectivity and ubiquity to really powerful effects.
We have plenty of games but it’s cool to see mobile applied to real-world basic
needs and problems. And companies are increasingly going to find, there is money
to be there made too.”
But of course, the internet has disrupted the whole hierarchy – as for some it comes
before breathing, food, water, sex or sleep.
SLIDE
http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2012/07/01/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-updated/
Seriously – back to the challenge of mobile in the Museum – you’re a non-starter
without WiFi , aren’t you?
SLIDE - Has anyone heard of the term the “EXPERIENCE ECONOMY” ?
It was first described in an article published in 1998 by B. Joseph Pine II and James
H. Gilmore,
Essentially, it’s about the evolution of the type of economy we live in:
Back before the Industrial Revolution, there was the Agrarian Economy, when
farming and the trading of natural commodities was the major economic activity.
The dominant consumer sensibility was simply availability.
Then there was the Industrial Economy, when mass production drove down the
price of commodities - and Cost was the dominant consumer sensibility.
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5. Then there was the Service Economy, when consumers increasingly purchased
intangible services. Quality emerged as the dominant consumer sensibility.
Today, we are in the Experience Economy, in which consumers increasingly seek
venues and events that engage them in a personal and memorable way.
Authenticity has become the primary concern in their purchasing decisions.
There’s a suggestion that this is related to the economic downturn – with less money
around, people are seeking to validate themselves and set themselves apart from
others in this way.
There’s also the complexity of choice consumers face, and fragmented markets
Identity is being derived from lifestyle choices, specific brand affiliations and niche
interests.”
As a result, consumers are also now searching for an even deeper relationship with
the products and brands) that they consume and the companies that provide them;
[and I include cultural products and brands in this
Which moves us to the more advanced form of the experience economy – the
transformation or contribution economy, Here, the consumer is increasingly
active and interactive
[NOTE HOW THAT CHIMES WITH ONLINE SOCIAL TRENDS]
Consumers choose a product or service not only according to how closely it matches
their likes and interests, but also on the basis of how it will transform them, their lives
or their ways of thinking (political, social and moral inclinations).
What does that mean for us? It means we have got to the third stage of the three-
pronged model: Attract > Engage > Impact
Our visitor wants to walks away with a different view on something – the
engagement having effected a transformation. And this is where evaluation becomes
really difficult – to know whether the impact itself is ephemeral or long term,
superficial or deeply rooted.
Evaluation of mobile can do a number of things :
• It can look at usability,
• learning processes and outcomes,
• how well the mobile experience relates to other aspects of the visit,
• and so on,
But in my view, it will only really help if it can help us to understand the needs of our
visitor segments - and what works for them in *this space*
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6. Ultimately –the goal is the same for all public engagement in Museum’s self-
actualisation, impact and transformation – the peak of the hierarchy.
SLIDE - HAND ON SUMMIT of SNOWDON
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