The document discusses designing the user experience of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) to increase attendance. It notes there are conflicting views of the gallery's purpose and complex audiences that value it differently. For some, it provides education, networking, or community value, rather than just being a place to bring kids. The value of the gallery is not just in its collection but how it facilitates engagement with art that produces value for stakeholders. To increase attendance, the JAG needs to understand and demonstrate its relevance to different groups by unpacking the diverse co-produced values it provides.

1. PUBLIC ACCESS: Public Art Conference 2012
The human experience design of the
Johannesburg Art Gallery

18. There are conflicting views of the
environment and purpose of the
gallery.

23. Who are our users? And how do we
increase attendance?

24. The audience is more complex than it
may seem

27. What is valuable (or not valuable)
about the Gallery is also different to
different people

28. For a family that is not particularly aware of art the
value may just be a day out with the kids

29. For a family that is not particularly aware of art the
value may just be a day out with the kids
For the art world it may be about networking

30. For a family that is not particularly aware of art the
value may just be a day out with the kids
For the art world it may be about networking
For some it may be about prestige

31. For a family that is not particularly aware of art the
value may just be a day out with the kids
For the art world it may be about networking
For some it may be about prestige
For academics it may be about access to knowledge

32. For a family that is not particularly aware of art the
value may just be a day out with the kids
For the art world it may be about networking
For some it may be about prestige
For academics it may be about access to knowledge
For the city it may be about cohesion

33. However, the audiences of the JAG
are also stakeholders. The building
and collection were donated to the city
and people of Johannesburg.

35. Much of our thinking about value lies in
objects.

36. Much of our thinking about value lies in
objects. The object of exchange.

37. These things are the „what‟ of our
experiences.

38. It includes the
building, the
collection, the
archives…

39. On multiple levels these objects are
inaccessible

41. I can buy a drill bit for R20.
This implies that the value of the drill bit is R20.

42. But people don‟t want to buy a quarter-inch drill bit.
They want a quarter-inch hole.

43. The value of the object is
in ways an illusion.
Further, the value of the
thing is only revealed
when used.
With the drill-bit and
screw I am able to hang
a painting. The value lies
in having a painting
hanging in my living
room.
In this sense, the actual
value is co-produced.

44. The value of the object is
in ways an illusion.
Further, the value of the
thing is only revealed
when used.
With the drill-bit and
screw I am able to hang
a painting. The value lies
in having a painting
hanging in my living
room.
In this sense, the actual
value is co-produced.

45. This not only tells us that value exists-in-use but also
that what we need to look for is the “why”

46. So why are the building, the
collection, the archives
valuable?

47. …as „totems‟ to link people together
…for community engagement and cohesion
…for filling a void
…for problem solving
…for personal transformation
…for dignity
…social activation
…a social economy
…memory creation
…memorialisation
…placemaking
…identity making
…beautification
…democratisation
…consciousness, debate and growth at the personal
or societal levels

48. In this sense, the Gallery, it‟s staff, operations,
exhibits, archive are agents for a value exchange that
exists across the JAG‟s ecosystem.

49. It is the way that JAG facilitates the
engagement with these objects that is
the hidden intellectual capital

50. The user experience of the inner city
remains the „what‟ but ones
relationship to that experience can shift
what it means.

51. Development or decay?

52. The answer to questions like:
Why visit the JAG?
Why donate to the JAG?
Why lend art to the JAG?
Why tell your friends about the JAG?
Why lobby for the JAG?

53. …lies in an argument and demonstration of the
relevance of the co-produced value that the JAG
provides as an agent to its stakeholders.

54. This relevance needs to be explored, understood
and unpacked.
Once we can can see this landscape of meaning
we can start to design ways to engage
stakeholders in the co-production of the value it
holds.

55. And this should form the basis for the
design of a new user experience.

57. Why is this exhibition
relevant me?

63. The process:
1. Understand
values
2. Demonstrate or
create relevance
3. Build and
nurture
relationships

65. The model:
1. Define purpose
2. Establish
encompassing
values
3. Link purpose and
values to create
behaviours
4. Deliver
behaviours
through tactics

66. THANK YOU.