museumsandtheweb.com - usability

Rhizomatic Art Stories - Balancing between Innovation and Usability

Merete Sanderhoff — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:28:39 +0000

MW2011

Annette Rosenvold Hvidt and Merete Sanderhoff, SMK National Gallery of Denmark, Denmark

http://www.smk.dk/kunsthistorier

Abstract

In 2008 SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark, initiated a 5-year digital strategy. A core project of this strategy is Art Stories: an innovative online resource that offers stories and background material about artworks, artists and how they connect. The ambition is to make art history come alive on the Web, utilizing the possibilities offered by digital media. Art Stories was developed over a three-year period in a highly iterative process. Our vision has been to create an 'art history on the terms of the Web' which implies structuring the content in a complex, 'rhizomatic' way. We have repeatedly invited users to discuss and test the concept, hoping to ensure an engaging and intuitively navigable online art experience. This paper goes through the process of developing the site in dialogue with users – but also sometimes against their immediate demands and expectations.

Keywords: Art history, persuasive design, usability, iterative process, lessons learned

Program Item Reference:

Rhizomatic Art Stories – balancing between innovation and usability

Multimedia guide, visitor interaction omnidirectional

Christina Costabile — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:29:48 +0000

MW2011

Keywords:

digitization

Keywords:

usability

Keywords:

Web 2.0

Keywords:

cross media

Keywords:

iPhone application

Keywords:

blog

Keywords:

Multimedia Tour

Keywords:

multimedia tour

Keywords:

visitor involvement

Keywords:

exhibition

Keywords:

mobile interpretation tool

Keywords:

communication with exhibits

Keywords:

state-of-the-art

Keywords:

interact with the exhibition

Abstract:

NOUS will demonstrate a state-of-the-art visitor engagement and involvement concept with a show case of real interactions from the European Parliament in Brussels/Belgium.

Mobile interpretation tools are often seen as a singular entity with no connection and communication to e.g. room installations, archives, social networks and the exhibit and exhibition room itself.

Audio- and multimedia guide concepts with their communication these days work one way only. A mobile multimedia handheld with location based technology can communicate bi- and omnidirectional with exhibits, other visitors, etc.

The visitor with a mobile handheld can now communicate with exhibits, the exhibition itself, archives and leave comments (written, voice comments), vote or even trigger actions in the exhibition hall.

NOUS invented concepts for:

"be my key", "recognize me", "give me deeper information", "tell me a story", "translate me" and "let me control"

and combined staged media with a personal handheld device in exhibitions.

Type:

Exhibitor Briefing - discuss your product. Confirmed Exhibitors only

Omnidirectional visitor interaction

Site:

http://www.nousguide.com/en/explore.html

Authors:

Christina Costabile

Rapid Prototyping and Collaboration Using Google Wave

biblio — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:34:56 +0000

Koepfler, J., & Maki J. (2010). Rapid Prototyping and Collaboration Using Google Wave. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web 2010. Proceedings.

Pimp My Site Architecture: Reorganization and Usability Tools and Tactics to Reinvigorate Museum Web Sites on a Budget

biblio — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:34:54 +0000

Masri, L., & Grossman E. (2010). Pimp My Site Architecture: Reorganization and Usability Tools and Tactics to Reinvigorate Museum Web Sites on a Budget. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web 2010. Proceedings.

Multitouch and Multiuser Design

jspadaccini — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:20:53 +0000

MW2011

Keywords:

design

Keywords:

usability

Keywords:

user interface

Keywords:

multitouch

Keywords:

multiuser

Keywords:

open exhibits

Abstract:

Multitouch and multiuser exhibits are changing the ways in which visitors interact with computer-based exhibits in museums. This half-day workshop will explore the technology and design aspects of multitouch, multiuser exhibit development.

Multitouch exhibits allow designers to move away from traditional graphical user-interfaces and incorporate more natural and intuitive controls. Shared surface computing (multitouch, multiuser environments) presents a new complexity in design: encouraging collaboration and communication among multiple visitors may take precedence over traditional interface concepts such as designing efficient ways for individuals to navigate or accomplish tasks.

In this half-day workshop, we'll explore a variety of multitouch technologies including off-the-shelf multitouch-enabled PCs and mobile devices, along with a look under the hood of our newest custom-built large-format touch table. Participants will see a variety of examples and prototypes, including many that use Web-based technologies. We'll see how multitouch technology is used to browse multimedia elements, RSS Feeds, mapping services, and other Web-based applications and mash-ups.

Finally, we'll explore the design challenges that shared surface computing and multitouch technologies present. We'll examine some traditional computer-based exhibits and conceptualize how they might be designed differently with multitouch and collaborative capabilities in mind. Through, an engaging rapid design exercise we'll explore and discuss the conceptual, informational, and user-interface aspects of multitouch and multi-user design.

In addition, we will provide a brief introduction to Open Exhibits (www.openexhibits.org), a free and open software initiative for exhibit development in Adobe Flash and Flex.

Type:

Workshop - full or half day

Multi-touch and multi-user design - FULL

Site:

http://www.openexhibits.org

Authors:

Jim Spadaccini

Paul Lacey

Rhizomatic Art Stories – balancing between innovation and usability

Merete Sanderhoff — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:09:30 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

Rhizomatic Art Stories - Balancing between Innovation and Usability

Keywords:

online resources

Keywords:

rhizome

Keywords:

serendipity

Keywords:

syndication

Keywords:

usability

Keywords:

art history

Abstract:

In 2008 SMK National Gallery of Denmark initiated a 5 year digital strategy. A core initiative is Art Stories: an innovative online resource that offers exciting stories and background material about artworks, artists and how they connect. The ambition is to retell the story of art and make it come alive on the web, exploiting the possibilities offered by digital media.

The Gordian knot we have tried to cut is: How do we develop an innovative digital art experience based on a chaotic, ‘rhizomatic’ structural principle, and at the same time keep it intuitively navigable and user-friendly?

Art Stories is a research-based resource founded on the principle of serendipity. Layers of information are hidden in the images, and content can be entered from many different angles. Art Stories is intentionally in the plural and its stories are told by many – often opposing – voices within the art world. Lesser known artists and artworks are shown side by side with more familiar material in order to challenge the traditional notion of a canonized body of ‘highlights’. The idea is to present art history as a ‘rhizome’ – a non-hierarchical network of connections crossing traditional art historical categories – echoing the structure of www. We deliberately eschew a linear structure, hoping users will get lost in the content (in a positive, ‘serendipitic’ sense).

Users create their own tracks through the web of interrelated artists and artworks, and these tracks can inspire other users to find their way through Art Stories. Instead of perceiving SMK’s collections as a ‘walled garden’, the resource is based on syndication and links from SMK to related artworks and content in museums and institutions all over the world.

Art Stories targets adult users with an initial interest in art. User surveys show that they demand more online content that deepens visits to SMK, as well as offering digital art experiences in their own right. During the development of Art Stories we have conducted 5 different user-tests of concept and prototype. Taking into account recent development within the field of art history, it was key for us to create a rhizomatic interface. But several times we faced the dilemma: Users explicitly advised us to adjust the interface to their common expectations and habits. At the same time, we felt strongly about carrying out our original vision. Consequently, we needed to explore how we could make ‘navigating the rhizome’ user-friendly.

Did we achieve this? Only time can tell. Art Stories version 1.0 launches in November 2010, containing more than 700 individual artworks and 500 written pages. Post-launch more content will be added to the ever-expanding stories. Our paper will draw on results from pre-launch tests and focus on the process of developing the concept and design in dialogue with users – but also sometimes against their immediate wishes and expectations. At the time of MW2011, we have been online for 5 months and will present results from new user-tests and surveys that reflect the actual reception and use of Art Stories.

Type:

Paper - in formal session

Collections Online

Authors:

annette hvidt

Merete Sanderhoff

Scholarly Information Seeking Behaviour in the British Museum Online Collection

clairey.ross — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:49:55 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

Scholarly Information-Seeking Behaviour in the British Museum Online Collection

Keywords:

online collections

Keywords:

information seeking

Keywords:

user studies

Keywords:

usability

Keywords:

scholarly searching

Keywords:

search strategies

Keywords:

Abstract:

The vast amounts of digital museum resources available to support scholarship are changing the ways researchers work, offering convenient quick access to a wide selection of cultural heritage content. However, finding information in museums, as well as libraries and archives, is not an easy task. Collections database information systems can be overwhelming and daunting to many users. Designing intuitive systems that meet researcher’s needs requires a thorough understanding of the information seeking behaviour of collection database users. A proper understanding of how museum visitors use digital museum resources is critical for the success of museums in the information age. As museums cope with the challenges of ‘being digital’ (Hamma 2004), meeting the information requirements of online visitors has become an important part of the museum’s role (Marty 2004) and it is now critical for researchers and museum professionals to explore the use of museum digital resources, both in-house and online (Booth 1998; Sarraf 1999).

The British Museum shows continuing commitment to providing as wide virtual and physical access to their collections as possible, utilising different mediums to open up the museum collections to a wider, more diverse audience. This commitment is expressed in the British Museum’s online collection database. In October 2007, the British Museum launched Collection Online (COL[1]), an online version of the collection database. By the end of 2009, nearly 2 million records from the museum collections had been made available to the public worldwide. Despite the online availability of the British Museum Collection, very little is known about the COL’s users and whether and how they utilise the material provided, or if the online collection makes possible new kinds of engagement with museum objects.

This paper presents a collaborative study between UCL Centre for Digital Humanities[2] and the British Museum. This study considers the use and information seeking behaviour by scholars of the British Museum’s Collection Online. From May to September 2010 a series of analyses of users of the British Museum’s COL was undertaken: including log analysis and targeted surveys. This paper is predominately focused on the results of the survey of academic users. The online survey concentrated on gathering data specifically on users of the British Museum’s Collection Online; focusing on user perspectives of their use of the Collection Online, search strategies and general use of museum digital resources.

This paper explores the findings of the research so far, highlights the scholarly value of museum digital resources, examines the existing structures of presentation and representation of the British Museum Collection Online for aiding academic information seeking. This study provides an example of how a thorough detailed analysis of user survey data museums can acquire an awareness of the perceptions that academic user groups hold of the museum collection information environment, as well as understanding how the functionality and usability of museum's digital collection aids individual’s information searching. Additionally, we show how such user studies can provide concrete evidence to improve the functionality of online collections databases.

Booth, B. 1999. Understanding the information needs of visitors to museums. Museum Management and Curatorship 17:2, pp. 139-157.

Hamma, K. 2004. Becoming digital. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 30:5 , pp. 11-13.

Marty, P. F. 2008. Museum websites and museum visitors: digital museum resources and their use. Museum Management and Curatorship, 23:1, 81 – 99

Sarraf, S. (1999) A survey of museums on the web: Who uses museum websites?. Curator 42 , pp. 231-243.

[1] http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_c...

[2] http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dh/

Type:

Paper - in formal session

Info-Seeking

Site:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database.aspx

Authors:

Claire Ross

Melissa Terras

Van Gogh's Letters. Or how to make the results of 15 years of research widely accessible for various audiences and how to involve them?

biblio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:10:58 +0000

de Vet, M., Schreurs E., & Peereboom M. (2010). Van Gogh's Letters. Or how to make the results of 15 years of research widely accessible for various audiences and how to involve them?. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web.

Interactive and customizable learning environment for various users needs - Danish German Virtual Museum Project

jtrant — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:01:03 +0000

Granlie, J., & Macquarrie K. (2008). Interactive and customizable learning environment for various users needs - Danish German Virtual Museum Project. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web 2008. Proceedings.

Location Aware Mobile Interactive Guides: Usability Issues

jtrant — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 03:18:22 +0000

Broadbent, J. (1997). Location Aware Mobile Interactive Guides: Usability Issues. Museum Interactive Multimedia 1997: cultural heritage systems design and interfaces. Selected Papers from ichim97.