A Review of Museum Web Sites: In Search of User-Centred Design

Abstract

The introduction of the Web in museum environments is a relativelynew phenomenon and the ways to utilise it are still very much underinvestigation. This review investigates the process of design thatunderlies current museum web sites and argues that it will be crucialto their future evolution and success to centre this process aroundthe users. Based on a small-scale questionnaire of leading museumweb sites, it is found that the development of these sites has beena fringe activity. The museums have needed time to gain experiencewith the new medium and have essentially designed their sites aroundtheir own understanding of what museums are and how museum-relatedinformation can be communicated. A process of user-centred designseems a crucial next step in order to get beyond three characteristicsof the current sites: (1) The majority of the museum sites have beendeveloped without a clear notion of what the site should achieve.(2) The sites have not been evaluated to find out whether they matchthe users' needs and wishes. (3) The material on the sites tendsto duplicate material in the physical museums rather than to rethinkit given the possibilities provided by the new medium.