Learning from museum visits: Shaping design sensitivities

Abstract

This paper describes an observational study of visitors interacting with artefacts in a museum, and attempts to draw from these studies a number of design considerations. Gaining a thorough understanding of the context, and the way visitors move through the exhibitions and interact around the objects on display, is crucial in designing effective museum installations. In our research, we are designing novel installations that will engage visitors in a natural and unobtrusive way. Our designs – which are ongoing at the moment – are informed by our field study work at the museum site. Our purpose here is to show how our observations can indeed be made relevant to design concerns, a topic that is technology. fundamental to the development of successful pervasive