Museum Technology Newbies: Museums: On the web and in the hand

As you can see from this post's title, the topic to be covered is both huge and wide ranging. As already made evident, I do not profess to be an expert (nay, not even an advanced beginner!). I am a true "newbie" when it comes to mobile technology and website design. However, I do have a couple of assets at my disposal. And so, I will attempt here to offer you a cornucopia of resources, information, and advice gleaned from actual experts.

I know that one of the biggest challenges with being new to the museum tech arena (and also a problem that plagues many of us in this information age) is the sheer volume of information out there. Many of my colleagues have asked for a magic wand/site/person/spell/power/etc. that would comb through, gauge, aggregate, and disseminate all of the pertinent information in an easy to find, search, navigate, and understand form. While this blog might not be all of those things, Shauna and I do hope to offer at least a good smattering of the best information out there in a form that is easy to read. So...back to the topic at hand: museum website, mobile websites, and apps.

Museum Websites: Some food for thought

There are thousands of museum websites out there. Some are wonderful (see examples in the "Resources" section below). These websites extend, enhance, and expand their users' experiences through thoughtful, exciting, and engaging content (including videos, pictures, resources, forums, information, and games). Unfortunately, many websites are mediocre at best. I am sure we have all experienced one of those kinds of websites. Think back to those disappointing experiences...what frustrated you? What was missing from the experience? What were you expecting and how did it differ from the product you found? Answering some of these questions can help you shape the right kind of website for your visitors. Which brings me to my next point...

Who is your online audience?

It is important to answer this question first, when starting to create your institution's website. Your online audience might include any of the following:

Teachers and students
Parents
Actual visitors (both PRE and POST)
Browsers
Non-visitors
Experts and researchers
Groups

Are your onsite and online visitors the same people? Do they have the same needs? Why do people come to your website? Are onsite and online visitors valued equally by your museum? Obviously not all museums will have the same types of online visitors - just as they don't have the same onsite visitors. A small town historic house does not need the same kind of website as the Smithsonian. But both types of museums do have some things in common. Those are the basics. I would categorize the basics as the following things (ranked according to importance):

1. Orientation / online info desk (hours, admission, location, contact info)

2. Calendar (what's going on, when, where, etc.)

3. Textbook / online catalogue or collection / resource (to varying degrees)

4. Relationship builder (how visitors get involved, donate, etc.)

5. Feedback collector (give visitors a place to share their views, ask ?'s, and share info)

6. Revenue generator (online store, advanced ticket sales)

When you design your website - figure out who your users are and what they need. Then build a site that does those things. Sounds easy enough, right?

Accessibility: it's important online too!(?)

That should not be a question. Laws require it and the museums (these days at least) are in the business of being accessible. View your website as a means for increasing accessibility to your museum. There are many resources you can use to make sure that your site meets basic accessibility standards - you can find these in the "Resources" section of this post. Additionally, your website should utilize the Universal Design approach. According to universaldesign.com, "Universal Design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaption or specialized design." Or as I like to think of it: (KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid). Universal Design sounds a lot better though and is definitely more PC. KISS is just easier to remember. But while we are on the topic of keeping it simple...

The importance of the "first impression"

That old adage is true online too: you only have one chance to make a first impression. Often, your museum's WEBSITE is the first (and sometimes only) interaction that visitors have with your museum. Make sure it is the right one. That goes from content, to design, even down to the structure of the site itself. Consider these "best practices" when designing your website:

Your website should follow the principle of Universal Design
Your museum's website should reflect the user's understanding and not the museum's structure
Information architecture should be clear and meaningful to users
Page layouts should be consistent
Content should be easy to find
Your website should be an extension of your brand

What's unique about museum websites?

Museum websites, at their best, can offer truly unique and even customizable experiences for visitors and users. As mentioned above, these stellar sites enhance, extend, and expand user experiences. They can engage, entertain, and even educate users. All the things that really good physical museums can do too! What are some elements of these unique and engaging websites? Things that are harder to do in person. On websites you can:

Customize the experience (users)
Save / create personal collections (users)
Comment on individual objects (users)
Search quickly and easily (users)
Converse comfortably with strangers (users)
Converse with museum staff (users)
Conduct focus groups / instant research (museums)
Provide more content than you can in the museum (museums)

Museum websites: Another (provocative) viewpoint

Now that I've just given you my two-cents on museum websites and how to think about building them, let me leave you with a totally different perspective on museum websites. This is not meant to confuse or anger you, but to just get you thinking outside the box when it comes to creating websites. I don't agree with this video completely by any means, but I do think it is good to challenge norms and think creatively when engaged in problem-solving. So here it is...try to enjoy it!

Mobile websites: ~~for people on the go!~~ ALL PEOPLE

N.B: Museums and mobile is a HUGE topic and I cannot possibly address everything it does in this post. For that I will refer you to www.museummobile.info. In this post, I'll be addressing mobile websites and apps.

Mobile isn't just for this weird subset of people who happen to be always on the go and also happen to have fancy devices. The world is moving in the direction (very rapidly) of ubiquitous smartphone/tablet ownership and use. According to the 2010 Horizon Report, " (1) Mobile devices will be the most common way for people to access the internet by 2013; and (2) Internet-capable mobile devices will outnumber computers by the year 2011." Additionally (and consequently), a mobile website is a great place to start if your museum is thinking about creating an application (that's app for short).

Building a mobile website can help your museum start thinking about and planning for design, functionality, and user-experience on an easier scale before mounting a more complicated app project. According to the Smithsonian Institute's Mobile Strategic Plan, "Mobile websites offer the broadest reach of rich data. They are the (1) most easily updated of mobile offerings; and (2) are easier, faster, and cheaper to build than a typical application."

You might be thinking, "But I already have a great website! Why do I have to make a special mobile website too?!" Looking at this picture answers that question...

As you can see, the non-mobile website really diminishes the user's experience. I can't keep saying it enough: first impressions matter. If people can't navigate your site - even if they are accessing it on a mobile device instead of a fixed one - they won't want to interact with your institution.

So how can you solve this problem? Use the technique of "Responsive Design." This just means that the site you're trying to access will be optimized for the size of your screen. There are lots of companies out there that offer this type of technology. Drupal and Catalyst are good examples.

There's an app for THAT?!

Yep. It's true. There's even an app for museums. Many, many, many apps for them in fact. A quick "museum" search on the iTunes App Store elicits literally thousands of apps. Obviously these vary in quality, concept, goal, and content. In addition to being used in exhibits, apps can be utilized outside of your museum in the form of a game, like SCVNGR GoSmithsonian app. They can also be maps or guides like the Golden Gate Park Field Guide app. They can even be in-depth research tools like the UVaM app. I particularly like this app because it is so object-focused. It truly enhances one's experience with objects found in the University of Virginia Art Museum's collection.

What do mobile apps offer? The simple answer is more functionality. Specifically, apps offer:

Ability to use unique device features (camera, social media, zoom, swipe, spin, etc.)
Self-contained content experiences that can be purchased and/or downloaded prior to a visit (users can be more prepared and get more out of a visit)
Bandwidth / coverage-independence (no need to worry about connectivity issues)
The potential to enhance, extend, and expand users' experiences by engaging, entertaining, and educating!

Like any tech project - deciding to create an app should be approached responsibly. Do your research to figure out if this is the best mode of delivery for your content, audience, mission, and objectives. This list of "How to avoid the common pitfalls of app development" might come in handy too.

One other note about apps...

Open source is a philosophy, or pragmatic methodology that promotes free redistribution and access to an end product's design and implementation details. With apps, that means that once someone develops the technology for an app, they then make the details known so that others can use the same technology to create new, slightly different apps without constantly re-inventing the wheel. I recently interviewed my colleague, Kim Skerritt, Mobile Learning Program Educator at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum's EdLab, about open-source apps and accessibility. You can listen to the resulting podcast of that interview or read a transcript shortly.

As with your website and mobile website, it is important to keep in mind accessibility when creating an app for your museum. Universal design and giving visitors the option of borrowing devices can keep your app accessible to just about everyone.

Congrats! So you created it! Now you have to care for it...forever!

That heading is not meant to scare you away from creating a website, mobile website, or app. It's just supposed to remind you that launching it is not the end of the journey - it's the beginning of the next chapter in the journey. To maintain the trust and confidence of your visitors and to keep them coming back for more, you have to keep your content fresh, up-to-date, and working. That requires a long-term sustainability plan. Whatever you do, do not attempt any technology project without a long-term sustainability plan! Seriously. We can all attest to the fact nothing is worse then encountering technology that is broken or not working. As discussed above, you only have one chance to make a first impression, and it can take 20 subsequent good interactions to repair a bad first one. Here are some excellent tech-sustainability tips:

Keep it working by having the following:

Contingency fund
Documentation
Budget for bug fixes, technology upgrades, hardware replacements, staffing

Keep it new, fresh and relevant by having the following:

Plan for content management and export procedures
Staff - fund an ongoing project champion
Cross-departmental teams that stay involved
Systems that harness the network effect to get better when more people use them (think Pandora)

Are there any other tips out there? What about really fantastic (or not so fantastic) examples of websites, mobile websites or apps? Did we miss some? Sharing best practices, role models, and tips, as well as how-to's, project guidelines and plans, and even technology is what will help all of us move forward into the web 2.0 era so that visitors' experiences are enhanced, extended, and expanded.

And so we wish you good luck and godspeed. Creating a website, mobile website, or mobile app is no easy task, but hopefully, you'll feel better prepared to do so. Please send us your comments, suggestions, resources, success-stories, and frustrations. We'd love to hear them!

Resources:

Accessibility

www.universaldesign.com

http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm

http://trace.wisc.edu/resources/web-resources.php

Websites

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/29/arts/artsspecial/29web.html?_r=2

http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.com/2011/04/whats-point-of-museum-website.html

http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_primary.asp

http://www.webmonkey.com/2010/02/html_cheatsheet/

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2004/papers/bergeron/bergeron.html

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/burnette/burnette.html