Designing mobile technology for visitors

A game of snakes & ladders

Ben Gammon Consulting

Many ladders

Digital technology can provide

• Vastly more information– 10,000’s of words instead of 60

• In easily readable portions

• Under the control of the visitor– Search or browse

• Using wide range of media– Animation, audio, video, images, text …

Ben Gammon Consulting

Many ladders

Digital technology can provide

• High quality simulations of what cannot be experienced in the real world– Too fast/slow; too big/small; too expensive

• Game-play, problem-solving

• Capture & take away images, information

Ben Gammon Consulting

Many ladders

Mobile technology has all of these plus

• It’s ready to hand when needed

• Out of the way when not required

• A personalised experience

• A personalised record of visit

• Opportunities to interact with other visitors

Ben Gammon Consulting

But there are also snakes

• How do visitors react to the use of digital technology in museums?

• Can visitors make effective use of the technology?

• Does it distract attention from other exhibits?

• Does it disrupt social interaction?

Ben Gammon Consulting

Do visitors want digital technology?

• Emphatically yes!

• Some of the most popular exhibits– High attracting & holding power– Sandifer – technological novelty & open-

endedness associated with high attracting & holding power

Ben Gammon Consulting

Do visitors want digital technology?

• Wide-spread support– Among children & adults – In museums of science & technology– In art galleries & fine art museums

• And mobile technology?

• Yes but …

Ben Gammon Consulting

Can they use the technology?

• Yes - if appropriately designed

• Appropriate design?– Pacing– Quick to learn, intuitive to use (no lengthy

instruction)– Clear chain of cause & effect– Unhelpful ‘help’

Ben Gammon Consulting

Can they use mobile technology?

• Yes - if appropriately designed

• A seamless match between the virtual & the real– What I see & hear matches what is in front of

me

• Design provides a useful conceptual model

A useful conceptual model?

The hamster powered car!

Ben Gammon Consulting

Conceptual models for mobile technology

• An unhelpful conceptual model– The ghostly presence

of cassette tape audio guides

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Problematic conceptual models

• Terminology– Bookmark or email?

• How it functions– Free or fee?

• Purpose of system– Introductory, complementary, supplementary

• Who is it for?

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Does it distract attention?

• No

• Many examples of digital technology increasing engagement with objects– British Galleries at the V&A– Computer Information Points in the Energy

Hall and Nanotechnology exhibition at the Science Museum

– PDA guided tours at Tate Modern

Ben Gammon Consulting

Getting it to work with objects

For fixed kiosk exhibits

• Oriented so user can easily view object

• Purpose is clear to visitors– Introductory, supplementary or

complementary?– Location, orientation of terminals– Seating– Design & content of first few screens

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Getting it to work with objects

For mobile technology

• Seamless match between virtual & real experience– What I see / hear matches what is in front of

me

• Content that directs attention to the objects

Ben Gammon Consulting

Disrupts social interaction?

• Yes - Sellen & Harper: The myth of the paperless office

• Museum visiting is a social activity

• Social interaction promotes learning– Scaffolding children’s learning– Consolidating ideas– Bringing misconceptions to the surface– Importance of disagreement

Ben Gammon Consulting

Disrupts social interaction?

• Less conversation … sometimes– Compelling experience– Ease of use

• But sometimes more!– No inherent barrier to social interaction

• Gelman et al. – computer label as aid to parental support

• Eberbach & Crowley – more conversation (of certain type) at computer than at real plant– Amplified scale, reduced complexity, ability to repeat

experience

Ben Gammon Consulting

And mobile technology?

• Two major potential barriers to social interaction

• Ear-pieces / head-phones

• Not being able to co-ordinate actions with companion– “Like going to a party

& reading a book”

Ben Gammon Consulting

But …

• Not necessarily

• The Sotto Voce project (Woodruff et al)

• An innovative hand-held digital audio guide at the Filoli Historic House, Woodside, CA– http://www.archimuse.com/mw2002/papers/w

oodruff/woodruff.html

Ben Gammon Consulting

The Sotto Voce project

• Close match between virtual & real experience• Audio broken into short sections (6-27 seconds)• Single ear-piece headset• ‘Eavesdropping’ facility over WLAN• Found improved social interaction compared to

traditional audio guide

Finding the ladders, avoiding the snakes

Developing mobile technology that works for visitors

Ben Gammon Consulting

Object & label

Device 1 Device 2

Visitor Companion

Other Visitors

Each line could bea snake or a ladder.It all depends on thedesign of the system