DIGITAL FUTURES: MUSEUM WEBSITES

online experience

MA conference, Cardiff 9 October 2014

Martin Bazley

Digital Heritage Consultant

Martin Bazley

Previously:

• Teaching (7 yrs)

• Science Museum, London, Internet Projects (7yrs)

• E-Learning Officer, Museums,Libraries and Archives (MLA) South East (3yrs)

Slides: www.slideshare.net/martinbazley

Martin Bazley Now:

• Developing online resources, websites, user testing, evaluation, training, consultancy…

• Mentor and Monitor for HLF digital projects Martin Bazley & Associates www.martinbazley.com

• Chair, Digital Learning Network DLNET

Martin Bazley & Associates

BBC / Public Catalogue

Foundation Your Paintings

project

Consulting on user interface

Consulting on online survey

User testing

Martin Bazley & Associates

Ford Madox Brown Work

schools interactive with

embedded video

Consulting on content and

user interface

User testing (classroom-

based)

(Also worked on

redevelopment of main

website)

Martin Bazley & Associates

Development of small and

medium sized websites

Based on WordPress or

other low cost, flexible CMS,

working with various web

developer associates

Martin Bazley & Associates

John Ruskin Elements of

Drawing website

Consulting on content and

user interface

User testing with HE and

Ruskin specialists

Also development of schools

resource

Martin Bazley & Associates

The National Archives

Cabinet Papers project

Consulting on content and

user interface for schools

User testing (classroom-

based)

Martin Bazley & Associates

Training

Writing for the web

Developing online resources

Planning online audience

research and impact

assessment

Video for the web

Podcasting – planning,

production, promotion

Social media

Etc: ‘anything digital’

Perfect museum website - perfect for who?

The perfect museum website would be perfect for

everyone.

That would be wonderful but is not possible:

accepting this is an important part of

development.

You can't fool all the people all of the time.

Be clear about target (and actual) audiences and

their needs

What is a museum website for?

(apart from getting people to visit the museum)

A museum website is for…

… an enjoyable online experience - easy to use

… spending quality time with your objects

… learning in the widest sense

... crowdsourcing as a learning opportunity

… users to reuse your content

… consuming anywhere, anytime

A museum website is for…

… an enjoyable online experience - easy to use

… spending quality time with your objects

… learning in the widest sense

... crowdsourcing as a learning opportunity

… users to reuse your content

… consuming anywhere, anytime

People use the web differently…

… from the way they access printed material books, object labels in galleries,

magazines, newspapers, and information screens, etc

For most people the web is a predominantly

visual medium

Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug

Classic, entertaining introduction to improving website usability

A museum website is for…

… an enjoyable online experience - easy to use

… spending quality time with your objects

… learning in the widest sense

... crowdsourcing as a learning opportunity

… users to reuse your content

… consuming anywhere, anytime

… spending some quality time with your objects

www.britishmuseum.org/explore/a_history_of_the_world.aspx

A museum website is for…

How not to present online collections

to non-specialists

A museum website

Search our collections Go

Let’s assume (a) you know what we have (b) you know what you are looking for Here’s the search box:

Online collections

A museum website

Online collections In this introduction to our online collections we present all the points we feel we ought to mention to show that we know our collections well and that they are important collections. All the points we feel we ought to mention to show that we know

our collections well and that they are important collections. All the points we feel we

ought to mention to show that we know our collections well and that they are important

collections. All the points we feel we ought to mention to show that we know our

collections well and that they are important collections. All the points we feel we ought

to mention to show that we know our collections well and that they are important

collections. All the points we feel we ought to mention to show that we know our

collections well and that they are important collections. All the points we feel we ought

to mention to show that we know our collections well and that they are important

collections. All the points we feel we ought to mention to show that we know our

collections well and that they are important collections. All the points we feel we ought

to mention to show that we know our collections well and that they are important

collections. All the points we feel we ought to mention to show that we know our

collections well and that they are important collections. All the points we feel we ought

to mention to show that we know our collections well and that they are important

collections.

A museum website

Both of the above examples might work well for researchers or those with close connections to the museum. But they are less likely to engage a wider audience. Bear in mind also that only a small proportion of your web users actually use online collections. sSe e.g. London Museums Hub research

Is the amount of money spent on it justified?

Zoe Hendon, Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture

How users use online collecctions

A museum website is for…

… an enjoyable online experience - easy to use

… spending quality time with your objects

… learning in the widest sense

... crowdsourcing as a learning opportunity

… users to reuse your content

… consuming anywhere, anytime

http://www.inspiringlearningforall.gov.uk/toolstemplates/genericlearning/

Learning, in the widest sense

Finding things interesting

Volunteering as learning opportunities e.g. crowdsourcing

Feedback on objects - what would you collect?

What do teachers want?

https://vimeo.com/18888798

key ideas not lesson plans

https://vimeo.com/18867252

Oli Knight timesaver

Elements of online learning

resources*

Image(s) + caption(s)

Key question(s) / short activities

Background notes, activity sheets

Short videos

Zoomable images

Interactive

More complex functionality

Increasin

g cost an

d co

mp

lexity Mo

st u

sefu

l fo

r te

ach

ers

These are the first

things to provide, and

do not require high

levels of IT expertise or

investment

First two can be done quite easily

The others will mean investment

of money and /or expert time

* for schools and other formal learning situations

http://ruskin.ashmolean.org/

http://educationonline.ashmolean.org/ruskin/

A museum website is for…

… an enjoyable online experience - easy to use

… spending quality time with your objects

… learning in the widest sense

... crowdsourcing as a learning opportunity

… users to reuse your content

… consuming anywhere, anytime

A museum website is for…

… an enjoyable online experience - easy to use

… spending quality time with your objects

… learning in the widest sense

... crowdsourcing as a learning opportunity

… users to reuse your content

… consuming anywhere, anytime

A museum website is for…

… an enjoyable online experience - easy to use

… spending quality time with your objects

… learning in the widest sense

... crowdsourcing as a learning opportunity

… users to reuse your content

… consuming anywhere, anytime

http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/digital-media/mw2014-digital-arrival-and-unpredictability

People already spend more time browsing the web on

mobile devices than on desktop computers http://www.tumotech.com/2014/04/15/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-mobile-phones-the-app-store-and-the-mobile-web/

http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/digital-media/museum-visitors-using-mobile

When developing a new service for mobile, should you

create an app or a (mobile-friendly) website? Are apps the

new 'must have'? An app is not always the best choice. Good blog post: http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/digital-media/museumnext2014-apps-v-web

How to get it right

Audiences – research, make clear choices, then

evaluate as you go JISC SCA guidance, GetReal, AudienceFinder

Work with good people – ask others for

recommendations and look into their past work

Budget for independent consultation, user testing and

evaluation

Adopt an agile, iterative approach to development

Different users, different needs...

How do you get it right for everyone?

You can’t get it right for everyone.

You need to make clear decisions such as...

• Who is it for?

• What does it offer them?

• How will they use it?

To do that, you need to find out about your users

Testing is an iterative process

Testing isn’t something you do once

Make something

=> test it

=> refine it

=> test it again

Key point:

for a site designed for schools,

the most effective user testing observations

will be made in a real classroom situation

Evaluation: 2-phase approach

Site ready in parts – but not too ready:

The environment and social dynamics

The environment had a significant

impact on how the site was

used.

The class dynamic within the

different groups contributed to

how much the students learned.

Martin Bazley

'This classroom user testing is all very well, but...'

How can you see everything in a class of

30 children – don't you miss things?

You see things in a classroom

that don't arise in one-to-one

testing

They are the real issues

'This classroom user testing is all very well, but...'

Doesn't using a specific class with

particular needs skew the results? » For example, low ability, poor English, equipment not

working, behaviour issues, etc - are results as reliable

as those in a 'neutral' environment?

» ‘neutral environment’ ? – no such thing - any test will be

subjective, and in any case:

» Testing is to make website work well in classroom, -

need to see effects of factors like those.

'This classroom user testing is all very well, but...'

Martin Bazley

Feel free to phone or email for help

0780 3580 727

martin@martinbazley.com