Research

Thesis Research

Museums and the “Digital Curb Cut”
Creating Accessible, Rich-Media Learning Experiences Online

A B S T R A C T
This research explores the bridging of technological resources with user-centered design for the purpose of making online cultural learning more accessible and usable by diverse audiences. Two surveys were designed to reveal the perceived and real barriers inherent in accessible multimedia design within the museum community. Technical museum staff and external multimedia developers were surveyed to determine the extent of institutional policies for multimedia accessibility, familiarity with access standards and legislation, and how responsibility for accessibility is negotiated between the museum and developers. Three case studies provide specific examples of how these barriers to accessibility are being addressed by museums and the developers who create their multimedia applications.

The thesis was awarded the Dean’s prize at Harvard for outstanding thesis in museum studies. Read thesis online or download pdf version (2.78K).

Mobile Accessibility Research

Antonine Wall Multimedia Accessibility Plan
Created for the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow

A B S T R A C T
The Antonine Wall in Scotland extends the width of the country and continues across Austria, Germany and Slovenia. Its construction was ordered by the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius in 142 AD to demarcate the northernmost boundaries of the Roman Empire. In 2007, Historic Scotland presented a proposal to UNESCO for inclusion of the Antonine Wall in “the European Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.” In conjunction with the Antonine Wall nomination, the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery at the University of Glasgow in Scotland is preparing an Antonine Wall Interpretation Center at the University to highlight their rich collection of objects from the Roman bathhouses and forts discovered along the Antonine Wall.

The goal of this project is to connect the Hunterian’s collection, to be housed in the Interpretation Center galleries, with the geographically remote sites through the use of multimedia technology. Media-based interpretation will be provided both in the gallery and via downloadable, media-guided walking tours to relate the history of the Romans in Scotland, as told through the objects and contextualized by the historic sites. This project focuses specifically on developing an implementation plan to deliver media-rich learning experiences accessible to persons of all abilities, via diverse mobile devices and desktop applications. The relevant Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are discussed, along with suggested methods for implementing these guidelines. Use cases and visitor personas are proposed in order to best understand the needs, motivations and limitations of a variety of possible visitors. Additionally, field research has demonstrated that are many lessons to be learned from previously executed projects that have taken a similar approach, and the findings are summarized in the relevant “Access Issues to Consider” sections.

This project was presented at a demonstration session at Museums and the Web 2007 in San Francisco. View conference paper or download a pdf of the presentation.

Visitor Studies Research

Summative Evaluation of Mathematica: A World of Numbers and Beyond
Prepared for the Boston Museum of Science
May 19, 2004

A B S T R A C T

The compact and elegantly designed exhibition Mathematica: A World of Numbers and Beyond continues to draw in and engage a wide range of visitors four decades after its initial design was established by the now infamous designing duo, Charles and Ray Eames. The near dizzying array of information presented, combined with the abstract subject matter presented, resulted in some interesting patterns in visitor behavior. Most notably, a great dichotomy was revealed in the types of exhibits visitors were drawn to and spent the most time.

Tracking and Timing, Exit Surveys, Exit Interviews, Component Observations and a case study were conducted at the Boston Museum of Science to determine how audiences today respond to the dated exhibition. This information may be useful to assess whether or not changes or updates should be made to the content or visitor experience in general. This report will focus on the Tracking and Timing results and correlate the data from other instruments when appropriate.

50 visitors were tracked and timed for a total of 8 hours. Given the relatively intimate scale (approx. 3200 sq. ft.) and number of components (12) in Mathematica, compared to most science museum exhibitions, it is not too surprising that the Sweep Rate Index (SRI) was lower than average at 336.8.1 This indicates that visitors spent more time per square footage than the average science museum exhibition. On average, visitors spent 9.5 minutes in the exhibition. There were also an extremely high percentage of diligent visitors (46%) than the average for science museums (13.5%), indicating that almost half of all visitors stopped at 50% or more of the components.

Visitors responded to the complexity of Mathematica in a number of ways. A relatively small percentage of visitors (25%) were attracted to the Static components in general (History Wall, Reading Stands, Left and Right Image Wall and the Models Case). However, those who were drawn to the History Wall in particular, spent an extraordinary amount of time absorbing the information, averaging 3.5 minutes. 27% of visitors who stopped at the History Wall studied it for more than 5 minutes, and the maximum time spent at any single component was at the History Wall (13 minutes). The Left Image Wall, another Static component, had the second highest time at 10 minutes. For many, these components may have been perceived as too much work to comprehend or the subject matter outside their area of interest. Yet the numbers indicate a high level of aesthetic and/or intellectual engagement with the Static components when they were visited. This met with the designers initial goals of the exhibition to make learning an active process of sorting through an overwhelming amount of information.

Download Mathematica_Summative_Evaluation (pdf)