Eight Lessons that Web Designers Can Learn from Museum Design Designers

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Eight Lessons that Web Designers Can Learn
from Museum Design Designers

• Saul Carliner
• Visiting Assistant Professor
• City University of Hong Kong

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"What Separates a Museum Worth Suffering for from
One You Wouldn't Stoop to Be Sick in?"
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One. "Did Anyone Target an Age Group?"
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Lessons for Web Design

• Appeal to a variety of demographic groups
• Note occupational and socioeconomic cultures

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Two. "Keep the Collection from Klummetting the
Guests."
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Lessons for Web Design

• Focus content
• Play benevolent censor (even though storage is
  cheap and transmission increasingly easy)
• Watch out for all-technology solutions (beware
  the evil TiVo)
• Use behavioral objectives

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Three. "An Exhibit Is Not a Book on a Wall.
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Lessons for Web Design

• Immersion
• Themes
• Layering
• Skimmability

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Four. "Even the Best Signage Can't Fix a Poorly
Designed Museum.
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Lessons for Web Design

• Beware of
• Browser and GUI screen conventions
• Cueing area
• The non-scrolllng issue
• Note that menu structure mirrors the sturcture of
  underlying code

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More Lessons

• Create signature objects (exclusive content)
• Design for accessibility
• Work with known traffic patterns (when
  appropriate)

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Five. "Museum Exhibits Must Capture the Visitor's
Curiosity."
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Lessons for Web Design

• Storytelling
• As a design technique (backstory, character
  sketches)
• Immersion (through simulations, visual and verbal
  design)
• Create a mood (visual, verbal)

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More Lessons

• Juxtaposition
• Subliminal messages

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Six. WorkTowards "Wow!
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Lessons for Web Design

• Splash screens
• Profiling
• Communities and chats

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But

• Avoid using technology for technologys sake as a
  wow
• Usability experts are from Venus, graphic
  designers are from Mars

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Seven. Avoid "Sound Bleed" and Other Media
Nightmares.
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Lessons for Web Design

• Be wary of narration
• Be sensitive to the technology users have (not
  the technology you want them to have)
• Beware of plug-ins

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Eight. "Attendance Figures Measure Marketing
Strategies, Not Exhibition Strengths.
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Lessons for Web Design

• Visitors?
• System performance?
• Task performance?

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Closing Thoughts