NMCHorizonReport2015:MuseumEdition

SHORTTERMIMPACT
ExpandingtheConceptofVisitors
Museumsareexpandingtheirgeographicalfocustodelivercultural
experiencestoaudiencesaroundtheworld.
Individualsinruralareasoftenhavelimitedtravelopportunitiestovisit
theirnearestmuseumandcanbenefitthroughonlineaccesstoa
museumscollection.
IncreasingFocusonParticipatoryExperiences
Manyartistsandmuseumcuratorsareembracingaparadigmshiftthat
requiresvisitorstoactivelycontributetoinstallationsandexhibitionsto
createmeaning.
Theincreasingfocusonparticipatoryexperienceshasgivenriseto
innovativeapproachesforcreatinganddesigningcontentforthecultural
space.
Socialmediamanagementhasbecomeahighprioritybecauseofits
catchallabilitytotapintowhatvisitorsarethinking,howtheyare
engagingwithmuseumspecificcontent,andwhytheyenjoycertain
culturalexperiencesoverothers.
Publicrelationsexpertsworkinginthemuseumfieldarefocusedonhow
socialmediacreatesachannelforcommunicationbefore,during,and
afteratriptothemuseumwhichcanbeausefultoolforcustomer
care.
MIDTERMIMPACT
IncreasingCrossInstitutionalCollaboration
Researchersnotedthatpartnershipsbetweenmuseumscorrelatewith
keythemes,whichincludetakingadvantageofeachotherstechnological
developments.
Animportantcomponentofthistrendisaspiritofopenness.
Advancingcrossmuseumcollaborationrequiresleaderstodesign
programsthatconvenemuseumsaroundtechnologycentricpurposes.
Thesecollaborationscanalsohaveaprofoundeffectonlearning,
especiallywhenmuseumsarecreativelyincorporatedintoformal
education.
IncreasingFocusonDataAnalyticsforMuseumOperations
Amajorshiftisoccurringinculturalorganizationsastheybegin
leveragingnewdataanalysistechniquestoinformtheiroperations.
Onceinsidethemuseum,dataanalyticsarebeingemployedto
understandvisitorsfoottraffic.
CulturalDataProject

TheCulturalDataProject(CDP)
offersa
uniquesystemthatenablesartsandculturalorganizationstoenter

financial,programmaticandoperationaldataintoastandardized
onlineform.
TheCDPprovidesnonprofitartsandculturalorganizations
withthetoolsnecessarytostreamlinefinancialreporting,
quicklyandeasilytracktrendsintheirownperformance
andbenchmarkthemselvesagainstothers.Asa
participant,youenterhistoricalfinancial,programmaticand
operationaldataintoastandardizedonlineformattheend
ofeachfiscalyear.Afterthat,youcaninstantlygenerate
annualreportstoviewfinancial,attendanceandprogram
activitydataforafiscalyear,aswellastrendreportsto
displaythreeyearsofyourorganizationsinformationside
byside.
MobileSensing,BYODandBigDataAnalytics:Newtechnologies
foraudienceresearchinmuseums
Collectivelythefindingsofthesestudiessuggestthat
mobilesensingsupportstheacquisitionofricherand
deeperdatasetsrelatingtothevisitorexperiencethatcan
potentiallyrevealagreaterdiversityofpatternsofvisitor
behaviouraswellasthechangingdynamicsofvisiting
overtime.
Themostcommontypeofmobilesensingenables
therecordingofthelocationofthevisitoratspecific
timeintervals.Inthisway,itbecomespossibleto
trackvisitorsastheymovethroughanexhibitionor
sitewithouttheactiveinvolvementofaresearcher.
LONGTERMIMPACT
ExpandingtheBoundaries
Guidedbythecorevalueofcreativity,leveragingemergingtoolshas
enabledmuseumstofostermoreinteractiveexperiencesatrendthat
onlycontinuestogrowinimportance.
Museumshavebeenturningtocreativetoolssuchasaugmentedand
virtualrealitytoallowpeopletoexperiencetheobjectsorthemomentsin
history.

Trendswatch

MoreThanHuman:extendingthespectrumofability
Moreorganizations,includingmuseums,arerealizingthataccessibledesignis
simplygooddesignsimple,intuitive,flexibleandequitableevenifexamples
ofgood,accessibledesigninpracticearestilldistressinglyrare.Andstartingwith
gooddesignminimizesthecircumstancesinwhichadditionalmodificationsare
neededtomeettheneedsofpeoplewithspecificdisabilities.
Wearerapidlymovingbeyondtherealmofassistivetechnology,designedfor
peoplewithdisabilities,intoaugmentativetechnologythatexpandsthe
boundariesofbasichumancapabilities.
Me/We/Here/There:museumsandthematrixofplacebasedaugmenteddevices
IfVRandARexperiencesbecomebothaffordableandwidelyaccessible,
museumswillneedtosharpentheirpositioningandvaluepropositionwiththeir
communities.
ARandVRwillprovidenewwaystoshareandaccessexpertise.
CapturetheFlag:thestruggleoverrepresentationandidentity
Takeafreshlookattheirownenvironmentandtheovertandsubtlesignalsthey
mightsendaboutthecategoriesinwhichtheyplacevisitors,potentiallysignaling
whoiswelcomeandnotwelcome.
Createproductivewaystonavigatecontroversywithinthemuseumsown
sphereanticipatingandwelcominghardconversationsbeforetheneedarises.