Gamification of the Museum Experience — UX Case Study
How can we make the experience of the British Museum more engaging? This is a question my team and I sought to answer on our third concept project at General Assembly.
Brief
We were asked to create a highly engaging experience that helped visitors to the museum track what they have enjoyed and share those discoveries on social media. Visitors had to be able to learn more about artefacts they liked and interact with the museum in some way. Lastly, the museum needed a way to make recommendations based on visitors profiles.
We started our research with 3 main questions:
- How do visitors interact with content?
- How do they learn more?
- What do they like/don’t like?
With these in mind we set off on a trip to the British Museum.
Site visit key findings
- Tend to wander around with no clear path in mind
- Read descriptions at the start but interest dwindles as time goes on
- Take photos of things they like
- The ‘you are here’ on the map was worn away
We interviewed 13 museum goers.
Interview key findings
- Go to learn and for a day out
- 75% referred to it as a social experience
- Want a story behind the artefacts and linear path
- All remembered museum experiences that had an interactive element
- To learn more, they open tabs in google for later reading
We put all of our research findings together and highlighted the key trends that would frame our next phase.
Our ‘persona’ or typical user was defined from the 73% majority of our survey respondents.
The user journey through a museum is quite varied. We decided to focus on the area in the middle where the user engages with multiple instances of content. We identified 4 different scenarios:
- Julia sees something interesting, takes a photo and shares on social media. (happy)
- Julia sees something interesting but is looking for different information than what the description provides. (frustrated)
- Julia sees something interesting but there is too much to read in the description so she moves on. (overwhelmed)
- Julia is looking for the most popular artefact but can’t find it. (frustrated)
Problem: Julia needs a way to find all her points of interest because everything is scattered throughout the museum.
We asked ourselves some questions to frame our design phase:
- How might we enhance and personalise her experience?
2. How might we make her experience more interactive?
3. How might we help her share her experience with friends?
We conducted our first ‘design studio’ session and found it incredibly useful for both the rapid creation of ideas and ensuring every team member is heard. We explored ideas such as short educational animations, 3D views and a photo bingo game. With the help of an effort to impact scale, we decided upon a function that would generate fun facts about an artefact the visitor scanned.
Key learning — the importance of sleeping on an idea is paramount.
The next day our team came together and we were skeptical about the design solution. Was it impactful enough? To shake the feeling we conducted another design studio. This was a key turning point in our project.
Out of this we developed a game that would tie artefacts together in a cohesive story. We played around with the ideas of solving a murder mystery or embodying the identity of Cleopatra. This focused more on the problem of narrative and curation museums have with artefacts seemingly scattered and unrelated to each other. We were excited by this idea!
User testing key findings
- Loved the scavenger hunt!
- Excited to share photo with museum themed filter
- Confused by on-boarding of QR code scanner
- Not keen on sign-up flow
“Why should I sign-up?”
- The sign-up page occurred directly after on-boarding which annoyed our users considerably. They were so excited for the game, they all continued as guest. There was also no incentive for sign-up.
- At mid-fi level, we moved the sign-up page to after completion of the game. Users had found the value in the game and were more inclined to create an account. However the title was perceived to be ‘needy’ and there was too much text.
- By hi-fi iteration we had nailed it. The incentives were clear and yet the page wasn’t intrusive with an easy escape if needed.
“Did I finish the game?”
- Our first sketch was crowded and confusing. Players didn’t understand what we meant by ‘you’ve discovered a photo filter’.
- At mid-fi, we simplified the page a bit too much, removing all of the words and thus the end of the story. We left a big space for the filter image but realised this required a hi-fi visual to make sense.
- By hi-fi we achieved the balance. Players understood the game was over and the mystery ‘unravelled’. The visual of the photo filter was easily understood and enticing.
Learn more
Players can swipe for bite-sized fun facts about an artefact in the story line. They can also see how the story progresses to the next artefact and how it is related.
Interact
Players use the QR scanner to delve deeper and test their knowledge with occasional mini-quizzes. They go on a scavenger hunt.
Social share
Players unlock exclusive augmented reality filters upon completion of each storyline. They then share these on social media which then encourages their friends to try the experience themselves.
Track & Recommend
Once the player signs up to receive discounts and updates, the museum can suggest new exhibits and storylines based on their interests stored in their user profile.
Next steps
If we could take this project further, there are three things we would love to explore:
- Consult with historical experts to adapt the game to other storylines.
- Create storylines for children with more quiz and hunt features.
- Create an achievement gallery to save and collect photo filters.
Conclusion
My team and I found what I think is the best way to improve museum engagement. We adapted the key features of a game to the traditional learning and viewing experience which was very well-received by users.
My key learnings
I learned to be comfortable with the research and ideation phase which invokes so much uncertainty of direction. It’s important to let the research provide the answers and if your gut feeling is off, that needs to be explored. In this project, I found my team members looked to me for confidence and direction and I happily embraced the function of team facilitator. I thoroughly enjoyed this project and teamwork experience, and discovered a passion for education design.
