UX Research: Understanding Museum Communication
Ironhack UX/UI Bootcamp — Week 1

Tools: Surveys, Interviews, Affinity Diagram, User Persona, Empathy Map, User Journey Map; Concept Sketching, Service Blueprint.
Duration: 4 days.
Technologies: Pen & paper.
Team: Just me!
Introduction
My first design challenge at Ironhack was about a topic that deeply interests me: museum & cultural heritage. During my MSc in Visual Anthropology (2015–2017), I took a Museology class where we analyzed the ways in which museums communicated with their visitors.
The problem
Since the 70s museums globally have been suffering a profound crisis, which hinders them from fulfilling the mission of preserving and activating cultural heritage, educating citizens, promoting critical thinking and contributing to the consolidation of democratic values. The goal of this design challenge was to better grasp some of the scope of this problem.
Museums build bridges between objects and people, helping us understand scientific phenomena, cultural complexities and pushing us to assimilate different perspectives about the world.
This design sprint was carried out in Lisbon, so I began by doing a quick overview of the Portuguese context. According to the Estudo de Públicos de Museus Nacionais — EPMN (2016), museum visitors in Portugal are mainly young and well-educated, predominantly female and foreigners.
Furthermore, the study indicates that Portuguese museums and monuments should improve the available information about their collections, both in museum brochures and through museum websites and social networks.
Research
I started out by creating an an exploratory survey and posting it in different groups and channels related to Anthropology, UX Research, Ethnography and Cultural Events. At the end of two days, I obtained 91 valid responses.
Here are some of the main insights that I collected from the survey:
- 45.1% of respondents visited a museum within the last month;
- 64.8% of respondents discover museum activities through social media;
- 68.1% of respondents did not post content on social media about their last visit to a museum;
I proceeded to interview a couple of museum-goers. I was surprised to collect the following insights regarding their last experience visiting a museum:
- They only went to museums on special occasions, such as when they were travelling, during institutional visits or when a friend/family member came to visit;
- They were unaware of current exhibitions ongoing in their own cities;
- They didn’t know that museums organized different types of activities such as conferences, film screenings or workshops;
Affinity Diagram
The insights I collected from research were so diverse that I needed to create a system to visualize them for further analysis. I proceded to create an affinity diagram, which allowed me to draw connections between ideas.

I organized the information in some of the following categories: Interaction, Storytelling, Curatorship, Accessibility, Communication of events & Engagement post-visit. I also created a specific cluster to group manifestation of my interviewees about “museums being boring”. Often, this idea was associated with difficulty in finding their way through museum facilities, or lacking context about the exhibitions and activities.
User persona
After making sense of the data, I created a User Persona, which would serve as a user archetype.

Pains
- 💼 A young father of two who works a full-time job;
- ⏳ Struggles to find time during the week;
- 🚫Lacks the information about interesting educational museum activities for families;
- 💸Doesn’t have the income for payed activities;
Gains
- 👨👧👦Wants to spend quality time with his children on the weekends;
- 🔬Wishes to inspire his children to be interested in culture and science;
- 🎨 Wants to be informed about ongoing cultural events in his community;
Empathy map
In order to deepen my understanding about this user archetype, I created an empathy map to organize his potential pains and gains. This helped me visualize what the user “saw”, “said”, “heard”, “did”, “thought” and “felt”.

Museum institutions have been struggling to redefine the way that they communicate with their audiences. Empathizing with visitors represented a crucial step to get their message across.
User Journey Map
A User Journey Map is a “visualization of an individual’s relationships with a product/brand over time and across different channels.”
What I enjoyed the most about this tool was taking into account the user’s “emotional journey” every step of the way. I imagined a situation where a father of two took his kids to the museum and mapped out the entire journey, from looking for the information online to visiting the exhibition and going back home.
Some of the lowest points had to do with the logistics of finding a place to park and getting in line with the kids. However, the least pleasant moments were by far the lack of available information and clear paths, which drove the kids to get bored and pressure their parent to take them back home.

The lack of accessible information on activities appropriate for kids was found to be associated with the perception that museums could be “boring”, and “overcomplicated”.
Service Blueprint
An even more holistic sense of this experience had to be visualized through creating a Service Blueprint. This made me take the process a step forward and map out everything, from the different evidences of the service to the front stage, back stage and support necessary for the service to work.

From here I was able to identify and focus on a specific part of the process: the fact that potential visitors continue to be unaware of appealing, structured information about museums activities.
How Might We?
When I felt like I had a better understanding of the needs of my user, I formulatd a How Might We? statement. It was time to converge and define the problem statement in the most accurate way possible.
How might we make people more informed about the ongoing cultural events taking place in museums in their communities?
Brainstorming
I then started to brainstorm solutions on how to build bridges between these institutions and their visitors. After analyzing several possibilities, I narrowed down my options and came up with a concept:
Museum mapping
The app would inform the user about cultural or scientific exhibitions happening around them. Several filters would be available to facilitate browsing accessible/free events (important criteria for portuguese museum visitors),activities suitable for children/families (including peddy papers, picnics, games, workshops, film screenings), and more.
Through the creation of groups, users could exchange feedback, inform each other, generate discussions, organize debates, sign petitions, contribute to the restoration of art pieces, interact with museum services and be more involved in the museum ecosystem in their communities.
But… what could this look like?
Concept sketching


And, just like that, it was time for some concept sketching! I was surprised as how fun this part was.
I sketched the log in screen, the location, selecting preferences and building up the profile, selecting a museum profile, ordering tickets, paying and preparing for the exhibition (with suggested readings or by talking to the curator).
After 4 days of work, I presented my MVP to my colleagues and professors.

Main learnings
- Both anthropology and design research aim to deconstruct ethnocentric views of the world;
- It is fundamental for the process to be based on real actual insights collected throughout research;
- Certain tools, such as the service blueprint, gives us a holistic perspective on the problem;
- It is important to develop a cohesive visual identity/concept for the solution;
Additional readings
The idea of creating a sense of community around museum pieces was very present in a project organized by the National Museum of Ancient Art (MNAA) in Lisbon in 2015, entitled “Coming Out: E se o museu saísse à rua? / bringing the museum onto the streets”. Check it out if you’re interested in the topic!
Also, here is an interesting article about how interaction design can serve as a tool to connect audiences to an exhibition’s message.
Let me know what you think of this first project in the comments!
