A “tour guide” mobile app: a personalized access to information
In a cultural or tourist site, you just need to observe the crowd to realize that there are as many behaviors as visitors. You may come alone, with your family, on a school outing or with some friends. Some stop conscientiously at each station of the planned tour. Others flutter, select the information according to their interests. For others finally, it’s the casting error. The theme does not interest them, the works presented do not correspond to their sensitivity. And, after giving them a quick and indulgent look, they leave.
Visitors unhappy with the audioguide
Until now, to access the speech of a site or an exhibition, these audiences had only two biases: the cartels and the audioguide. Neither, however, adapts to these different behaviors. The audioguide, moreover, does not win the adhesion. In the French journal Culture et Recherche n ° 134 devoted to on site and online audiences, Catherine Guillou, Manager at the Visitors Department at the Centre Pompidou, draws up the following observation: “despite a very good knowledge of the existence of the audioguide (84%), the catch rate remains very low (2%), except when it is included in the tarif and put in hands.”
These results are neither a novelty nor a surprise. Already, the survey published in 2013 by the Victoria & Albert Museum reached the same conclusions. New audiences — and especially young audiences — do not use the audioguide, or very rarely. 49% of visitors also said they were more inclined to use their own device to access the proposed content.
Audiences won over by “tour guide” apps
The “tour guide” apps on the other hand arouse a frank adhesion: 89% of the visitors of the Center Pompidou are equipped with a smartphone and thus able to download the digital tour guide. Of these visitors, 79% say they intend to install the mobile app on their mobile! Still according to the study conducted by Catherine Guillou, there is even better. Compared to the audioguide, the app is perceived as more modern, interactive, entertaining, useful, comprehensive, informative and easy to use — yes, all that!
It’s not about advocating the all-digital. Not all visitors are supporters of this kind of mediation. It is to digital devices, however, that new audiences, those still to be conquered by museums and who will be their visitors in the future, are sensitive. It is therefore a question of reconciling the various forms of mediation, from the most traditional to the most innovative.
The reasons for support: an instinctive handling, a customizable tool
This craze can be explained by two reasons. First, visitors are happy to find their digital uses in cultural and tourist sites. During the visit, they have in their hands tools that they master and that they consult regularly. Second, the digital tour guide offers several ways to access the same content. Thus, each audience finds the information in the way that suits them best.
Contrary to what one might fear, these varied paths towards the same information do not confuse the access to the content. Each one corresponds to a tab, easily identifiable by an icon, in the navigation bar of the app. Thus, visitors can test different means of navigation and even change during their visit.
Conclusion
The key to the success of the digital tour guide lies in its adaptability to various audiences. The audioguide makes visitors passive. They only have to enter a number on the keyboard. The app on the contrary offers customized access to the tour and the ability to customize it.
That is why, at smArtapps, we are convinced that apps can improve the visitor experience and facilitate access to the knowledge offered by cultural and tourist sites.
