In this article, we investigate how small museums running on volunteers deal with the challenge of innovation given that the future is becoming more digital. From the literature, little is known about the strategies and practices for designing innovative visitor experiences in small museums and about the skills needed for doing so. In particular, we were interested in understanding how professionals working in small museums design experiences that mainly appeal to and engage a younger public and how digital innovation can play a role in both attracting and keeping such audiences engaged with the museum. Our most important conclusion is that the question of “how to innovate” is misplaced and that small museums rather need to capitalize on the strong tie with the community they serve. Only in this way can they lower the threshold to access and connect to a broader public that is younger and more diverse.

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The recent pandemic crisis, coupled with the rapid development of new technologies, has shown what new opportunities exist for designing enriched museum experiences. In this article, we collected the experience of six Dutch design agencies that are known for their portfolio in applying new technologies to museum experiences, also internationally. We start by clarifying the concept of museum experience design. Then, we discuss the role technology can play in designing museum experiences. We first review the types of technology that were mostly used in museums in the pre-Covid period and clarify the purpose of their use. Subsequently, we elaborate on the trends that design agencies see as the most important developments emerging post-pandemic and reveal the dreams they have for future applications of technology in museum experiences.

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The ‘smart city’ vision is popular, but it lacks citizen perspectives. The aim of this study was to gain insight into whether and how art-based citizen engagement can create more room for citizen perspectives in smart cities by developing and testing an art-based citizen engagement project in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. To that end, a combination of interactive theatre, interaction design and social research methods was used to bring together diverse publics and innovation professionals for joint exploration of increased dataveillance in cities. The events were studied through observations, and through interviews with participants and organisers. Data analysis was guided by the outcomes, processes and challenges of the responsible innovation dimensions: inclusion, reflexivity, anticipation and responsiveness (Stilgoe et al., 2013). The most important achievements of art-based citizen engagement were: engaging people who would not have engaged with the topic otherwise, encouraging participants to question common phrases and assumptions, exploring future social implications of technologies, and staging meaningful interactions between citizens and professionals. The most significant challenge was to involve citizens in a way that could influence innovation trajectories.@en

3D digitization of cultural heritage has long been used to preserve information about cultural heritage (CH) objects such as architecture, art, and artifacts. 3D dissemination of CH objects through technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and 3D printing have impacted the fields of art history and cultural heritage and have become more common. Yet, studies that go beyond the technical aspects of 3D technology and treat such topics as their significance for restoration, conservation, engagement, education, research, and ethics hardly exist. The aim of this paper is twofold: on the one hand, it aims to get a better understanding of the applicability of each technology for different purposes (education, research, conservation/restoration, and museum presentation), and, on the other hand, it focuses on the perception of these technologies. This research was carried out by combining a literature review with quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data acquired through (1) a questionnaire of eleven questions and (2) a workshop with a group of specialists and non-specialists who were asked to brainstorm about the different uses of the 3D technologies and their applicability to their areas of work and research. Based on the analysis of these quantitative and qualitative data, we provide some criteria for using 3D digitized and printed reproductions to enhance cultural experiences. The results demonstrate the importance of carefully designing 3D interactions in the personal and cultural contexts of end-users and cultural institutions in order to create authentic cultural experiences.@en

The present work introduces a cyclical model which showcases the process of immersion during Immersive Technological Experiences (ITEs) such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality. This model is based on the identified concepts around immersion and immersive environments across 30 years. The concepts' similarities were used to organize them on a cyclical model by acknowledging the user's presence at the beginning and end of immersive experiences. The proposed model's value relies on its cyclical approach based on a user-centred perspective and having a general overview of the immersion process. The Immersive cycle can serve as a mapping tool for developers and researchers, thanks to the inclusion of guidelines that complements the model. Both of these were used in three different examples of ITEs. Furthermore, the cyclical model could be used as a tool for ideation and conceptualization during the early stages of developing immersive experiences. Nevertheless, it is recognized that this is the first step in developing this model; therefore, it still needs to be validated and improved based on tests with developers, designers and researchers in the field.

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This article describes a user-centered design experiment investigating positive and negative effects of adding game rules to brainstorms. We studied effects on brainstorm output and user experience and behavior. A coin-based gamification was developed with rules intended to improve brainstorm output in relation to quality and quantity of ideas. However, the invasiveness of a gamification can be expected to affect users both positively and negatively. To find an optimum between positive and negative effects of gamification invasiveness, we tested 5 different rule-sets with varying quantity and quality of rules. The results demonstrated that game rules stimulating competitive game behavior improved the quantity and quality of brainstorm output. Yet the invasiveness of the gamification also hindered this positive effect, due to discussions about rules and mandatory game behavior. From these results we deduced 3 types of invasiveness evoked by the rules’ qualities: a) governing rules led to negative cognitive invasiveness, b) forcing rules caused positive as well as negative behavioral invasiveness, and c) adding coins may have led to positive affective invasiveness (i.e., a playful attitude). We conclude our study with recommendations on designing and researching gamification invasiveness in real-life contexts.

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The notion of relevance is often used as a concept to be considered for making a museum matter to its visitors. The term, however, is rarely operationalized for use by designers, practitioners, or scientists in their work on museum experiences. We propose an integrated framework for designing relevant museum experiences, in which we distinguish between four stages of seeding and growing relevance in new audiences, called “trigger”, “engage”, “consolidate” and “relate“. The framework proposes to see designing for relevance as developing ways of integrating meaning-making, play and acceptable visitor effort across all these stages. It is intended to provide sensitizing concepts for use in further research on designing for relevance, as well as in design-related activities such as crafting requirements for new museum experiences, analyzing existing museum experiences and developing new museum experiences.

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Despite the growing interest in persuasive game design, there have been few methods which cover the complete process of game design that designers could draw upon in their practice. In this paper, the Persuasive Game Design method(PGD) is presented as a non-directive approach for designing persuasive games including a practical hand-out. To better fit with the practical constraints encountered in game design, this method adopts a “cookbook” approach. A set of essential PGD components and tools are provided from which game designers can choose from, given their specific context and resources. Designers first consider the game design steps(“dishes”) to use in creating their game and in each step, select which components(“ingredients”) to take into account and tools(“utensils”) to use. The proposed method, based on our experience as persuasive game researchers and design practitioners, is further refined using feedback from professional game designers. The paper concludes with a case study illustrating how to put the meal into practice. Overall, the method provides a useful contribution to the existing research domain by combining knowledge from game theory, game design and design methodology to create a structured yet flexible approach which covers the complete persuasive game design process for researchers, students and practitioners.@en

The museum world is rapidly changing from being collection-centred to being community-centred and for the public. Apart from broadening access to collections through, for example, digitisation initiatives, new ways of involving the public more meaningfully and at various levels have emerged. Experiences inside museums have become more engaging, by extending the experience beyond the physical visit, or by involving the public in various forms of crowdsourced stewardship of collections. In this book, we explore the design implications that go along with these developments, all concerned with diversifying and making the engagement of the public in museum experiences more rewarding. We focus on the design implications associated with museums reaching out to crowds beyond their local communities, on experimenting with novel technologies and on conceiving experiences embedded in connected museum systems and large institutional ecosystems. By looking at and reflecting on trends, we attempt to sketch a picture of how future museums will change and, particularly, how they will relate to their public as a result of responding to or embracing these trends.

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Museums give much consideration to how visitors experience their exhibits. Mobile technologies, such as apps on mobile phones and tablets can capture the visitor experience in an automated, on-the-spot manner. Two apps were designed and used to capture visitors’ experiences of interactive exhibits at a science museum. Based on our observations, we discuss (a) the appeal of the technology, (b) the integration of this technology in the overall museum visit and (c) the processing of the collected experience data. Based on our observations, we recommend that museums and science centres critically evaluate the above-mentioned points when considering implementing mobile technologies to capture the visitor experience. Furthermore, we advise institutions to approach mobile technologies as product service systems and take into account the infrastructure that is required to make mobile technologies work.

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In this article, we aim to provide insights into the design and implementation of game elements for teamwork on the work floor and to study their effect. Inventing games to break monotonous jobs is a long-standing practice, yet conscious implementation of motivational elements of games at work is a recent phenomenon. Generally, gamification is used to enhance individual performance; it may be effective in enhancing teamwork as well. We developed game elements aimed at team cohesion and examined the effect of two gamified interventions (team performance feedback and personal profiles) on team cohesion in a factory. Results suggest that the interventions mainly raised attention toward the aspects of the work that were explicitly addressed. Team performance feedback led to increased task commitment and perceived team performance, while personal profiles increased nonwork-related conversations among team members. We conclude with lessons learned regarding the development and study of gamified interventions for teams on the work floor.@en

Recent accidents (News, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2015) show that crowded events can quickly turn into tragedies. The goal of crowd management is to avoid such accidents through careful planning and implementation. Crowd management practices are collaborative efforts between the different actors of the crowd management team and the crowd that depend on effective handling, sharing, and communication of information. Safety and comfort of a crowd depend on the success of such efforts. We have studied current practices and the role of technology through interviews to crowd managers. Our findings show that event planning and monitoring can be complex and sophisticated, but are operated with little support from technology. Crowd managers intend to increase their use of technology, but they have been so far dissatisfied by existing solutions. We provide recommendations for a bigger role of technology in crowd management.

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Since the third wave in human–computer interaction (HCI), research on user experience (UX) has gained momentum within the HCI community. The focus has shifted from systematic usability requirements and measures towards guidance on designing for experiences. This is a big change, since design has traditionally not played a large role in HCI research. Yet, the literature addressing this shift in focus is very limited. We believe that the field of UX research can learn from a field where design and experiential aspects have always been important: design research. In this article, we discuss why design is needed in UX research and how research that includes design as a part of research can support and advance UX design practice. We do this by investigating types of design-inclusive UX research and by learning from real-life cases of UX-related design research. We report the results of an interview study with 41 researchers in three academic research units where design research meets UX research. Based on our interview findings, and building on existing literature, we describe the different
roles design can play in research projects. We also report how design research results can inform designing for experience methodologically or by providing new knowledge on UX. The results are presented in a structured palette that can help UX researchers reflect and focus more on design in their research projects, thereby tackling experience design challenges in their own research.@en

This paper introduces a virtual tour, Visit the Louvre, designed specifically to engage older adults in an immersive visit through part of the Louvre by a distant real-life guide. An initial diary study and a creative workshop were conducted to understand the needs and values of older adults and how to support participation to virtual museum visits with a video-based communication system. Preliminary results show that 'virtual visitors' experienced high levels of social and spatial presence; immersion and engagement were quite high independent of the level of interactivity of the guide, or the presence of others.@en

In this paper we propose a new design approach in which positive emotional experiences are used to incite desirable behaviors, based on the insight that specific experiences can motivate particular behaviors. In the approach, designers first identify users' concerns and expectations and deduce from those the psychological needs that underlie them. Positive emotions are then sought that match the identified psychological needs. The positive emotions with their related thought-Action tendencies then inspire the designer to formulate design intentions in terms of experiences and behaviors to target for, aimed at guiding the design process. The approach was developed for, and applied to a design case for the Mauritshuis, a museum for classical art in the Hague, the Netherlands. An app was developed for engaging a new target group of young adult travelers: To enhance their art appreciation and to motivate them to explore the local Dutch culture. We explain the various phases including user studies, generating ideas and testing designs, and discuss our experiences with applying this approach.@en

When involving children in the design process, it is important to understand the novelty of their design solutions. This paper reviews the applicability of an often cited novelty metric Shah et al. (2003) for the comparison of two design methods conducted with 8-10 year old children. The novelty metric is applied to data that is different for a number of parameters, such as a different design phase (exploratory instead of conceptual), size and variety. The results yielded by this novelty metric are not straightforward. This paper describes the difficulties encountered and introduces an alternative approach. The alternative approach leads to better results for any amount of data, for an exploratory phase. Additionally the paper explains how this approach increases the sensitivity for detecting differences in novelty when comparing design methods.

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Serious gaming is used as a means for improving organizational teamwork, yet little is known about the effect of individual game elements constituting serious games. This paper presents a game design experiment aimed at generating knowledge on designing game elements for teamwork. In previous work, we suggested that interaction- and goal-driven rules could guide interdependence and teamwork strategies. Based on this finding, for the present experiment we developed two versions of multiplayer Breakout, varying in rule-sets, designed to elicit player strategies of either dependent competition or dependent cooperation. Results showed that the two rule-sets could generate distinct reported player experiences and observable distinct player behaviors that could be further discriminated into four patterns: expected patterns of helping and ignoring, and unexpected patterns of agreeing and obstructing. Classic game theory was applied to understand the four behavior patterns and made us conclude that goal-driven rules steered players towards competition and cooperation. Interaction rules, in contrast, mainly stimulated dependent competitive behavior, e.g. obstructing each other. Since different types of rules thus led to different player behavior, discriminating in game design between interaction- and goal-driven rules seems relevant. Moreover, our research showed that game theory proved to be useful for understanding goaldriven rules.@en

A general trend of museums and cultural heritage institutions besides digitizing their collections is to involve the public more and at various levels. Technology plays an increasingly important role in this involvement. Developments we have observed in museum experience design, include trends towards 1) dialogical engagement of the public; 2) addressing crowds as audiences; 3) the use of Internet of Things (IoT) and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) technology in museums; and 4) designing for museum systems and institutional ecologies instead of for individual museums only. In this one-day workshop we especially focus on exploring the implications of museums reaching out to crowds beyond their local communities, and of museums increasingly becoming part of connected museum systems and large institutional ecosystems. By means of a tangible game we will brainstorm about future opportunities and challenges, cluster and evaluate them, and suggest future work.

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