My slides are here; the podcast of the talk is here. If you have comments or ideas to build on this work, there are pages on the Museum Mobile wiki dedicated to the topic:

• On mobile experience design
• My manifesto for a new mobile information architecture
• And some ideas for a new information architecture

Beth has now joined MoMA in New York as the Director of Digital Learning. She, Steven and I are joined by Deborah Howes, head of educational media at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Titus Bicknell, technology analyst and former chief engineer for Antenna Audio. Over lunch on New Year’s day in 2009, we talk about why people don’t tend to prepare for their museum visit by downloading podcast tours and other materials – as they might for a run, a flight, or their daily commutes – and what museums can do about it in light of the ‘digital age divide’. We consider the other end of the visit lifecycle as well, in terms of how people can ‘bookmark’ and take information away from the museum for deeper study later – but will only want to do so if the content they encounter during their visit has ‘put them in the picture’ and engaged them. At the heart of the conversation is the question of conversation itself as a context for learning, and how its strategic use helps transform the museum from Acropolis into Agora: a platform where many voices can come together and even the amateur and the outsider are empowered to make discoveries, fall in love, and sing of their passions.

1. Producer: Who produced the tour? Was it done ‘in-house’ by museum staff in part or whole? Were any audio tour content or technology providers involved?
2. Technology: What device was used? Did it use headphones? If so, mono or stereo?
3. Distribution: How was the device distributed? Was it available for download online or on site, as well as on museum-specific players at the museum?
4. Staffing: Were the staff employees of the museum or a tour provider? Were they well-presented, professional and courteous? What kind of an effort did they make to get you to take the tour? Did they explain the device and tour use clearly and efficiently?
5. Price & Security: What did the tour cost? Were you required to leave a deposit or was other security used for the device? Where were the distribution facilities located with respect to the museum/exhibition entrance?
6. Take-up Rate: How many devices were available to visitors? What percentage of visitors were taking the tour? What percentage of devices were in-use? Can you get a sense of the profile and motivations of those taking the tour – and those not?
7. Marketing: How was the tour marketed/advertised within the museum and beyond? What signage was available at individual ‘stops’? Was it visible and helpful?
8. Technical Performance: Describe your experience of the technology: what worked well, not so well? Was the device easy to carry and handle? Was the audio quality good? Overall did the device serve as an ‘invisible’ platform for the content?
9. Tour Design: Is the tour linear or random access? How is the tour integrated into the exhibition design? Does it interact or conflict with other media (audio, video, interactive kiosks, etc.)? Did the audio tour do something that other media – wall labels, docent tours, etc. – couldn’t do as well?
10. Length & Layout: How long was the tour (how many stops, overall length)? Were the stops well distributed throughout the space covered by the tour?
11. Languages & Versions: Were there multiple languages or versions, e.g. a children’s tour, sign language tour, or descriptive tour for visitors with low vision?
12. Content Structure: Describe your experience of the content: what was the tone/voice? How long were the messages? Were there multiple layers of messages at some exhibits? How many messages in the whole tour? Did the tour and the messages seem too long, too short, or just right?
13. Visitor Experience: Evaluate your overall experience: was your visit enhanced by the audio tour and interactions with tour staff? Do you think other visitors enjoyed the tour? Was there crowding around exhibits on the tour, or other issues that clouded your experience?

The reviewers interviewed by Nancy Proctor for this case study are Harriet Moss, former President and CEO of Antenna Audio, and Ernesto Sanchez, artist and former performer with Snake Theater, where Chris Hardman’s audio-based theatre productions were born. Despite being offered in the classic museum audio tour formula, the tour proved to be as innovative and unusual in structure as the exhibition and the artist it represented. Moss and Sanchez found themselves delighted and inspired by the multi-modal, polyvocal experience and how even this established medium challenged their expectations of the exhibition experience.

Apologies for the less-than-ideal audio quality of this podcast, which was recorded through a less-than-cutting-edge skype-to-phone connection so includes unfortunate interference!

And thanks to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, for permission to use the following images from the exhibition in the podcast (in order):

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   Nat Finkelstein, Andy Warhol, Gerard Malanga, Mary Woronov and The Velvet Underground, 1966, (reprint 1996), gelatin silver print. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Museum purchase.

   

   Nat Finkelstein, Andy Warhol, Gerard Malanga, Mary Woronov and The Velvet Underground, 1966, (reprint 1996), gelatin silver print. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Museum purchase.

   

   Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground and Nico, Lou Reed, Nico, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker,1967, Verve/Polydor, Verve Records, subsidiary of MGM Records, Phono album cover, offset lithograph on coated paper.

   

   Cover by Andy Warhol, Cano (November 1948), 1948, printed ink on paper with coated paper cover. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.

   

   Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait, 1986, acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

   

   Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait in Drag, 1981, Polaroid TM Polacolor 2, facsimile. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

   

   Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry (detail), 1980, acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

   

   Photographer unknown, Andy Warhol holding a 1964 publicity photograph of The Rolling Stones, 1969, gelatin silver print. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

   

   Andy Warhol, Triple Elvis (Large three Elvis), [Ferus Type] June-July 1963, silkscreen ink, silver paint, and spray paint on linen. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia.
   No results found.
   Photographer unknown, Andy Warhol holding a 1964 publicity photograph of The Rolling Stones, 1969, gelatin silver print. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
2. Cover by Andy Warhol, Cano (November 1948), 1948, printed ink on paper with coated paper cover. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.
3. Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait in Drag, 1981, Polaroid TM Polacolor 2, facsimile. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
4. Nat Finkelstein, Andy Warhol, Gerard Malanga, Mary Woronov and The Velvet Underground, 1966, (reprint 1996), gelatin silver print. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Museum purchase.
5. Andy Warhol, Triple Elvis (Large three Elvis), [Ferus Type] June-July 1963, silkscreen ink, silver paint, and spray paint on linen. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia.
6. Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry (detail), 1980, acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
7. 
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   Nat Finkelstein, Andy Warhol, Gerard Malanga, Mary Woronov and The Velvet Underground, 1966, (reprint 1996), gelatin silver print. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Museum purchase.

   

   Nat Finkelstein, Andy Warhol, Gerard Malanga, Mary Woronov and The Velvet Underground, 1966, (reprint 1996), gelatin silver print. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Museum purchase.

   

   Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground and Nico, Lou Reed, Nico, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker,1967, Verve/Polydor, Verve Records, subsidiary of MGM Records, Phono album cover, offset lithograph on coated paper.

   

   Cover by Andy Warhol, Cano (November 1948), 1948, printed ink on paper with coated paper cover. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.

   

   Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait, 1986, acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

   

   Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait in Drag, 1981, Polaroid TM Polacolor 2, facsimile. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

   

   Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry (detail), 1980, acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

   

   Photographer unknown, Andy Warhol holding a 1964 publicity photograph of The Rolling Stones, 1969, gelatin silver print. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

   

   Andy Warhol, Triple Elvis (Large three Elvis), [Ferus Type] June-July 1963, silkscreen ink, silver paint, and spray paint on linen. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia.
   No results found.
   Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait, 1986, acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

In under 10 minutes, hear Chris’s top 10 tips – and add your tips & questions in the comments below!

1. Talk about the elephant in the room – or the meteor that just hit the Pope;
2. Choose the most passionate person to narrate the tour;
3. Structure the tour around key messages and the educational mission: of the museum, the exhibition and the object;
4. Position the visitor as archaeologist/researcher to make discoveries through the tour;
5. Forming an opinion is a profound learning experience: don’t be afraid to encourage your visitors to debate with the tour;
6. Choose the platform last, to suit the story;
7. Trust your ear (more than the script);
8. Get the operations right to avoid the glitches becoming the prevailing memory of the tour;
9. Keep it simple: truly hip technology is technology that works consistently;
10. Be complementary: the tour can’t compete with the museum or exhibition.