Download Lessons for Web Design from Museum Design

Eight Lessons that
Web Designers Can Learn
from Museum
Design Designers
Saul Carliner
Visiting Assistant Professor
City University of Hong Kong
"What Separates a Museum Worth
Suffering for from One
You Wouldn't Stoop to Be Sick in?"
One. "Did Anyone
Target
an Age
Group?"
Lessons for Web Design
 Appeal to a variety of demographic groups
 Note occupational and socioeconomic
cultures
Two. "Keep the Collection from
Klummetting the Guests."
Lessons for Web Design
 Focus content
 Play benevolent censor (even though storage is
cheap and transmission increasingly easy)
 Watch out for all-technology solutions (beware
the evil TiVo)
 Use behavioral objectives
Three. "An Exhibit Is Not
a Book on a Wall.“
Lessons for Web Design
 Immersion
 Themes
 Layering
 Skimmability
Four. "Even the Best Signage Can't Fix
a Poorly Designed Museum.“
Lessons for Web Design
 Beware of:
–Browser and GUI screen conventions
–Cueing area
–The non-scrolllng issue
 Note that menu structure mirrors the sturcture
of underlying code
More Lessons
 Create “signature objects” (exclusive
content)
 Design for accessibility
 Work with known traffic patterns (when
appropriate)
Five. "Museum Exhibits Must Capture
the Visitor's Curiosity."
Lessons for Web Design
 Storytelling
–As a design technique (backstory, character
sketches)
–Immersion (through simulations, visual and verbal
design)
–Create a mood (visual, verbal)
More Lessons
 Juxtaposition
 Subliminal messages
Six. Work
Towards
"Wow!“
Lessons for Web Design
 Splash screens
 Profiling
 Communities and chats
But
 Avoid using technology for technology’s
sake as a ‘wow”
 Usability experts are from Venus, graphic
designers are from Mars
Seven. Avoid
"Sound Bleed" and
Other Media
Nightmares.
Lessons for Web Design
 Be wary of narration
 Be sensitive to the technology users have
(not the technology you want them to have)
 Beware of plug-ins
Eight.
"Attendance
Figures Measure
Marketing
Strategies, Not
Exhibition
Strengths.“
Lessons for Web Design
 Visitors?
 System performance?
 Task performance?
Closing
Thoughts