SHAO Linzhengrong (SHAO-Lin)
The role of museums as cultural and social hubs, emphasizing the importance of companion interactions during visits. While physical museums facilitate social experiences, there's less emphasis on such interactions in virtual museums. The study aims to bridge this gap by investigating interactive designs for online museums tailored to group experiences.
Client:
University of St Andrews
My Role:
User Experience Researcher
Year:
2021.05-2021.09
Service Provided:
User Experience Research
Why Companions are important?
Companions play a crucial role in enhancing our interactions, contributing to satisfaction, connection, and emotional support, while also offering educational opportunities. Through diverse interactions, companions can help create a more enriching and supportive experience.
In designing museum experiences, inspiration can be drawn from both offline and online interaction techniques. Offline facilities like guiding tools, audio interactions, and family-oriented setups improve engagement. Online interactions, such as digital storytelling tours, virtual guides, and interactive resources, bring museum content to life for remote audiences.
Further inspiration comes from multiplayer interaction designs in games, where communication, non-verbal hints, and visual systems foster collaboration and shared experiences. By integrating these elements, we can create museum experiences that are more immersive, interactive, and inclusive, ensuring that visitors, whether physically present or remote, enjoy meaningful and shared interactions.
Scenario Sketches
My main focus is on how users, especially those with companions, can engage and interact freely on an online museum platform. I want to create a space where people can communicate and interact without limits, exploring exhibits together online to create a rich, shared experience.
Interface Sketches
The ideation process starts with developing a functional architecture, followed by creating sketches for an image museum interface designed to enhance interaction between users and their companions.
Video Prototype
Since no prototype tool existed at the time of our research, I used a video to demonstrate how companions can browse an online museum together.
Evaluation - Interview
The participants in the study came from diverse backgrounds, with the majority being students at the University of St Andrews. Additionally, some participants had a background in media and history research.
The qualitative data involved participants' feedback on the prototype, museum visiting habits, and expectations, organized using an Affinity Diagram into eight categories after excluding 'Entering'(because no one mentioned it in the interview).
Evaluation - Questionnaire
The participants in the study came from diverse backgrounds, predominantly students from the University of St Andrews, bringing a range of perspectives to the project. Additionally, several participants had expertise in media and cultural research, which added valuable insights into how they perceive and interact with digital museum experiences.
The study shows that the concept of a companion-based online museum is well-received, with game-like features enhancing its appeal. Users value interaction and shared experiences, though current design limitations include limited collection diversity, immersive experiences, user interaction, and cultural inclusivity. Future development aims to create a more immersive, game-like experience by integrating culture, education, and leisure through technologies like AR, VR, AI, and storytelling.
