Hi Nick,
A place where that has been tackled really interestingly is in James Davies fine 2011 presentation to museums and the web:
http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2011/papers/art_artists
This - amongst other interesting ideas - discusses "perspectives" and divides users into scholars, explorers and dreamers who all have different wants and needs from the new site that it being designed. Even though it's based on work begun in 2008, it's still an interesting approach and it led directly to a change in how Tate represented its works online. It's also a good argument in favour of using personas. We can talk endlessly about "the user" and still increase the risk of creating exactly what you describe - designing either for a limited section of users, or worse a totally abstract "user" who isn't based firmly on any real users at all.
Jo
__________________________________________________
Jo Pugh
Research Engineer | The National Archives / University of York
tel. +44 (0)20 8392 5330 x2292
The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nick Poole
Sent: 04 June 2014 14:39
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MCG] Museums Association conference digital session
Hi Simon,
It sounds like a really interesting session. I'm not responding to suggest a speaker, but more to raise a perspective.
I've recently been working with an artists and illustrator who was tasked with identifying a set of iconic objects from the websites of a number of museums and drawing pictures of them.
Watching their mounting frustration was a real education in terms of the difference between how collections are presented on museum websites and how different types of user might expect to interact with them.
Put simply, the websites weren't designed to support the use my artist friend was trying to put them to.
All of which is my way of asking whether it might be a useful addition to the session to find people who habitually use museum websites for different purposes (planning a visit, entertaining the kids, doing some personal research, finding pictures for their homework etc) and getting them to talk about their perspective on the perfect site?
All best,
Nick
Nick Poole
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-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Simon Stephens
Sent: 04 June 2014 14:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MCG] Museums Association conference digital session
Hi MCGers,
I am putting together a digital session at this year’s Museums Association conference in Cardiff. The session takes place in the afternoon on Thursday 9 October. It has the title of “What Makes the Perfect Museum Website?” and the aim is to give delegates a chance to think about how their own websites work and what could be changed and improved.
As part of this, we are hoping to get two speakers at the start to give a 10-minute presentation each. We were hoping that one person would speak about the importance of using museum websites from a marketing point of view, with a primary focus of driving visitors through the door of the museum, while the other speaker would look at sites from a curatorial or educational side - i.e talking more about online content and community. We'd be interested in hearing about the ways these approaches differ, how they can work together, and the various challenges each raises.
If any MCGers are interested in speaking at the session or have suggestions for speakers please get in touch.
Cheers
Simon
Simon Stephens
Deputy Editor
Museums journal
T: 020 7566 7820
E: [log in to unmask]
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