Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Mobile based museum experience with AR integration.
Experience Overview
Augmented Reality Navigation
An interactive AR map that allows the user to receive directions to museums and learn more about exhibits.
By simply opening their camera, users are able to click on an exhibit title and satisfy their curiosity.
Personalized Audio Tour
The user can select personalized experiences, categorized by ‘most popular’ or ‘renaissance art’ or ‘one hour tour.’
Bookmarking audio to save and share with friends gives the user an engaging audio tour.
Design Methods
The Problem
After testing the Mia’s virtual presence we found a lack of mobile facing experiences. There is only one audio app which lists out all exhibits with the accompanying audio.
We felt this tool need more care and deserved to be highlighted in a mobile experience for the museum.
Our Goal
Aid the Mia in servicing new & returning visitors through a personalized mobile experience.
With our experience visitors have greater ease in navigating exhibits and in turn are able to dive deeper into art history.
Through market research we found, trends in utilizing AR in museum settings to increase visitor personalization.
47%
33%
of museum professionals planned on adding smart objects into the museum experience.
planned to use augmented and virtual reality, spatial audio and 3D elements.
What drove such changes was Inclusivity, community and personalization.
(Museum Innovation Barometer)
User Demographics & Psychographics
(Audience Agency & Wilkening Consulting)
User Research
Meet Jessica.
She is a 35 year old working professional. Jessica is very curious when it comes to art and history. Visiting museums acts as a therapeutic experience and satisfies her curiosity. She typically listens to an exhibit audio companion when visiting a museum. However, she often has a hard time approaching staff for help. She feels that it is embarrassing and awkward when she had to ask for directions when lost.
Expectations:
Feel prepared to navigate the Mia
Discover new exhibitions and interests
Customer Decision Map
To better understand a visitor’s process of visiting the Mia we created a decision map.
This gave us insight into the confusion visitors often feel when navigating the museum.
Customer Decision Tree
We were able to discover new pain points and ascertain what items would be most helpful highlighted on our nav.
Key Research Insights
An more all-encompassing approach can support the user in designing a more personalized and memorable experience, connecting them to the physical space and art.
Low-fi Prototype
Design Inspiration
Final Prototype
Exhibit Info
Audio Tour
Augmented Reality Map
User Feedback
Creating Awareness: Curating Your Experience
After designing the final wireframe we wanted to emphasize how a slightly older user base would discover and download the app.
We create three mockups that advertise the app with the tagline: “Curate your own experience.”
This again draws on our goal of a visitor’s personalization while visiting the Mia.
