Newsletter – Week 3 – A Rolling Start
A Rolling Start
During the past week we developed a number of ideas to discuss with our clients at the Carnegie Museum. On Wednesday, we presented these ideas to our clients. They were very pleased with what we showed them and are excited to continue working with us as we build them a platform independent mobile web application to assist primarily college students in learning more about the museum, finding items of interest, and navigating the buildings.
Generating Ideas
After considering what we learned from our clients last week, we spent a significant amount of time establishing what it was they were truly looking for. In discussions with various ETC faculty members, combined with brainstorming sessions and some on-the-ground video surveys, we determined that we had a significant challenge ahead of us. This excited us and provoked us to create a variety of solutions.
The common thread across our discussions is the idea of allowing guests to select an archetype or a variety of self-defining characteristics, within which they are presented with museum pieces they might find interesting. Additionally, we are allowing for the museum to curate these suggestions and create links between items, promoting travel between the Art and Natural History museums. Finally, we also put significant emphasis on the need to help guests navigate through the exhibits and have a better feel for where they are and where they’re going.
With this idea as our guide, we needed to figure out how we would deliver this to museum guests. We considered three options. The first was the installation of kiosks throughout the facility, but this poses challenges both because a significant number of them would be required and because of the need to devise a guest tracking and login system. A second option is the use of a dedicated “App Store” approved mobile app. This option would be a completely autonomous app, but it also means that it would be difficult to update the content. Our final proposal, and the one selected by the client, is the use of a platform/device independent interactive web site with a server backend, which allows for live updates to product content, as well as the use of social networking elements in the experience.
Moving Forward
This coming week we will be focused on breaking down our idea into its component parts and determining what we’ll be working on first. We will also be polishing our branding art and preparing for quarters.