Design and evaluation of mixed interactive museographic exhibits

Abstract

This paper describes the four steps of a codesign process dedicated to the development of mixed interactive exhibits in Museums. The goal is to propose a well identified set of steps for accompanying the development of such systems, to document them and to suggest the most appropriate tools for each step. Based on a concrete design experience of a mixed interactive system in a museum, each step is illustrated and design decisions are highlighted with regards to the steps of the design process. A comparison of our codesign process with similar approaches applied in the field of interactive software engineering, participatory design or museum codesign is then performed; lessons learnt from the use of the process highlight benefits and limitations. Tightly coupled to this process, we then present different mechanisms and settings for evaluating visitors’ experience. Such mechanism involves lab and field activities requiring different methodologies and technical platforms. These formative evaluation activities are illustrated through some results of document-based usability inspections, user tests, field experiments and field studies. This paper reports lessons learnt and descriptive results of the prototype evaluations. Finally, we propose the ways for improving the use of codesign and evaluation of mixed interactive museographic exhibits.