Museums & Mobile in 2012 : Survey Results

1 Tallon, Loïc. Museums & Mobile Survey 2012. (February 2012: Pocket-Proof & LearningTimes).

MUSEUMS &!MOBILE IN 2012 !An analysis of the Museums & Mobile Survey 2012 responses!!!Loïc Tallon, Pocket-Proof.!Survey produced by Pocket-Proof & LearningTimes.!February 2012


THE MUSEUMS & MOBILE SURVEY 2012 PARTICIPANTS:* #1 BFTS Museum | 1792 Productions | Adler Planetarium | Alabama Historical Commission | Alaska Native Heritage Center | American Museum of Natural History | American Museum of Science and Energy | Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales | Anderson Arts Center | Armory Center for the Arts | Arrow Rock State Historic Site | Art Association of Harrisburg | Art Gallery of Ontario | Artemisia Technologies | Arvid E Miller Memorial Library/Museum | Ashmolean Museum | AZ Historical Society | Bainbridge Island Historical Museum | Bay Area Discovery Museum | Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation | Bergstrom-Mahler Museum | Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum | Birmingham Museum of Art | Bishop Museum | Blue & Gray Museum | Boonshoft Museum of Discovery | Boulder History Museum | British Museum | Broadcastr | Brooklyn Children's Museum | Brookside Museum | Brunswick Railroad Museum | Canadian Museum for Human Rights | Canadian Museum of Civilization | Canadian Museum of Nature | Canadian Museum of Nature | Cannon Beach History Center & Museum | Cape Fear Museum of History and Science | Carnegie Center for Art & History | Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County | Chabot Space & Science Center | Charleston Museum | Chemical Heritage Foundation | Chemung County Historical Society | Cheney Historical Museum | Chesterwood (National Trust for Historic Preservation) | Chicago Maritime Museum | Children's Museum of Tacoma | Chippewa Valley Museum | Christine Lockett Associates: Cultural Intelligence | Church History Museum | Cinematheque Francaise | City of Hamilton Museums | Clinton House Museum | College Montmorency | Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center | Corning Museum of Glass | Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Museum of Technology | Cortina Productions | Costa Mesa Historical Society | Crocker Art Museum | Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art | CT Humanities Council | D'Uva Workshop | Dacotah Prairie Museum | Daly House Museum | Danish Nature Agency | Dartmouth Museum | Dauphin Islkand Sea Lab | DeBence Antique Music World | Decorative Arts Center of Ohio | DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum | Dell Rapids Society for Historic Preservation | Des Plaines History Center | Design in Three Dimensions | Dixon Gallery and Gardens | Drayton Hall | DREAM, SDU. | Drexel University | East Hillsborough Historical Society, Inc. | EightSixSix Consulting | Eli Whitney Museum | Engaging Places, LLC | English Heritage | Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum | Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum | Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum | Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science & Art | Experimentarium | Federal Reserve Bank of Boston | Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond | Fleming Museum of Art | Florida Museum of Photographic Arts | Foundation of NYS Nurses (Bellevue Alumnae Center for Nursing History) | Fox Island Historical Society Museum, Fox Island, WA | Freelance Consultant | Frisco Historic Park & Museum | Galt Museum & Archives | GearWorks ApS | George M. Murrell Home | GIA | Gooding County Historical Society Museum | Gooding County Historical Society Museum | Gore Place | Grand Encampment Museum | Greece Historical Society | GriZine | Guggenheim Museum | Gus Fisher Gallery, The University of Auckland | Hammer Museum | Hanford Mills Museum | Harn Museum of Art | Harvard University Herbaria | Hickory Hill | Higgins Armory Museum | High Plains Women's Museum | Historic Deerfield | Historic Dumfries | Historic New England | Historic New Harmony | Historic Rugby Inc. | Historical Society of Pennsylvania | History Colorado | HistoryMiami | Holocaust Memorial Center | Holter Museum of Art | Hong Kong Maritime Museum | Horniman Museum and Gardens | Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum, Inc. | Illinois State Museum | Indianapolis Museum of Art | International Quilt Study Center & Museum | Iolani Palace | Ipswich Museum | Iron Work Farm in Acton | IWM | IZITEQ | J. Paul Getty Trust | J.F. Willumsens Museum | Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum | Johns Hopkins University | Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art | Joslyn Art Museum | Juneau-Douglas City Museum | KÃ¸ge Byhistoriske Arkiv | Kapesni LLC | Kelley House Museum | Kiasma | Kunsten | LA Maritime Museum | La Salle University Art Museum | Lake County Discovery Museum | Lakeshore Museum Center | Lakewood's Heritage Center | Landsnetvarket for Folkekirkens Skoletjeneste | Leffingwell House Museum | Lincoln Park Zoo | Log Cabin Village | Longo Consulting LLC | Longue Vue House and Gardens | Lopez Memorial Museum and Library | Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust | Louisiana Art & Science Museum | Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust, Inc. | Lower East Side Tenement Museum | Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art | Maine State Museum | Mariemont Preservation Foundation | Martha's Vineyard Museum | Mattress Factory | McKinley County Government | McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina | McNay Art Museum | Memorial Art Gallery | Memorial Art Gallery of University of Rochester | Memphis Brooks Museum of Art | Michigan State University | Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society | Mid-America Arts Alliance | Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission | Milford Historical Society | Mingei International Museum | Minster Historical Museum | Mission Houses Museum | Missouri Department of Conservation | Moffatt-Ladd House | MOMA | MonDak Heritage Center | MUMOK Museum of modern Art | Musee des Beaux-Arts de Montreal | Musee d'Histoire de Nantes | Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico | Museo de Historia, AntropoogÃa y Arte | Museo Dolores Olmedo | Museo Nacional de Historia Natural | Museum 2.0 Barcelona | Museum Midtjylland | Museum of Computing @ Swindon | Museum of contemporary art, Lyon | Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney | Museum of English Rural Life | Museum of Health Care | Museum of Inuit Art | Museum of Life and Science | Museum of London | Museum of Nature & Science | Museum of Photographic Arts | Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago | Museum of Science, Boston | Museum of the Grand Prairie | Museum Victoria | Museums Association of Saskatchewan | Naper Settlement | Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic Site | National Bonsai & Penjing Museum | National Building Museum | National Center for Preservation Technology & Training | National Civil Rights Museum | National Gallery | National Gallery of Canada | National Hellenic Museum | National Maritime Museum | National Museum of Australia | National Museum of Nuclear Science & History | National Museum of Wildlife Art | National Museums Scotland | National Portrait Gallery | National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum | National Underground Railroad Freedom Center | Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art | Neuberger Museum of Art | Neville Public Museum of Brown County, WI | New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors | New York Botanical Garden | Nez Perce National Historical Park | Niagara Historical Society & Museum | Nohwike' Bagowa Museum | Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art | Nordiska museet | Norman Rockwell Museum | North Canton Heritage Society | North Carolina Museum of History | Northwest African American Museum | Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture | Odense City Museums | Oklahoma City Museum of Art | Old North Foundation of Boston, Inc. | OMSI | OnCell Systems | Oshkosh Public Museum | Owens Community College | Pacific Science Center | Parks Canada Agency | Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology | Pennsylvania Hospital | Peoria Historical Society | Plymouth Antiquarian Society | Politecnico di Torino | Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach | Prince George's County Memorial Library | Project Manager | PS2 arquitetura + design | Pueblo Grande Museum | Quinlan Visual Arts Center | Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden | Restigouche Regional Museum | Reynolda House | Rijksmuseum Amsterdam | Riley Centeer/Museum | RISD Museum of Art | Rosson House Museum | Royal BC Museum | Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton & Hove | Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp | Ruthmere Museum | Sagnlandet Lejre | saint louis art museum | Saint Louis Art Museum | San Jacinto Museum of History | Sandy Davis Communications | Santa Fe Botanical Garden | Santa Fe Trail Center Museum & Research Library | SBMH SHS | Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center | Science Museum of MN | Science World | Scurry County Museum | Seabridge | Sedalia Museum | SFMOMA | SFO Museum | sgscripts | Sharlot Hall Museum | Sheldon | Shiloh Museum of Ozark History | Shofuso Japanese House and Garden | SI | SIUE | Sloan Museum | Sloan*Longway | Smith's Castle at Cocumscussoc | Smithsonian NMAI | SOMArts Cultural Center | Springfield Art Association | Springs Museum | St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum | St. Johnsbury Athenaeum | State Historical Society of North Dakota | State Museum of Pennsylvania | Statens Museum for Kunst | Susan B Anthony House | Tairawhiti Museum | Teh Danish Museum of Science and Technology | Tellus Science Museum | Texas State History Museum | The British Postal Museum & Archive | The Bundy Museum of History & Art | The Cleveland Museum of Art | The Drexel Collection, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA | The Fitzwilliam Museum | The Henry Ford | The Hermitage: Home of President Andrew Jackson | The Historical Society of Pottawattamie County | The Margaret R. Grundy Memorial Museum | The Mariners' Museum | The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science | The Royal Collection | Tohono Chul Park | Toledo Museum of Art | Tryon Palace | Tyler Museum of Art | University Museum, SIUC | University of Michigan Museum of Art | USF Contemporary Art Museum | Utah Museum of Fine Arts | Utrecht University | Vejle Kunstmuseum | Vendsyssel Historiske Museum | Victorian and Albert Museum | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts | VMFA | Warrenville Historical Musuem & Art Gallery | Waterton Lakes National Park | Weisman Art Museum | Wellcome Collection | West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc. | Wildlife Conservation Society | Williamson Museum | Wisconsin Maritime Museum | World Figure Skating Museum & Hall of Fame | Wyoming State Museum | Yiddish Book Center | Youth Science Center. * Only those institutions that ‘opted in’ to being identified are listed.


Thank you to everyone who participated in the Museums & Mobile Survey 2012. This is the third year of the survey, and once again the response to the survey has been overwhelming: we’re delighted to have had over 600 participants! In this report you’ll find an analysis of all the main points from the survey. Also this year we’ve focused a little more on two particular mobile strands we we think are of timely interest to the community. •  The first is the type, cost and hardware platform of an institutions mobile experience. Our aim here is to help inform

decisions on whether an institution’s mobile experience be an in-gallery or out-of-gallery experience, be available free or at additional cost, and be accessible on the users smartphone or on a museum provided device.

•  And the second is the relationships between an institution’s size, and the type, objectives and challenges of the

mobile experience they offer. We hope these analysis will advance existing discussions on the types of mobile experiences that are most successful for differently resourced institutions.

We hope you find these analyses valuable. Thank you for all the feedback we’ve received about the survey. Our aim is to keep the survey as universal and straight forward as possible. Nonetheless it feels a little inevitable that as the definition of what constitutes a mobile experience expands into apps and mobile web sites, and as institutions start to offer a range of different mobile experiences, structuring a museum mobile survey so that it remain accessible, simple and informative becomes more challenging. Your suggestions on how to overcome these challenge are always welcome, and we look forward to watching the debate about what museums mean by ‘mobile’ evolve in the coming months. And finally, a big thank you to all the team at LearningTimes and Pocket-Proof for their amazing hard work on this project, without which this report would not be possible. Good luck everyone with your mobile projects in 2012!

Loic Tallon. Pocket-Proof.


about   What type & size of institutions responded to the 2012 Survey?   & are there trends in the types or sizes of institutions using

mobile?

5 Tallon, Loïc. Museums & Mobile Survey 2012. (February 2012: Pocket-Proof & LearningTimes). 5

1.1 The Museum & Mobile Survey 2012 was launched in late-November 2011. Responses to the survey were solicited through the Museums-Mobile.org email subscribers, the LearningTimes newsletter, the MCG listserv, the MCN listserv, the Culture24 newsletter, the Future for Museums Facebook group, and on Twitter via the #mtogo hashtag.

1.2 By the time the survey closed in early-January 2012, we had received responses

from 615 individuals working within the field of mobile, either in a museum or as a vendor / researcher.

1.3 78% (480) of all respondents came from the USA, with 5% (33) from both the United

Kingdom and Canada. In total, responses to the survey were received from 24 countries.

1.4 Of the 554 survey respondents currently working in a museum: 177 worked in an

institution that currently offered a mobile experience. •  165 worked in an institution that had plans to launch their first mobile experience

in the next 12 months. •  212 worked in an institution that was not currently using mobile, nor had plans to

do so. (Figure 1)

1.5 Individuals working in a History Museums made up the largest proportion of

respondents from a museum (25% / 141 respondents). These were followed by Art Museums / Galleries (20% / 113), Local Heritage Museums (10% / 53) and Monuments / Historical Sites (8% / 46). (Figure 2)

about


1.6 Similar to 2011, survey respondents from an Art Museum / Gallery were more likely to already be offering a mobile experience to their visitors than their counterparts in a History Museum. Over half of all respondents from a History Museum reported that their institution was not currently using mobile, nor had any plans to do so: the equivalent figure from those working in an Art Museum was 20%. (Figure 3)

1.7 Over half of all respondents working in a museum reported an annual attendance of

under 50,000 visitors. One-in-five reported an annual attendance of over 250,000 visitors annually. (Figure 4)

1.8 There was close correlation between whether a respondent’s institution was

currently offering a mobile experience and the annual attendance of that institution, with the ‘pivot’ point being at c.250,000 annual visitors, above which a majority of respondents’ institutions offered a mobile experience. 55% of respondents from institution with annual attendance of under 50,000 visitors were not currently offering mobile nor had plans to. (Figure 5)

about


Figure 1 // Proportion of survey respondents that currently offer a mobile experience at their institution.


Figure 2 // Survey respondents by type of institution vs. whether that institution currently offers a mobile experience.


Figure 3 // Survey respondents by whether that institution currently offers a mobile experience vs. the type of institution.


Figure 4 // Survey respondents by annual attendance vs. whether that institution currently offers a mobile experience.


Figure 5 // Proportional representation of survey respondents by annual attendance vs. whether that institution currently offers a mobile experience.


type & platform   What type of mobile experience are institutions offering?   Are the mobile experiences free or a paid extra?   Are visitors required to use their own hardware, and if so is this factor

related to the size of an institution?


type & platform

2.1 63% of respondents from an institution that either offered a mobile experience, or which were planning to do so, defined their mobile experience as an on-site / in-gallery enhancement to the museum visit. However those institutions that were planning their first mobile experience were more likely to be developing an off-site experience compared to their counterparts in institutions that already offered a mobile experience. (Figure 6)

2.2 Of those respondents from institutions currently offering a mobile experience, or which

were planning to do so, over 70% reported that the mobile experience was free to visitors: just 10% reported that it was available at an additional cost. (Figure 7)

2.3 The majority of respondents from institutions that currently offered a mobile

experience provided the hardware for that experience to visitors, though half of these also made that experience available to visitors via there own smartphone. A significantly greater proportion of institutions that were planning their first mobile experience were more likely to require visitors to use their own smartphone / hardware. (Figure 8)

2.4 Whilst there was little discernable relationship between the type of mobile experience

and its cost to the visitor (Figure 9), a relationship was evident between the cost of the mobile experience and whether visitors had to use their own hardware to access that experience. (Figure 10)

2.5 There was little discernable relationship between the size of an institution and whether

that institution requires visitors to use their own smartphone / hardware to access its mobile experience. (Figure 11)


Figure 6 // Type of mobile experience by those institutions that currently offer / have plans to offer a mobile experience.


Figure 7 // Cost of the mobile experience by those institutions that currently offer / have plans to offer a mobile experience.


Figure 8 // Hardware platform of the mobile experience by those institutions that currently offer / have plans to offer a mobile experience.


Figure 9 // Cost to the visitor to use the mobile experience vs. the type of the mobile experience, (focused on institutions currently offering a mobile experience only).


Figure 10 // Cost to the visitor to use the mobile experience vs. the hardware platform on which visitors access the mobile experience, (focused on institutions currently offering a mobile experience only).


Figure 11 // Proportional representation of annual attendance vs. the hardware platform on which the visitor access the mobile experience, (focused on institutions currently offering a mobile experience only).


audience   What type of audience are the mobile experiences targeted

towards?   Is the target audience linked to whether a visitor uses their own

smartphone?


audience 3.1 The top five terms used to describe the target audience of the mobile experience

currently offered by, or planned by, museums are:* •  Tourists (55%) •  Visitors to the institution (56%) •  Adult visitors (55%) •  All visitors (47%) •  Those that like audio guides (41%)

3.2 Museum that are planning their first mobile experience are more inclined than those institutions with an existing mobile experience to define their target audience in relation to a visit to the institution.*

3.3 Those institutions that were planning to offer their first mobile experience were more likely than those institutions already offering a mobile experience to identify the following visitor groups as the target audience of their mobile experience: •  School groups.* •  Twitter & Facebook users. •  Local community. •  Those wanting a more playful experience.

3.4 Those institutions already offering a mobile experience were were more likely than those institutions planning to offer their first mobile experience to identify the following visitor groups as the target audience of their mobile experience:* •  Those that like audio guides. •  Adults. * (Figure 12).


audience 3.5 In some cases, the relationship between the target audience was linked to the

hardware platform a visitor must use to access the mobile experience. For example: •  Institutions were unlikely to target “Twitter and Facebook users” for an experience

only available on a hardware visitors must borrow from the institution. •  For a target audience of “Those that like audio guides”, it was less likely that an

institution would make the mobile experience only accessible on a visitors own hardware.

•  If the target audience was “those wanting a more in-depth experience,” institutions were most likely to have the experience only available on a hardware the visitor must borrow from the institution.

(Figure 13)

3.6 Those institutions that offered their mobile experience both on visitors’ own hardware and on a hardware the visitor could borrow from the institution, were more likely to have a broad-description / multi-category target audience than those institutions that offered the mobile experience only on a visitors hardware or only on a hardware the visitor could borrow from the institution. (Figure 13)


Figure 12 // Target audience of the mobile experience of those institutions that currently offer / have plans to offer mobile.


Figure 13 // Target audience of the mobile experience of those institutions that currently offer and have plans to offer mobile vs. the hardware platform visitors use to access the mobile experience.


objectives   What are the objectives of your institution’s mobile experience?   Are the objectives of the mobile experience linked to the type

of experience?


objectives 4.1 Whether or not the institution currently offered a mobile experience, and / or was

planning to offer a mobile experience, institutions identified the same four points as the primary objectives of their / a mobile experience. These were: •  To provide additional interpretation information to visitors. •  As part of institution’s experimentation in engaging visitors. •  To provide a more interactive experience. •  To raise the profile of the institution with new audiences. (Figure 14-16)

4.2 Among the main differences in objectives for their / a mobile experience between institutions that currently offered, were planning to offer, or were not planning to offer, were: •  Institutions that currently offered a mobile experience were the least likely to

identify revenue generation as an important objective of their mobile experience. •  Conversely, institutions that did not currently offer, or plan to offer, a mobile

experience were the most likely to see revenue generation as an important objective of an institution’s mobile experience.

•  Institutions that did not currently offer, or plan to offer, a mobile experience were the least likely to see “to keep up with museum practices” and “as part of the institutions experimentation in engaging visitors” as important objective of an institution’s mobile experience.

•  And Vendors / Researchers were more likely than institutions to view “to raise the profile of the institution”, “to satisfy visitor demand”, “to facilitate way-finding through the site”, “to provide better access for visitors with special needs” and “as a foreign language provision” as important objectives of an institution’s mobile experience.

(Figure 17)


objectives 4.3 For those institutions that currently offered, or were planning to offer, a mobile

experience that was an on-site / in-gallery enhancement to the visitor experience, the objectives most likely to be “Very important” for their mobile experience were: * •  To provide additional interpretation information to visitors. (75%) •  As part of institution’s experimentation in engaging visitors. (70%) •  To provide a more interactive experience. (62%) •  To keep up with current museum practices. (45%)

4.4 For mobile experiences that were an off-site enhancement to a past of future visit to the institution, the objectives most likely to be “Very important” were: * •  As part of institution’s experimentation in engaging visitors. (67%) •  To provide additional interpretation information to visitors. (64%) •  To raise the profile of the institution with new audiences. (61%) •  To attract new visitors to the institution. (58%)

4.5 And for mobile experience that were an off-site stand-alone experience, the objectives most likely to be “Very important” were: * •  To raise the profile of the institution with new audiences. (64%) •  To attract new visitors to the institution. (59%) •  As part of institution’s experimentation in engaging visitors. (57%) •  To provide additional interpretation information to visitors. (50%)

* (Figure 18)


objectives 4.6 There were differences in the “Very important” objectives of the mobile experience

currently offered, or planned, by an institution based on the hardware platform the visitor used to access the mobile experience. Among the main differences were: •  An institution that identified “to keep up with museum practice” as an objective of

their mobile experience was more likely to give the visitor the choice of accessing the mobile experience on their own mobile platform or on a device they could borrow from the institution.

•  Institution’s that positioned their mobile experience as part of their experimentation in how to engage visitors were more likely to make that experience accessible on a hardware owned by the visitor than on a hardware they must borrow from the institution.

•  If specific funds had been made available for the mobile experience, it was deemed more important that the institution provide a hardware which the visitor may borrow to access the mobile experience.

(Figure 19)


Figure 14 // Objectives of their institution’s mobile experience, as seen by those institutions that currently offer a mobile experience.


Figure 15 // Objectives of their institution’s planned mobile experience, as seen by those institutions that no not currently offer a mobile experience, but have plans to do so in the next 12 months.


Figure 16 // Objectives of an institution’s mobile experience as seen by those institutions that currently do not offer a mobile experience, nor have any plans to do so.


Figure 17 // Objectives deemed “Very Important” by all survey respondents vs. whether their institution currently offers a mobile experience.


Figure 18 // Objectives deemed “Very Important” of the mobile experience of those institutions that currently offer and have plans to offer mobile vs. the type of mobile experience.


Figure 19 // Objectives deemed “Very Important” of the mobile experience of those institutions that currently offer and have plans to offer mobile vs. the hardware platform visitors use to access the mobile experience.


no mobile   Of those institutions that don’t use mobile, and have no plans

to, why not?


no mobile

5.1 Of those institutions that neither currently offer a mobile experience, nor have plans to do so, the most popular response to ‘why not?’ related to the maintenance of the experience as opposed to its implementation. (Figure 20)

5.2 Of the 21% of responses that felt that the reason their institution did not use mobile

was not covered by the options provided, a selection of the responses were as follows:

“I actually want to say ‘All of the above’. Our Director just does not see mobile apps as being relevant.” “Our location does not have good mobile reception. We're kind of in a ‘no service’ pocket.” “We are inexperienced in the field, both in determining its value and in implementing it.” “All of the above.” “Board at this time feels being open is enough.” “Both too expensive and insufficient staff to operate/maintain.” “We attempted an audio tour that did not see to be utilized.” “I want to but only have time to do so much.” “Almost all of the above.”


Figure 20 // Reason for not offering a mobile experience by those institutions that currently do not offer a mobile experience, nor have any plans to do so.


challenges   What is the greatest challenge in developing and delivering a

mobile experience?   How are these challenges linked to the type of experience an

institution chooses to develop?


challenges 6.1 Institutions that did not currently offer, or were planning to offer, a mobile experience

perceived the challenges of developing and operating a mobile experience to significantly greater than either an institution that currently offered a mobile experience, or an institution that was planning to offer their first mobile experience. (Figure 21)

6.2 The three aspects of developing and operating a mobile experience that were identified

as most challenging by those institutions that currently offered a mobile experience were: •  Keeping the experience up-to-date. •  Encouraging take-up of the mobile experience. •  Production of the content. (Figure 22)

6.3 Institutions that were planning their first mobile experience, and institutions that did not

currently offer, or were planning to offer a mobile experience, identified the same aspects of developing and operating a mobile experience as most challenging. These were: •  Cost of sustaining the mobile experience. •  Cost of maintaining the mobile experience. •  Keeping the experience up-to-date.

(Figure 22) 6.4 Overall, the aspect of developing and delivering a mobile experience that was identified

as most challenging by all institutions was “keeping the experience up-to-date.” (Figure 22). This aligns with the reason given for not offering a mobile experience given by those institutions that did not currently offer, or were planning to offer a mobile experience, i.e. insufficient staff to operate / maintain the experience. (See 5.1)


challenges 6.5 “Encouraging people to take the mobile experience” was the only aspect of

developing and operating a mobile experience that institutions who did not currently offer a mobile experience perceived to be less challenging than those institutions that currently did offer a mobile experience. (Figure 21)

6.6 The other aspect more readily identified as a big challenge by institutions that

currently offered mobile than by institutions that did not, was “production of the content.” (Figure 22)

6.7 Among institutions that currently offered a mobile experience, there were differences

in the main challenges those institutions faced in developing and operating a mobile experience based on the type of mobile experience they were offering. Among the main differences were: •  Institutions that offered an off-site enhancement to a future or past visit to the

institution were more likely to identify both the design and technical development of the mobile experience as very challenging.

•  The cost of implementing and sustaining a mobile experience was considered to be a greater challenge for an in-gallery mobile experience than for an off-site mobile experience.

•  Ensuring the mobile experience supported the mission of the institution was deemed a greater challenge for off-site experiences than for on-site experiences.

(Figure 23)


Figure 21 // Challenges deemed “Very Challenging” for developing & operating a mobile experience vs. whether that institution currently offers a mobile experience.


Figure 22 // Ranked view of challenges deemed “Very Challenging” for developing & operating a mobile experience vs. whether that institution currently offers a mobile experience.


Figure 23 // Ranked view of challenges deemed “Very Challenging” for developing & operating a mobile experience vs. the type of mobile experience, (focused on institutions currently offering a mobile experience only).


take-up   Is the challenge of encouraging visitors to take-up the mobile

experience linked to cost?   Is the challenge linked to whether the visitor can access the

mobile experience on their own smartphone?


distribution 7.1 Among institutions that currently offer a mobile experience, encouraging visitors to

take the mobile experience was deemed less challenging by institutions who made the experience available free-of-charge than by institutions that charged extra for the mobile experience. Nonetheless, it was ranked respectively as the greatest and second-greatest challenge of developing and operating a mobile experience by each type of institution. (Figure 24)

7.2 Whether the experience was available only on a hardware that the visitor borrowed

from the institution, or was also available on a visitors own hardware did not have a significant effect on the challenge institutions faced in encouraging visitors to use the mobile experience. (Figure 24)


Figure 24 // Challenge of encouraging a visitor to take a mobile experience vs. 1) the cost to the visitor to use mobile experience, and 2) the hardware platform visitors use to access the mobile experience.


future   Where will museum mobile be in two years time?   Do museums that currently offer a mobile experience see the

future differently to those that do not currently use mobile?   And how does the size of an institution affect its vision for the

future?


future 8.1 Despite variation in those aspects of mobile which an institution has already

implemented, institutions that already offer a mobile experience and institutions that are planning to offer a mobile experience have a similar vision of what their institution will and will not have implemented, within the field of mobile, in the next two years. (Figures 25-26)

8.2 The three aspects relating to mobile which institutions that currently offer a mobile

experience, and institutions that are planning to offer mobile experience, are most likely to have implemented within the next two years are: •  Increased in-house content production for mobile. •  A strategy for mobile at the institution. •  Development of a web site optimised for mobile. (Figures 25-26)

8.3 Institutions which currently offer a mobile experience and institutions that are

planning their first mobile experience envision it as more likely that they will have a web site optimised for mobile than a smartphone application within the next two years. (Figures 27)

8.4 Relationships exist between an institutions vision of where they will be with mobile in

two years time, and the annual attendance (or size?) of their institution. These include: •  The aspect of mobile for which there is the greatest variance in relation to the

institution’s annual attendance, is whether the institution will install a free public Wi-Fi network within the next two years.

•  The increased production of content in-house content production appears to have little correlation to annual attendance of an institution.

(Figure 28)


Figure 25 // Future / next two years of mobile experiences at institutions that currently offer a mobile experience.


Figure 26 // Future / next two years of mobile experiences at institutions that do not currently offer a mobile experience, but have plans to do so in the next 12 months.


Figure 27 // Features of mobile experiences that are “Already Implemented” or “Will Definitely Implement” in the next two years vs. whether that institution currently offers a mobile experience.


Figure 28 // Features of mobile experiences that are “Already Implemented” or “Will Definitely Implement” in the next two at institutions that currently offer, or have plans to offer, a mobile experience vs. the annual attendance of the institution.


favorite!mobile exp.?   What is your favorite museum mobile experience of 2011?


911 memorial. Real sense of place. | A historic area in a Houston, TX park. Several restored houses were arranged in a beautiful setting, on the outdoor signage was a number to call on your own cell phone. It was easy and added additional information about the houses and their history, it did not repeat the information provided on the signage. | AB EX NY iPad app by MoMA - because it's beautifully executed, has a seamless UX, and makes use of the mobile device's specific functionalities in meaningful ways (web access, multimedia, interactive map) | Antenna audio tour for Birth of Impressionism exhibit which traveled from the Musee d'Orsay. It added so much more information to the experience (I went to the exhibit 3 times and listed to the audio all three times) and was much easier than crowding around the paintings to read the labels which were in a much too small typeface (in order to minimize their presence?) | Audio guides. | Augmented Reality - the visual expereince of the then & nows are cool! | Augusta Canal National Heritage Area. Augmented Reality is not perfect technology yet, but is exactly along the lines of what we hope to do in 2012 -- has great potential for our site in seeing the layers of history that are no longer visible -- in doing so, we hope to more strongly reinforce the historical importance of our site to the South Carolina Lowcountry and to the nation. | CNAPn application for iPhone. | Have not experienced any. | Hmm... in last 12 months. Prolly LeafSnap | | Indianapolis Museum of Art TAP Tour of the Tara Donovan exhibition. | Just Add Art - Bonnefantenmuseum: simple, user-centric, fun, unique | Montreal Museum of Fine Arts musical audio tour for Tiffany exhibition | Ours, it was fun to get our feet wet with the technology | Sadly I have had little time to go outside of work to anywhere with new mobile experiences in the past year and prefer personal contact to find out information. I have in the past enjoyed way finding apps at larger institutions. | smartphones | TATE trumps. I have not tried it on site, but it seems that this app really take in consideration the use of smartphones, not only used as a digitalized catalogue. But uses the technologies capability for interaction in a playful way | website and app. talesofthings--lets you comment on museum artifacts Website and app. Search the collections of the Victoria & Albert museum--awesome to see what they have.

and finally... Out of all the museum mobile experiences you have taken in the past 12 months, which is your favorite?!Yes, Currently using mobile. (A selection) "


Augmented reality guide at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI | Augmented Reality walking tours fascinate me, and I have used AR apps that were games or interactive advertisements, but I have not been able to experience an on-site AR tour. I would LOVE to take the Museum of London Street Museum tour one day, which I have only read about online. Second to that, QR codes with additional online content are always nice when I'm in other museums. | Canadian War Museum... it allowed us to see something that we could emulate, and it's shortcomings showed us many places that we could improve upon for our own application. | Have never tried one. That kind of technology is new to me. | Haven't taken one to be honest | Historypin. It works, it's relevant, it's smooth. | I have enjoyed the experience at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I didn't have to pick up the audio tour - just relied on my telephone. The content was well-written. | I have not had the opportunity to do so. | I haven't experienced a museum mobile experience in the past 12 months because I live in a small community in New Mexico. We have a large, historic New Deal Art Collection and an historic Courthouse where the collection should be housed. Developing a museum-mobile experience for tourists, residents and schools seems ideal for our needs. | I haven't taken a museum mobile experience in the past 12 months. | Met Museum Guitar application -- good use of the properties of the medium in an accessible and engaging way. | MOMA | MoMA Ab Ex, for its content, aesthetic, creativity and diverse sets of knowledge | Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Black History Museum. Very educational, but short enough to make the visit doable within a limited time block; animated characters engaging and provided authenticity to understanding the history. | Sadly, none. Not one mobile experience I've personally had felt like it really connected me with the museum. | Tate trumps - kept me occupied, entertaining, learned about my own art preferences and offered the facility to interact with other users. And simple - not bogged down with hard to learn functionality. | The dinosaur app from the American Museum of Natural History, because it is engaging and educational. | Western Heritage Center, Billings, because it provides additional interesting factual information not otherwise at hand. | Whitney Museum retrospective on Kara Walker.

and finally... Out of all the museum mobile experiences you have taken in the past 12 months, which is your favorite?!No mobile, but have plans to. (A selection) "


(N/A I'm one of those people who doesn't do tours when I'm a visitor!) | curators tour at DeYoung Museum | Desert Museum in Phoenix, AZ. Enjoyed the descriptions and information of the various plants. | first time experience | Gallery specific/initiated audio guides. | have not had any museum mobile experiences | Have not had one in past 12 months. | Have not had one. | I don't think I have taken any. Or if I have, it obviously wasn't memorable. ( I don't have a "smart" phone, just an old fashioned cell phone that calls and takes messages. Not even a camera. My museum pays for it.) | I don't think I've had any museum mobile experiences, quite frankly. Most of the museums in my neck of the woods (CT) haven't developed mobile apps. They're on facebook and twitter, but that's about it. | I have not attended a mobile experience in the past 24 months | I have not done in past 12 months | I have not experienced any. | I have not used a museum moblie experience. | I haven't used any mobile experiences in a museum ever. Usually I have looked around with printed maps (or just wandered). In a few cases I have used a human tour guide or the like. | I really liked the phone app for the City Hall Park exhibit of Sol LeWitt sculpture. | I recently downloaded three Civil War Trust apps for the iPhone (Gettysburg Battle App, Fredericksburg Battle App, and Bull Run Battle App), mostly out of curiosity. Although not exactly museum-specific, I found them to be informative even though I have not visited any of those sites. However, I haven't recently download many museum-related apps. | Indiana Historical Society Interesting interactives and connections with people. | n/a | NA | none taken | SF\MOMA Podcasts | St. Augustine FL Lighthouse | The Summer Palace Beijing had a mobile tour which was geo location based. It took the burden off the user to key in numbers or stops. | To be perfectly honest, I have never had a museum mobile experience. Despite being 31 - an age that readily accepts new technological innovations and experiences - I very much dislike them. I find the idea/experience of being 'plugged in' very lonely despite the obvious arguments otherwise. My attention span is too short to support it and I find that I get a better personal experience (as well as personally interesting, learning more, making better connections, etc.) if I am able to follow my own initiative and see the museum as I am interested in it.

and finally... Out of all the museum mobile experiences you have taken in the past 12 months, which is your favorite?!No mobile, and no plans to. (A selection) "


Catellan-Guggenheim. Liked the visual trigger for ascertaining more info. | Diego Rivera iPad app at the Detroit Institute of Arts. It is the perfect way to provide interpretation for a confined and unusual exhibit. The usability and design of the interactive made it a pleasant and engaging experience. | Dinosaurs! | | Have not had such an experience in past 12 months. | Have not had that experience -- still have a "dumb phone"! | Have not taken any in 12months. | Haven't really seen any interactive truly mobile experiences here. | honestly can't pull one out specifically right nowl... | I really don't know... Maybe Museum of Londons Streetmuseum app? because it is location based and links the past to the present and makes it relevant for the viewer?? | Just Add Art! One of the simplest, yet coolest, educational experiences I've ever seen in this market. | LEAFSNAP. It uses the technical powers of the mobile devices to create a new experience, different from that of the museum visit. It finds a way to connect the public with the content in an exciting and pleasing way. Besides it is beautifully designed. | None. I haven't come across something that would be more then typing and listening. | Prototype 'Macbeth the King' transmedia service taking people into the landscape and ending in a museum visit | QR codes at Fundacion Joan Miro (Barcelona) linked to wikipedia articles, done by the community and check by the museum curators | Smithsonian African Art Museum, Artists in Dialogue. | Smithsonian is the only one I have had contact recently. They are sometimes dificult to locate the specific research item but they have great people in the system that get back to you with suggestions if not the actual information you are looking for. | The AMNH's integration of scanning of on-site QR codes/images with their exhibit on space exploration was an absolute delight for people of all ages. The execution was brilliant because the collecting of all of the images results in a "reward" which must be collected back at one's own computer. | The Andy Warhol Museum has really been on the cutting edge of aps that not only take place within the museum, but continue to connect the museum and its mission outside the walls of the museum. They've done a fantastic job of keeping the content relevant to their audiences (which are a tough one to crack--generally young and generally very tech savvy. They can smell a bad tech experience a mile away!)

and finally... Out of all the museum mobile experiences you have taken in the past 12 months, which is your favorite?!Vendors & Researchers. (A selection) "


Glad you continue to do this survey; great benchmarking tool! Thank you! | I liked the design of the survey! Specially the banners and how readable was the text (I have a little impaired vision). | I'd suggest you start the next survey with a brief description of what you mean by "mobile". Lots of people are using it to describe different types of tours, apps, audio tours, ipods, tablets etc while other consider it to only be smartphone tours. I'm not sure how wide of a definition you intended. | In the future, I think it would be a good idea to structure this assuming that institutions have more than one mobile offering. I'd include questions about tablets as well. | In your survey, the choices were "Very challenging," "Quite challenging." and not challenging. Truthfully, "very and "quite" are similar modifiers, and meant the same thing to me. I would have liked to see "somewhat challenging" as the middle choice - as it covers more middle ground than "quite challenging." Just a suggestion. | Part of this survey did not cover our situation. We have no full-time employees - every curator, technician and support staff member is a volunteer. | Please give me feedback on the results of your survey. | Survey was too speculative. | Thanks for including me in this survey. | Thanks for your work! | Thanks you for your continued work on this survey and contributions to the world of museums. | The survey presupposes more knowledge than we have on the topic. I found answering the questions was not entirely simple | This is an incredibly useful annual initiative. Thank you. | Very useful and timely research! Excited to see the results. | Very useful survey. Well-placed questions; not too long, etc. | We had fun participating in the conference this year. Looking forward to it growing. | Would be interesting to know what platforms cultural organisations are supporting in smartphone and tablet apps: is the bias towards iOS really disappearing?


Hashtag: #mmonline Email: [email protected] Please cite paper as: Tallon, Loïc. Museums & Mobile in 2012: An analysis of the Museums & Mobile Survey 2012 Responses. (February 2012: Pocket-Proof & LearningTimes), published at http://www.museums-mobile.org/survey

ABOUT POCKET-PROOF Pocket-Proof is a leading knowledge center / thought leader in mobile experiences for museums. Pocket-Proof assists museums internationally in the planning, design and development of experiences that meet the needs and preferences of their visitors through new mobile technologies. Clients include MFA Boston, Whitney Museum of American Art, National Museums Scotland, National Museum Wales, Louis Vuitton Cultural Centre & National Museum of Qatar.

ABOUT LEARNING TIMES LearningTimes is a global leader in creating innovative, interactive online learning programs. LearningTimes produces live online conferences, webcasts, podcasts, and educational programs for more than 400 organizations and associations in the technology, publishing, museum, library, K-20 education, government, training and non-profit sectors. LearningTimes is headquartered in New York with offices in San Francisco, London, Calgary and Philadelphia.


SAVE THE DATE // May 9, 2012

On May 9, 2012, join museum colleagues from around the world for Museums & Mobile IV Online Conference

Speakers include: •  Charlotte Sexton, Head of New Media, National Gallery, UK. •  David Klevan, Senior Digital Engagement Strategist, United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum, USA. •  Elizabeth Margulies, Assistant Director, Family Programs, MOMA, USA. •  Charlie Keitch, Formal Learning Officer, National Maritime Museum, UK. •  Jane Findlay, Digital Participation Officer, National Maritime Museum, UK. •  Sheila McGuire, Manager of Learning Resources, Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, USA. •  Richard C. Cooper, Manager of Interpretive Services, National Underground Railroad Freedom

Center, USA. •  Shelley Mannion, Digital Learning Programs Manager, The British Museum, UK. •  Dan Davis, Multimedia Producer, National Museum of the American Indian, USA. •  Eric Longo, Longo Consulting, USA. •  Nancy Proctor, Head of Mobile Strategy, Smithsonian Institute, USA. And remember, it all takes place online so you can attend from the comfort of your own desk. No

travel necessary! Register Today! (early bird pricing ends April 25th): http://www.museums-mobile.org