Bridging the gap: implementing interaction through multi-user design

Abstract

We describe an interactive museum installation designed to extend visitor participation through personal reflection and contribution. The case study describes design approaches, which focused on multiple individual simultaneous use, which we describe as multi-user design. These approaches were deployed to support the visitor moving from viewer to contributor in a temporary museum exhibition. We present the anticipated use and early analysis of some of the data from actual use of the system. We outline our initial findings for the opportunities and limits in designing for personalised user-generated content through such approaches within museums and suggest areas of future work on qualities of participation and visitor contribution.