Wednesday, November 6, 2019

In museums today, we employ user-centered design practices while developing projects to define our audiences and align with their needs. All too often, though, we lack the time and resources to do the equally valuable post-launch work of user-centered evaluation—work that could take us from the theoretical to the practical by shedding light on who actually uses these projects, and how. This knowledge is especially critical in cases where content design methodologies span multiple projects, or even multiple institutions, as in the growing field of online collection catalogue publishing. This session presents the findings of an ambitious evaluation of online scholarly catalogues produced by four museums: The Art Institute of Chicago, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art. The study, conducted by Rockman et al, draws upon evaluation of web analytics, user surveys, and in-depth user testing and focus groups. By addressing questions such as how the digital publications compare to scholarly works in print, what platforms and features create the best experience, and how the digital interface facilitates engagement with museum collections, it aims to close the gap between the audiences we plan for, and those we are truly serving.

Session Type60-Minute Session (Professional Forum or Hands-on Demonstration)

TrackEvaluation
Chatham House RuleNo

Key Outcomes

After attending this session, participants will have a better understanding of user expectations and desires for online scholarly publications, and of the associated metrics for measuring success. They will see the benefits of cross-institutional partnerships, and be able to use the success of the project as a case study in their own work.

Speakers

Session Leader : Katie Reilly, William T. Ranney Director of Publishing, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Co-Presenter : Lauren Makholm, Assistant Director of Production, The Art Institute of Chicago

Co-Presenter : Greg Albers, Digital Publications Manager, J. Paul Getty Trust

Co-Presenter : Emily Zoss, Managing Editor for the Permanent Collection, National Gallery of Art

Speaker : Claire Quimby, Research Associate, Rockman et al