Small museums designing new visitor experiences: needs, limitations and opportunities

Licia Calvi*, Arnold P.O.S. Vermeeren

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

In this article, we investigate how small museums running on volunteers deal with the challenge of innovation given that the future is becoming more digital. From the literature, little is known about the strategies and practices for designing innovative visitor experiences in small museums and about the skills needed for doing so. In particular, we were interested in understanding how professionals working in small museums design experiences that mainly appeal to and engage a younger public and how digital innovation can play a role in both attracting and keeping such audiences engaged with the museum. Our most important conclusion is that the question of “how to innovate” is misplaced and that small museums rather need to capitalize on the strong tie with the community they serve. Only in this way can they lower the threshold to access and connect to a broader public that is younger and more diverse.

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages21
JournalMuseums and Social Issues
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care
Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

  • community
  • designing visitor experiences
  • innovation
  • needs, limitations and opportunities
  • Small museums
  • volunteers

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