Museums have been hanging out on the web for almost two decades now, but are still not truly digital. Held back by metaphors left over from their brick-and-mortar operations, museums continue to under-resource, under-prioritise, and under-think their digital efforts. As a result, museums’ digital presences still exist primarily as surrogates for their buildings, and have failed to become the digital temples of innovation, interaction, and experience that they could be. So museums are at a crossroads. They can continue on our current trajectory — a path towards slow death paved with blockbuster exhibitions — or they can become authentically digital, and evolve into the museums that the 21st century needs them to be. In this talk, Koven J. Smith (museum consultant to the stars and the guy who thought up the phrase “Drinking About Museums”) will address what it will mean for museums to address digital practice as a core function, and how doing so will transform both internal practice and external interaction. Sacred cows will be slaughtered, strawmen will be knocked over with reckless abandon, and half-baked theories will abound. Let’s roll.

1. Becoming
Authentically
DigitalKovenJ.Smith
KineticMuseumsConsulting
Denver,CO,USA
@5easypieces

2. “...there’s no prize for the best 19th Century enterprise
still operating in the 21st Century.”
Khoi Vinh (subtraction.com)

3. TheWebisthefuture!

4. MichaelEdson(Smithsonian)-
“MuseumsInthe
AgeofScale”
• NGA-4.6millionannualvisitors
• Wikipedia-5+billionannualvisitors
• Morethanhalfoflearninggoalsnotmet

5. We’remakingalltheright
moves:
• Wehave,like,blogsandstuff
• We’regettinglikesonFacebook
• We’recreatingDigitalMediadepartments
• We’rehiringChiefDigitalOfficers
• WehavesomanyiPadsonrailings

6. We’vetrickedourselves.

7. Tada.

8. Microsoftdesignprinciples:
• Prideincraftsmanship
• Befastandfluid
• Domorewithless
• Winasone
• Authenticallydigital

9. Authenticallydigital:
"Insteadoflookingtotherealworldtoinformourdesign
metaphors,thisprincipleembracesthelimitlesscapacityof
innovationthatisfoundinadigitallandscape.Insteadof
awkwardlytryingtotiedigitalassetstotheirreallife
counterparts,weembracethepowerofourmedium."

10. SPARS codes

11. Yes,indeed.Carloadsof
teenagers.

12. AdrielLuis:
Ifmyco-workerssay“Idon’tgetthis,”it’sautomatically
inthedigitaldepartment.

13. (mySociety
reviewof
Parliament’s
onlineofferings)
"[D]igital is shorthand for ‘we accept the internet
values of usability, needs focus and agility’.”

14. Yrmuseum’sSPARScode:
• Dforusability
• Aforagility
• Dforneedsfocus

15. Authenticallydigital:
"Insteadoflookingtotherealworldtoinformourdesign
metaphors,thisprincipleembracesthelimitlesscapacityof
innovationthatisfoundinadigitallandscape.Insteadof
awkwardlytryingtotiedigitalassetstotheirreallife
counterparts,weembracethepowerofourmedium."

16. Skeuomorphism:
“...designelementsbasedonsymbolsborrowedfromthe
realworld,forthesolepurposeofmakinganinterfacelook
familiartotheuser...theyarealsorelicsofanothertime,
relicsthattieaninterfacetostaticreal-lifeobjectsthatare
incompatiblewiththefluidityanddynamismofdigital
interfaces."

17. Ourentireapproachtothe
webisbasedon
skeuomorphs.

18. LACMA,1997

20. Anti-Pattern:
Afrequentlyuseddesignpatternthateitheroutrightdoesn’t
workoriscounter-productive.

21. So,um,howdo
wedothis?

22. Keeptheseprinciplesinmind:
• Createusableproducts
• Focusonrealneeds
• Structureforagility
• Eliminateskeuomorphsandanti-patterns

23. 1.Createusableproducts.
DanHon:“Onceyou’veseensomethingwithagooduser
experience,it’shardtojustifyotherexperiencesinthesame
categoryhavingash*ttyuserexperience.”

24. 2.Focusonrealneed.
Bewareof“CaseStudyEnvy.”(h/ttoColleen!)

25. 3.Structureforagility.
Or,whyIdon’tbelieveinDigitalMediadepartments…

26. 4.Eliminate
skeuomorphsand
anti-patterns.
• “Planyourvisit.”
• Objects
• Collections
• Exhibitions

27. 5.Touchscreens.

28. Thanks!KovenJ.Smith
KineticMuseumsConsulting
readme:kovenjsmith.com
hireme:kineticmuseums.com
disagreewithme:@5easypieces