This presentation was part of the SDT2012 - the 1st international conference on service design and tourism, Innsbruck/Austria, August 23-24, 2012. For more info on the conference and other presentations visit: www.sdt2012.com. All rights reserved by the author(s): Anita Zehrer, Austria MCI Tourism Dr. Anita Zehrer is Deputy Head and Senior Lecturer at the School of Tourism and Leisure of the Management Center Innsbruck (MCI). Her research interests are diverse and include consumer behaviour in tourism, service experiences and service design, social media in tourism, entrepreneurship and leadership in tourism, family business management in tourism, epistemology in tourism and tourism education. She currently serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Vacation Marketing and the Tourism Review. Service Design in Tourism: Examining the Museum Experience Museums are regarded as experience-centered places that offer both emotional and cognitive stimuli and as places of service experience consumption. As museums are becoming more visitor-oriented and facilitating experiences that satisfy their visitors, a deeper understanding of visitor experiences via their personal thoughts and feelings during museum visits are vital. Following this paradigm shift in museum experience management, a museum is an amalgam of a series of experience encounters (tangible and intangible) and museum experiences are derived from both service providers (quality of performance) and visitors themselves (quality of experience). The purpose of this presentation therefore is to report a project carried out at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra in April/May 2012. The National Museum of Australia is a social history museum where visitors explore the land, nation and people of Australia. The museum focuses on indigenous histories and cultures, histories of European settlement and Australian interaction with the environment. Visitors of all age groups were invited to apply myServiceFellow during their museum experience in an attempt to understand their customer journey. The aim of the project is to provide an insight into museum service experience consumption from the minds of visitors and to contribute managerial implications for formulating relevant marketing strategies and the promotion of the National Museum of Australia as a service experience consumption place to attract more visitors.

1. Service Design in Tourism -
Examining the Museum Experience
Anita Zehrer, Management Center Innsbruck, AT
Birgit Muskat, University of Canberra, AU
Raechel Johns, University of Canberra, AU
Matthias Muskat, University of Canberra, AU
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2. content outline
overview
introduction
justification of research
purpose
literature review
museum
museum experiences
empirical study
methodology & research design
findings
limitations
lessons learned
outlook and next steps
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3. introduction
justification for research
paradigm shift in museum experience management from a traditional to an
experiential approach
 museums have expanded in variety and exploded in popularity over the
last few decades
 a museum is an amalgam of a series of experience encounters (tangible
and intangible)
 museum experiences are derived from both service providers (quality of
performance) and visitors themselves (quality of experience)
 museums as experience-centred places must become more visitor-
oriented and facilitate experiences that satisfy their visitors
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4. introduction
purpose
… to contribute to the debate on museums as experience-centered places
(exploratory research)
… to understand how museum experience is perceived by visitors (natural
setting)
… to understand the customer journey in a museum setting
… to provide an insight into museum service experience consumption from
the minds of visitors (student setting)
… to derive managerial implications for the museum industry
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5. literature review
museum experience
author definition of museum and museum experience
ICOM, 2008 a museum is „… a non-profit, permanent institution in the
service of society and its development, open to the public,
which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and
exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and
its environment for the purposes of education, study and
enjoyment”
Douglass, 2003 museum stands for a wide range of informal educational
institutions, including art, history, exhibits and collections
Falk and Dierking, museum experience is a complex construct given the
2002 multiplicity of visitor and museum types and involves the
interaction of three contexts: the personal, social and physical
context
Table 1. Definitions
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6. empirical study
research design
approach exploratory
method qualitative, case study, ethnographic research
case National Museum of Australia, Canberra
study period April and May 2012
research setting 29 post-graduate students of UC
Table 2. Research Design
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7. empirical study
survey instrument
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8. empirical study
case
National Museum of Australia in Canberra
- a social history museum where visitors explore the land, nation and
people of Australia
- focuses on indigenous histories and cultures, histories of European
settlement and Australian interaction with the environment
- sits on an 11 hectare site in Australia's national capital Canberra on the
Acton Peninsula, edging Lake Burley Griffin
- project originated with an International Design Competition which the
architects won in 1997 and was opened in March 2001
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9. empirical study
case
The National Museum of Australia on Acton Peninsula
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10. empirical study
case
The Museum Hall
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11. empirical study
case
The garden of Australian dreams
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12. empirical study
analysis instrument
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13. empirical study
findings I
Figure 1. Overview of touchpoints by different users
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14. empirical study
findings II
Figure 2. Example of customer journey
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15. empirical study
findings III
Written comment at by gsj-UC 13 at touchpoint ‘Torres Strait,
05.07.2012, 12:09’
“Bipotaim-Stories from the Torres Strait.1 The entrance to this
gallery is really tucked away – and I would have missed
noticing it if I didn't do a 360 degree turn when I was looking
at another exhibit.”
1Bipotaim: Stories from the Torres Strait is an exhibition of striking photographs, stories and
objects about the lives, culture and identity of Torres Strait Islanders.
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16. empirical study
findings IV
Figure 3. Example of video by user
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17. empirical study
findings V
Figure 4. Example of picture by user
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18. empirical study
findings VI
Figure 5. Example of picture by user
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19. limitations
of study
exploratory study and case study methodology
 only 1 museum is taken into consideration
 not typically generalizable to the population at large
 only fragmentary exploration
 based on quality of observation of people’s behavioural interaction with
services
 limits the degree to which sub-analysis can be performed on the data
 involves costs in terms of time and resources
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20. lessons learned
research setting
 Students found it easy to use once they downloaded it. In general, students
that were more familiar with smartphones and other internet technologies
found the app easier to use and less daunting.
 Students generally felt that the use of the app enhanced their visit to the
museum – they were more engaged with various aspects of the museum and
had a more positive opinion of the museum.
 Students interviewed at least one other classmate about their experiences and
contrasted their own experiences (contextual interview).
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21. lessons learned
myservicefellow
Text
 Everything from catch words to detailed descriptions
Photo
 Often used without comment  difficult to interpret
Video
 Hardly used, short videos, some comments with voice
Voice
 Not used at all  people are afraid to hear own voice
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22. outlook
next steps
• systematic data analysis (content analysis) of pictures, videos
and texts
• interpretation of findings in terms of practical implications for
both, the case study at hand and the museum industry
• presentation and discussion of findings with museum
managers to define the next steps
• journal publication as academic output
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23. many thanks for your attention.
Dr. Anita Zehrer
Deputy Head and Senior Lecturer
anita.zehrer@mci.edu