Museum 2.0

MARCH 16, 2009

When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Forrester created the “social technographics” profile tool to help businesses understand the way different audiences engage with social media (and you can read more of my thoughts on it here ). Consider a mural.

Participatory 44

Participatory Experiment Museum Teen 44

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 11, 2012

I'd say that these techniques support audience development, repeat visitation, membership, maybe could even attract new kinds of donors. Our team focused this year on just three things: making the museum more comfortable, hosting new participatory events, and partnering wherever possible. but I didn't have numbers to back it up.

Audience 47

Audience Museum Participatory History 47

The Storytelling Non-profit

JANUARY 12, 2022

Telling great stories helps your non-profit get its message out into the world, connect with new audiences and motivate people to take action like making a donation. A narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or verse, designed to interest, amuse, or instruct the hearer or reader; tale. It’s participatory.

Story 89

Story Storytelling Profit Participatory 89

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 15, 2009

Over the past year, I've noticed a strange trend in the calls I receive about upcoming participatory museum projects: the majority of them are being planned for teen audiences. Why are teens over-represented in participatory projects? The first of these reasons is practical.

Teen 24

Teen Participatory Experiment Museum 24

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 18, 2012

When talking about active audience engagement with friends in the museum field, I often hear one frustrated question: how can we get adults to participate? Major research studies by the NEA and others demonstrate that adults well into their 60s are highly motivated to participate actively with cultural experiences.

Interaction 47

Interaction Design Museum Participatory 47

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 18, 2011

We’ve been doing a little experiment at our museum with labels. They’re no longer “an exhibit” per se—more of an evocative design element that hints at an important story told elsewhere in the museum. We decided to approach the label-writing for these boards in a participatory way.

Participatory 48

Participatory San Diego Museum History 48

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 13, 2011

The best participatory projects are useful. Rather than just doing an activity, visitors should be able to contribute in a way that provides a valuable outcome for the institution and the wider museum audience. From a design perspective, this activity is scaffolded for success.

Participatory 44

Participatory Museum Action Experiment 44

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

APRIL 7, 2014

I’m preparing for a webinar and with any training I begin the instructional design with surveying participants to understand their level, learning goals, and attitudes about the subject matter. What is the best way for a non-profit organization to engage the audience? How can we get people to talk to us?

Social Media 101

Social Media Headline Media Social 101

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 23, 2014

If you want to a chance to win, leave a comment on this post sharing something that you’d like to learn about Impact Leadership or some wisdom from your experience about practicing impact leadership! One of our first design tasks as facilitators was for all of us to get clear on what we mean by “Impact Leadership.”

Registration 128

Registration Leadership Impact Change 128

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 3, 2009

On Friday, I offered a participatory design workshop for Seattle-area museum professionals ( slides here ). We concluded by sharing the tough questions each of us struggl es with in applying participatory design techniques to museum practice. questions that draw from personal experience, not abstraction.

Technique 50

Technique Question Design Develop 50

Museum 2.0

MARCH 13, 2013

It can be incredibly difficult to design a participatory project that involves online and onsite visitor engagement. We took a HUGE risk when we trusted our audience to help us create something cool, not only on the web, but in a museum. We Blur Digital and Real-World Experiences The biggest difference between Oh Snap!

Authoring 53

Authoring Open Experiment Museum 53

Museum 2.0

MAY 24, 2011

Ken is a game designer and writer who develops narrative, collaborative augmented reality experiences about serious issues. They asked for an experience that could transform how you perceived the Park – whether you were new or had lived in San Diego all your life. it takes you a couple hours to experience it all.

Lesson 49

Lesson Game San Diego Design 49

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 1, 2014

They designed a participatory project that delivers a compelling end product for onsite and online visitors… and they learned some unexpected lessons along the way. Also, on a personal level, I had this really powerful experience with my mother in a Storycorps booth in Grand Central years ago that had a profound impact on me.

Museum 43

Museum Story Project Design 43

Museum 2.0

APRIL 20, 2009

I’d never attended before and was impressed by many very smart, international people doing radical projects to make museum collections and experiences accessible and participatory online. Are participatory activities happening on the web because that is the best place for them? And then you show up in person and feel jilted.

Participatory 35

Participatory Museum Web Indianapolis 35

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MARCH 14, 2012

The Packard Foundation, true to the nature of its brave and innovative Learning in Public experiment, generously shared with us some of the lessons it learned by opening up the measurement and evaluation effort of its Organizational Effectiveness program to…well… the public. Measurement springs from many different motivations.

Evaluation 95

Evaluation Measure Seattle Lesson 95

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

I''ve spent much of the past three years on the road giving workshops and talks about audience participation in museums. This post shares some of the most interesting questions I''ve heard throughout these experiences. BROAD QUESTIONS ABOUT AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION 1. Yes and no.

Museum 45

Museum Question Participatory Evaluation 45

The Modern Nonprofit

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Building Meaningful Engagement: Crowdfunding can assist nonprofits in not just raising funds but also in constructing significant participatory relationships with donors, potentially expanding their current supporter base. It also encourages donations through genuine personal connections.

Game 59

Game Fundraising Campaign Generation 59

Museum 2.0

APRIL 28, 2009

On Friday, I offered a participatory design workshop for Seattle-area museum professionals ( slides here ). We concluded by sharing the tough questions each of us struggles with in applying participatory design techniques to museum practice. It frames and personalizes the exhibit experience. instead of what is?)

Technique 52

Technique Design Question Develop 52

Museum 2.0

JULY 20, 2016

When we say we want our museum to be "audience-centered," what do we mean? However, I have enormous respect for the customer-centered model when it is executed in ways that truly invite visitors in on their own terms and deliver satisfying experiences. They deliver learning experiences at many levels, engaging many senses.

Museum 20

Museum Audience Music Arts 20

Museum 2.0

APRIL 1, 2010

This is the final segment in a four-part series about writing The Participatory Museum. This posts explains why and how I self-published The Participatory Museum. While some aspects are quite technical and specific, it should be useful for anyone considering writing a book for a niche audience. Check out the other parts here.

Participatory 33

Participatory Museum Process Adobe 33

Museum 2.0

JUNE 10, 2015

And so, one of the most successful, accidental, and fraught participatory projects of the past decade comes to an end. No one planned the love locks, but their success is rooted in the same principles that make all the best participatory projects work: it requires no instructions beyond its own example. Nor are they historic.

Participatory 20

Participatory Project Artist Instruction 20

Museum 2.0

APRIL 25, 2011

I've spent much of the past three years on the road giving workshops and talks about audience participation in museums. This post shares some of the most interesting questions I've heard throughout these experiences. BROAD QUESTIONS ABOUT AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION 1. Feel free to add your own questions and answers in the comments!

Question 49

Question Participatory Museum Evaluation 49

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

Visitors bond and bridge through participatory experiences at MAH. To apply the results of my analysis to produce a community-driven program design specifically for implementation at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (the MAH). You can download and read the full version of my thesis here.

Museum 49

Museum Program Participatory Community 49

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

Then, for an hour, former foster youth who helped design the exhibition shared their stories with supervisors. They spoke powerfully and painfully about their experiences. In it, I argued that museums could give up control of the visitor experience while still maintaining (a new kind of) power. They shared their hopes.

Platform 31

Platform Impact Childhood Museum 31

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

APRIL 5, 2010

deation Conference is intentionally formatted to create a rich learning and sharing experience. The hope is that these various experiences will lead to inspiration, encouragement, new explorations. In the afternoon, I did workshop and put the audience right on the cat walk with me. The description: The !deation

Conference 85

Conference Long Beach Slides Lecture 85

Museum 2.0

MAY 23, 2008

There are group and individual experiences. And now, the research group Forrester provides new insights about different kinds of participatory styles among users of social media sites. These are the exhibits and design types that we should pay more attention to. design participatory museum.

Profile 26

Profile Audience Participatory Tools 26

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

I was there for a think tank about the reinstallation along with a handful of designers and academics. So when the folks at the think tank asked us to make a media piece to address one problem we saw with the current setup, I decided to do a little experiment in visitor-driven navigation. So what would I do with this little experiment?

Experiment 44

Experiment Lesson Learning Museum 44

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 25, 2009

Answers will differ depending on who's asking, but they are also influenced by the designed environment in which questions are asked. The outcome of our conversations is dependent on the diversity of designed environments in which they occur. "Where were you last night?" If someone asked you that question, how would you answer?

Design 31

Design Goal Difference Platform 31

Museum 2.0

MAY 22, 2013

Early this month, I got the chance to hear legendary game designer Will Wright (Sim City) give a talk. I''ve followed Wright''s work for years because of his unique perspective on the potential for game-players to be game-makers - in other words, to co-create the gaming experience. The more open, the more agency. Both games have rules.

Game 40

Game Artist Museum Participatory 40

Museum 2.0

JULY 11, 2012

Ze Frank is a participatory artist who creates digital projects that are explicitly about creating and enhancing authentic interpersonal connections. It's often intended for an audience that I only barely understand through the ways they respond and interact with the work. We won't just be "printing out" the experience.

Museum 45

Museum Participatory Artist History 45

Museum 2.0

APRIL 10, 2013

These are unpaid, part-time internships in which you will make a significant contribution to our work, and at the same time, learn a heck of a lot about participatory design and community engagement. Check out the descriptions and how to apply here , and learn more about the MAH intern experience on their blog here.

San Francisco 23

San Francisco Participatory Artist Museum 23

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 23, 2014

When the opportunity to design my own two-hour museum adventure at the American Museum of Natural History presented itself, I jumped at the chance. I want to help people find interactive and accessible points of entry and give them the tools to curate their own experience during every museum visit. Who is the audience for Museum Hack?

Museum 55

Museum Interview New York Interaction 55

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 16, 2013

This past weekend, in conjunction with our exhibition about Ze Frank's current participatory project, A Show , we hosted " Ze Frank Weekend "--a quickie summer camp of workshops, activities, presentations, and lots of hugging. Or that we take a group photo together at the end of the day. The museum itself was well-integrated into the event.

Reflection 43

Reflection Community Museum Participatory 43

Museum 2.0

MARCH 28, 2012

At the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH), we've started experimenting with a "community first" approach to program development. Here are a few things that I think helped make this experience valuable: We started from communities' needs, not the museum's. Moving from community needs out to possible projects/collaborators.

Program 49

Program Community Design Museum 49

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 22, 2009

What does the word "participatory" mean to you? The various definitions of participatory projects can lead to confusion and misunderstandings. Participation in science research is a good basis on which to develop a framework for participatory models because it is based on a consistent scientific process with many steps.

Public 36

Public Research Participatory Report 36

Museum 2.0

JULY 12, 2011

For me, Downward Draw provided an unusual opportunity to examine the more casual end of the participatory spectrum. For years, I've used Forrester Research's five social media user categories --creators, critics, collectors, joiners, and spectators--as a guide when thinking about how to design participatory experiences in physical space.

Participatory 41

Participatory Museum Measure Activities 41

Museum 2.0

JULY 20, 2010

Last week, I gave a talk about participatory museum practice for a group of university students at UCSC. During the ensuing discussion, one woman asked, "Which audiences are least interested in social participation in museums?" Second, teens today are incredibly aware of "stranger danger."

Teen 49

Teen Social Museum Participatory 49