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Guest Post by Nina Simon -- Self-Expression is Overrated: Better Constraints Make Better Participatory Experiences

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences. Why aren’t more museums designing highly constrained participatory platforms in which visitors contribute to collaborative projects?

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The Participatory Museum, Five Years Later

Museum 2.0

This week marks five years since the book The Participatory Museum was first released. I thought the pinnacle of participatory practice was an exhibit that could inspire collective visitor action without facilitation. Since 2010 I have seen, again and again and again, how valuable human facilitation is to the participatory process.

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12 Ways We Made our Santa Cruz Collects Exhibition Participatory

Museum 2.0

This exhibition represents a few big shifts for us: We used a more participatory design process. Our previous big exhibition, All You Need is Love, was highly participatory for visitors but minimally participatory in the development process. Without further ado, here's what we did to make the exhibition participatory.

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Self-Expression is Overrated: Better Constraints Make Better Participatory Experiences

Museum 2.0

When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences. Why aren’t more museums designing highly constrained participatory platforms in which visitors contribute to collaborative projects?

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Participatory Design Vs. Design for Participation: Exploring the Difference

Museum 2.0

Which of these descriptions exemplifies participatory museum practice? But the difference between the two examples teases out a problem in differentiating "participatory design" from "design for participation." In the first case, you are making the design process participatory. In the second, you make the product participatory.

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Teenagers and Social Participation

Museum 2.0

Last week, I gave a talk about participatory museum practice for a group of university students at UCSC. Teenagers are often the target for participatory endeavors, and they definitely have high interest in creative expression, personalizing museum experiences, and using interactive or technological tools as part of their visit.

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Reflections on a Weekend with Ze Frank and His Online Community

Museum 2.0

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. You can see more comments from participants here and here and see a photo set from one participant here.