I believe that some of what is offered in Pine and Gilmore’s “Experience Economy” is especially complimentary to thinking about the use of technology in museum spaces. They offer that, to develop a theme for an experience, it’s important to “alter a guest’s sense of reality; simultaneously affect the experience of time, space, and matter; integrate space, time, and matter into a cohesive, realistic whole; create multiple places within a place; and fit the character of the enterprise” (p. 166-167). This seems to align with much of what we’ve discussed as best practices for creating engaging museum experiences, especially when considering the addition of digital technologies. Since much of what museums offer is already structured thematically, considering these five best practices from Pine and Gilmore will support the development of additional experiences.

Building off the bigger-picture experience practices from Pine and Gilmore, Dorn et al’s piece asks us to consider what it is that visitors want from museums. Their findings offer much insight to experience design. Considering Dorn et al’s point that “museums may be able to attract repeat visitors by engaging group visits” (p. 18), I’m thinking about the potential impact of creating experiences that are multi-user oriented or at least something shareable, so that single visitors are able to engage meaningfully as well. If we know that museum visitors are more frequently visiting museums with others, how can we factor that into the experience, without excluding solo visitors? When I think of my own experiences visiting museums, the ones that had fun and engaging multi-user activities were more often than not science or children’s museums, but I assume that Dorn et al’s finding that people are more likely to visit a museum with others applies to a wide variety of museum types and spaces. So how can art or historical museum spaces also include interactive group activities?

Though, while reading Schiele’s article, I couldn’t help but also think about transfer of knowledge - once we get people into a museum and interacting with the space, the artifact(s), and each other, how do we take it beyond the museum? How are we hoping to affect visitors in the long-term, beyond their initial visit(s)?