Summary of Findings

Through our contextual inquiry, we found that when people learn something new or see a name they recognize, it sparks a desire to learn even more. We hope that our design will cultivate and encourage that feeling in our users. However, one of the biggest challenges we faced designing and executing our contextual inquiry was that it is hard to judge what information people want to know, especially when it is not available or difficult to find.

We also found that people like to visualize information, especially through pictures. They provide a physical connection between the past and the present. We also learned that people are interested in being involved with special programs(WALLS) that may help them discover more about the museum.

Participants

1) Jim

A Male, senior student at williams,who has been to WCMA before, and usually visits about twice a year. The CI took place at the WCMA reading room. In looking at old photos of the original museum building, Jim frequently looked back and forth between the photo (of just the octagonal rotunda section) and the current rotunda next to us. Jim had never seen the past buildings that became the WCMA we know today. He especially enjoyed learning more about things with which he is familiar, but didn’t know the history of such as the eyes in front of WCMA.

2) Tanaka

A high school student at Greylock, who Has never been to WCMA. CI took place outside of WCMA. Tanaka went on WCMA’s history webpage to help her construct her timeline. In looking through the events on the page, she stated that she was confused because of the different names that WCMA has had. This suggested that the consistency of information is important in learning about the history of WCMA. Tanaka developed an interest in knowing about programs that could help her know more about the museum and its art. She was particularly interested in the WALLS program.

3) Karl

A Male, senior student at Williams, who takes mostly div 3/2 courses and has never been to WCMA before. CI took place at TCL 216. When asked how he went about constructing his timeline, the first webpage he went on was Wikipedia. He stated that he used Wikipedia as his first source because he didn’t think WCMA would have a history webage. Moreover, he believes Wikipedia is an easier channel of obtaining quick information and likes to have an initial understanding of the topic at hand. He constructed his timeline an outline using information from the Wikipedia page. After having a general idea, he likes to use other sources to learn more, and proceeded to WCMA’s website. He constructed his timeline in succinct words, stating that he preferred straightforward information. On exploring WCMA history, Karl took interest in the design of the website and critiqued the user interface of the website as a whole.

Themes and Process

Process

Participants were asked to learn more about their current location (WCMA) by conducting research, predominantly using online resources, and constructing a timeline of events they considered significant in the museum’s history.

Affinity Diagram

Following our three contextual inquiries, we worked together to evaluate our data with an affinity diagram, pictured here.

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Themes

  • Familiarity sparks further interest

    Familiarity seems to act as a “foot in the door technique” to get users to seek out more information. For example, in one of our contextual inquiries, our participant researched more when there was some sort of recognition, either a name or events (e.g. WALLS)

  • Users find pictures helpful

    All of our participants commented on how they liked the incorporation of pictures with the history

  • Accessibility, relevancy, and clarity of information is important

    Throughout all of our contextual inquiries, we noticed that our participants preferred when information was convenient and easy to understand.

  • Viewing the museum as more than the museum building

    We noticed that our participants were surprised when they came across information about WCMA that extended beyond the museum building itself. For example, one of our participants was surprised that the chemistry table is part of WCMA and engaged with this information. We could keep in mind that special programs (WALLS, graduate programs) encourage visitors to be more involved in activities that can help them discover more about the museum.

  • Museum as an inclusive and welcoming space

    Several of our participants said that they associate museums with lofty language and would prefer if the museum felt more inclusive for all people.

Task Analysis Questions

  1. Who is going to use the design?

    Visitors of WCMA

  2. What tasks do they now perform? (what do people do?)

    Currently, people look for information about the museum’s history online (using Google, Wikipedia, or directly checking the WCMA website), they find historic photos and make connections between the museum’s past and their own present.

  3. What tasks are desired? (what do people want to do?)

    People want a more accessible means of knowing a place’s history and they want that information to be conveyed in a way that’s easy to understand. In addition, they want to be able to discover new information about the museum and be able to explore the space.

  4. How are the tasks learned?

    Individuals have their own preferred methods and tools. For example, some automatically open up Google and start to type any keywords that come to mind, while others go straight to the WCMA site. People like to use tools with which they are familiar because they know how to use them.

  5. Where are the tasks performed?

    Both in the location and not. A desire to learn more about a place can be especially sparked when someone is in that actual place, but it has the potential to extend far past the time when they are physically there. Because of the changes to the building itself, people find interest in the museum’s history both while inside where they can see the shapes of the inner galleries, and also outside where they can see the overall building.

  6. What is the relationship between the person and data?

    People want relevant data and they want it in language and a form they can understand. People respond very strongly and very well to pictures, largely because they convey a large amount of data (what something looked like, what took place) in a very quickly digestible format.

  7. What other tools does the person have?

    They have the museum staff—security guards, the greeter, staff in the galleries—whom they can ask for both information and personal anecdotes.

  8. How do people communicate with each other?

    People really enjoy sharing new information they have learned with their friends and those around them. This communication could be both verbal or electronic.

  9. How often are the tasks performed?

    The outcome of performing a task affects if it performed again or more frequently. When people look up information, if they like what they found, they may be inspired to look up something more specific or something that arose from that initial search.

  10. What are the time constraints on the tasks?

    The largest time constraint is the person’s attention span to remain interested in finding the information they are looking for. If information is not quickly or easily accessible, people lose interest and stop pursuing it.

  11. What happens when things go wrong?

    People get confused and frustrated. They give up, stop their search, and do not learn anything new. They are also less likely to trust that the next time they want to know something that they will be able to find it.