Pilot Evaluation of the CURATORx Platform at the Typography Collection of the Ionian University Museum: Methodology, Implementation and Preliminary Findings Creators

This technical report presents the design, implementation and preliminary findings of the in-person pilot evaluation of the CURATORx platform, conducted on 25 July 2026 at the Museum Collections of the Ionian University, specifically within the Typography Collection. CURATORx is an innovative digital platform developed to support the collection, organisation, management, interpretation and interactive presentation of cultural information through digital and Extended Reality technologies. The pilot involved 18 participants from heterogeneous age, educational and professional backgrounds. The participant group included cultural heritage professionals, such as archaeologists and museologists, museum visitors, one educator, and a small group of primary- and secondary-school pupils who attended the activity under the supervision of the accompanying educator. A separate internal-user evaluation was completed by seven members of the project team and content-management group. The evaluation followed a formative mixed-method approach combining electronic questionnaires with structured observation of participants’ interactions with the platform. The pilot experience began with an on-site guided tour based on the thematic narrative developed for the Typography Collection. Selected exhibits were presented interactively by members of the project team, who demonstrated how typographers, printers and bookbinders had historically handled or operated them. Because the complete narrative uploaded to the platform was extensive, its principal themes were presented orally, enabling participants to understand the storyline without being required to read the entire text during the limited duration of the visit. Following their interaction with the physical collection and the digital platform, participants completed the relevant electronic questionnaire individually on tablet devices provided by the project team. The findings indicate highly positive assessments of access, navigation, exhibit presentation, content comprehensibility and educational usefulness. Participants particularly valued the connection between physical museum objects and their digital interpretation. At the same time, the pilot identified areas requiring further improvement, including the adaptation of extensive written narratives for digital use, the integration of additional audiovisual material, improved accessibility, clearer navigation and greater technical reliability of the mobile, interactive and Extended Reality functions. Given the formative character of the evaluation, the limited and non-probability sample and the timing of the implementation, the findings should be interpreted as preliminary evidence supporting the iterative improvement of the CURATORx platform rather than as a representative assessment of the wider museum-visiting population.