For decades, visual and audio technology has been incorporated into exhibition design to enhance the visitor experience in line with the evolving needs and desires of the public. Now, the question for the field of Public History is, where to draw the line? The author partnered with the Chicago History Museum's exhibitions team as a qualitative UX (user experience) research consultant to compare the visitor experience of multimedia interactives in their newest two exhibitions with their permanent exhibit Chicago: Crossroads of America, which currently contains no updated technology to make recommendations for a possible update. Through field-based observations, standardized interviews, focus groups, existing data provided by the museum, comparison with relevant literature, and inter-department discussions this study evaluated how multimedia technologies as a storytelling tool can reach audiences innovatively without diluting the educational content of historical narratives. The study found that the central offering of the museum lies with the institution's archival holdings and the critical analytic narrative that professional historians communicate. The paper ends with a proposed mock-up design for an archivally based touchscreen multimedia interactive that highlights the museum's exhibit department's core mission. With diverse learners in mind, this model would allow visitors of the Chicago History Museum to virtually interact with the objects of Chicago: Crossroads of America in a fresh and reflective way.
Megan Hamilton (Sat,) studied this question.
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