: Digital

Hearing the voices of Amgueddfa Cymru’s digital users

We’re in the middle of an exciting series of projects that will reimagine how we serve our users digitally. We’re developing a fresh approach to our overall digital strategy, revisiting the systems that enable people to transact with us, and rethinking how we express ourselves online.

As part of this, we’re looking at the role our website plays. It’s served the museum for a long while and, although it has evolved over that time, we’ve reached a point where a more fundamental overhaul is required.

To kick off that process, we’re working with an agency called One Further. They’re helping us to develop a stronger understanding of how our website is serving our users and where there are opportunities to improve. Their outside perspective is useful because, working with it every day, our view of the website is likely to be somewhat distorted.

We’re also very aware that the new website must serve the people of Wales and provide a platform for engaging the communities that we work with (and those we want to work with more). For that, we need to hear directly from those people and communities.

That’s been a big part of the work that One Further has been doing for us. Here they explain some of the ways that we’re reaching out to hear the voices of our digital users.

The who and the why of a website visit

To capture responses at scale we’ve been using a variety of pop-up surveys across our website.

User intent surveys ask people about the context of their visit. Is it for personal or professional reasons? Is there a particular task they’re looking to complete?

Content engagement surveys ask people to rate the quality of a particular page and to suggest improvements.

Exit surveys appear when it looks like someone is about to leave the website. At this point we can ask them about the quality of their experience and what they might like to see improved.

Of course, these surveys can be obtrusive if not deployed sensitively. We make sure they only appear on the appropriate pages and don’t interrupt people who are in the middle of completing a transaction of some sort.

We make the majority of the questions multiple choice to keep completion rates high, and we don’t show people more than one survey during their session.

Optimising user journeys

We want to understand to what extent people are able to find information on the site quickly and easily. Is the layout intuitive? Are we using the right labels in the website navigation?

To test this, we use a tool called Treejack. It allows us to mock-up a website’s navigation and then set up tasks for people to attempt. These involve asking them to indicate where in the navigational structure they would expect to find certain information.

We then send a link out to people and wait for the results to roll in.

By asking people to complete typical user journeys on the site we can spot sticking points, dead ends, and obstacles.

If a significant percentage of people head off into the wrong section of the site then maybe we need to reconsider the ‘information architecture’. If people make it to the right section but then click on multiple options, maybe we’re not getting the labeling right. All of this is really useful feedback.

Digging deeper with one-to-one usability testing

Those two methods allow us to get really useful feedback at scale. We then balance that with usability testing on a more personal scale.

This involves talking to people one-on-one over Zoom. We ask them to share their screens while we give them a selection of common tasks to carry out on the site. Having the person there in front of us allows us to ask follow up questions to dig deeper into the choices and assumptions that we see playing out. Although when someone gets stuck on something it can be difficult to suppress the urge to lend a hand!

To make sure we were speaking to a representative sample of people, we used a recruitment pop-up on the website and sent people to a screening questionnaire. We then scheduled the session at a time convenient for them.

Pre-covid we would often do these tests in either a dedicated usability testing centre, or on-site at our clients’ premises. We’ve actually found that testing remotely comes with various benefits, in particular:

• The person taking part is able to use their own equipment, in their own environment, which makes them feel more at ease,
• Without no requirement to travel, we’re able to test with people who might not otherwise have been available, and
• If people cancel at short notice (or don’t turn up) it’s not such a big deal.

Make use of what we learn

Getting direct feedback from the museum’s audiences early in the process is incredibly useful for grounding us in how people perceive the website. That’s allowed us to have more informed conversations with people in various departments.

That feedback is also going to drive improvements to the website. In some cases there are some quick fixes to apply. Beyond that, we will be incorporating what we’ve learned into our broader recommendations for the future direction of the website.

Stuck at home? Lots of us at the Museum are too, but although we may have temporarily shut our doors to visitors during the Covid-19 outbreak, we still have lots of fantastic goodies for you to savour from the comfort of your own home.

So, how are you feeling?

Feeling confined? Spare a thought for Tim Peake who was hauled up in the tiny Soyuz TMA-19M capsule with two of his crewmates Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra as he descended back to Earth from the International Space Station back in 2015. Although the journey was just under three and a half hours, this little confined capsule saved his life. Remember: staying in your house right now can save lives too.

Feeling peckish? With Easter just around the corner, how about this 100-year-old Easter egg? Not your thing? How about this compilation of traditional Welsh recipes. I'll give the Oatmeal Gruel a miss, Eldeberry Wine however... now you're talking!

Feeling curious? Ever wondered why Jones is such a popular Welsh surname? Check it out now, in a minute.

Feeling arty? Why not try your hand at some botanical illustration.

Feeling adventurous? Take a trip underground at Big Pit National Coal Museum and experience life as a real miner.

Feeling nostalgic? Take this opportunity to snoop around some of the houses at St Fagans National Museum of History whilst no one’s watching!

Feeling crafty? Print out and make this paper calculator.

Feeling blue*? Mix things up with some natural colour inspiration from our mineral and crystal collection.

Feeling fabulous? Check out this spectacular, and very old, Bronze Age gold bling; some perfect pieces to compliment your work-from-home attire.

Feeling stiff from sitting at your home desk? Time to take a break and follow these simple stretching exercises. Plus, here are some tips on sitting correctly in front of your computer to prevent aches and pains.

Feeling active? How many times can you run up and down the stairs before your kettle boils? One, two, three, go!...

Feeling poorly? Then all of us here at the Museum wish you a hastly and speedy recovery. Get well soon! x

Not sure how you feel? Then we have over half a million other possibilities to whet your interest, fire your imagination and scratch that curiosity itch... go have a rummage!

* The meaning of this phrase may come from old deepwater sailing ships: if a captain or officers died at sea then a blue flag was flown, or a blue strip painted on the hull of the ship when returning to port. Find out more about the psychology of colour.

We invited some Big Pit Miner guides - Barry Stevenson, Richard Phillips and Len Howells - to share their memories of working underground.

These films include photos from the Cornwell Collection, and were originally made for the 'Bernd and Hilla Becher: Industrial Visions' exhibition, along with this guide to the workings of the headgear:

A technology first for UK museum

This week sees the launch of

; a brand new experience at National Museum Cardiff, bringing some state-of-the-art (and never seen before) technology into our galleries allowing you to witness our spaces as never before.

Using a handheld device available to hire from the shop you can explore the following self-led experiences:

• Underwater life:  See our collection of sea creatures come to life in the Marine Gallery, be awed by our humpback whale as it would have looked swimming in the ocean... but watch out for the shark!

• Monet’s Waterlily Garden: Explore the inspiration for Monet’s waterlilies in our Impressionist Gallery. Look out for Monet, and the Davies Sister who collected most of what you see in the gallery.

• Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures: Discover the lives of dinosaurs from 220 million years ago; see their skeletons brought to life and swim with the prehistoric creatures that once swam in our seas.

The project has been developed as a pilot in order for us to evaluate how we best approach and employ new and emerging technologies in our Museum spaces. Our permanent galleries may have been static for some years, but augmented reality can offer new and exciting opportunities to refresh narratives and explore new storylines in our Museums.

At this stage, we envision the devices to be available for hire for about 20 weeks over which time we will be evaluating popularity, ease of use, navigation, interpretative approach and overall enjoyment. A huge bonus of the system is despite the experiences offering a geographically aware tour, there is no requirement for any connectivity or data transfer requirements (i.e. we are not dependant on WiFi or networks), overcoming many connectivity obstacles in a complex and busy public space.

As this coincides with our

exhibition, Museum ExplorAR is available for you in three languages: Welsh, English and Japanese.

Top of the range graphics

The experience has been developed by Jam Creative Studios, an innovative, creative agency based in Cowbridge, south Wales. Thanks to their hard work and hours of dedication, they have delivered us a superb (yes, I am biased) new technology that offers a perfect synergy between exhibition interpretation and amazing jaw-dropping graphics and effects. They have come up with new and novel ways to showcase some of our most difficult-to-interpret collections - for instance our pavement of dinosaur footprints from south Wales where most visitors are unable to make sense of the plethora of footprints going in all different directions. Jam Creative Studios have skilfully isolated and superimposed these dinosaur trackways for us to be able to witness clearly the marks made by these extinct creatures.

What is Augmented Reality (AR)

AR, or Augmented Reality allows people to use (typically) a handheld device to view superimposed content onto the scene before them. The benefits of this technology is that you are able to experience the effects only when looking at the screen you are holding, thus still being able to interact fully with the real world around you. You may have heard of VR (Virtual Reality) which is a technology that is completely immersive and requires a full headset, cut off from the real world. We have chosen augmented reality, obviously as our visitors are walking around the gallery, we don’t want them blind to their surroundings, or each other!

This approach also means families or groups can share the experience together, something initial feedback confirms

Amgueddfa Cymru are proud to be the first place to showcase this augmented reality technology. 

The system uses a combination of area learning with augmented reality. Essentially it means that, rather than having to rely on traditional AR triggering methods (such as image tracking within your camera view or markerless AR-which requires the user to place their own virtual content within a scene) the ExplorAR can tell exactly where the user is within the gallery and can trigger appropriate content accordingly. This makes for a much more immersive experience giving users the freedom to explore all around the virtual content with no restrictions. It’s also really intuitive to use.

Testing and Evaluation

Evaluation will be key factor of the pilot, with a survey built in at the end of each tour. In addition to qualitative evaluation, this technology allows for detailed analytics on its usage, including such things as: Visitor flow, dwell time for each exhibit, most popular exhibits and average visit duration.
 
We will test and seek comprehensive feedback with a variety of users and groups, with advice from the Learning Department to gain feedback on content approach and overall concept design. We will also review our internal workflows and lessons learnt from delivering such a project, helping build a knowledge base for the organisation on best practices for future technologies we may wish to implement.

This is just the beginning...

The launch of Museum ExplorAR is the start of our investigations into how best we employ technology into our public spaces. We will be using visitor feedback to analyse where we go from here, of course the possibilities are endless, so before we go any further we need first hand accounts of what you, our visitors like, want, and expect, before we develop anything further.

Come and give it a go and let us know what you think, but remember, you saw it here first!

Plan your visit

I am an artist, studying for an MA degree in contemporary design craft, specifically the sculptural potential of prosthetic limbs. My visit to the Mollusca collection occurred after I came across a blog about the interior structure of shells on the museum website, and I made the connection between the interior structure of shells and how 3-D printers work and correct form. On the blog there was a contact number for the Curator of Mollusca, so I contacted Harriet Wood, not knowing what to expect in response.

Internal structure of 3D printed object © Matthew Day 2017

Looking inside shells - shell sections

When I explained my work on prosthetics to Harriet, and the connections with the interior structure of shells and 3-D printing she seemed very excited and invited me to come down, and also offered to introduce me to the person who runs a photography lab who uses 3-D printing and scanning for the museum.

Going Behind the Scenes

I could not have imagined it could have gone as well as it did. I met Harriet at the information desk of the museum and we then headed behind-the-scenes, where the collection is kept. Walking around the museum to get out back was really nice and modern. It reminded me of an academic journal I read not long before my visit, from the International Journal of the Inclusive Museum: ‘How Digital Artist Engagement Can Function as an Open Innovation Model to Facilitate Audience Encounters with Museum Collections’ in the  by Sarah Younan and Haitham Eid. 

3D printed, fabric dyed prosthetic sculptural socket, inspired by the Mollusca collections at National Museum Cardiff © Matthew Day 2017

Behind the scenes at the museum was quite a special environment - generally the general public are not allowed access unless arranged. It was a great privilege to be walking through rooms and rooms full of shells that people over the years have discovered and appreciated for their beauty. What was really fascinating was how the shells had been cut so perfectly. The cut shells looked almost as if this was their natural state – the way they were cut blended in so well with the form of the shell. This is what I wanted to see.

Shell sections at National Museum Cardiff © Matthew Day 2017

I was speechless when I saw these collections of shells – especially seeing that part we’re not supposed to see. It was really exciting to see interior structure revealed by the cut, as it added a whole new value to the shells. They really reminded me of work by the the sculptor Barbara Hepworth, whose work I really admire.

© Matthew Day 2017

We see shells all the time on beaches and they just fascinate me, especially the broken ones which reveal part of the interior. It’s a very imperfect break, very different to the quality of the shell which has been sliced purposely to reveal what is inside. A natural object sculpted by man: I feel that this is what I am drawn to.

3D Scanning: Art and Science

Before examining the shells myself, Harriet offered to take me down to see Jim Turner, where we ended up spending most of my visit because what he did was just very interesting. Jim works in a lab which uses a photography process called “z-Stacking” (or extended depth of field – EDF) which is used extensively in macro photography and photo microscopy.

Jim is also creating an archive of 3D scanned objects for the museum website, where people can interact with scanned objects using VR headsets - bringing a whole new experience to the museum.

I understood what he was doing immediately from my own work. He explained the process and I understood the technicalities. It was a real pleasure to speak to someone who is using 3-D scanning in a different way to me. Jim is using 3D scanning in a way that was described within academic texts I had read - and even though he wasn’t doing anything creative with shells, he was still putting the objects into a context where people could interact with them using digital technology such as VR headsets, and on the web via sketchfab.

'Like being on a beach...'

When we got back to the Mollusca Collection I was able to take my own time and was under no pressure - so I got to have a good look and explored the shells. It was like being on a beach spending hours of exploring all wonderful natural objects.

© Matthew Day 2017

This visit had an amazing impact on my MA project - and I cannot thank Harriet and Jim enough for their time. This visit also gave me the confidence to approach other museums, such as Worcester Medical Museum, where I worked with a prosthetic socket from their collection. I 3D scanned the socket and, with the inspiration from Harriet’s collection of Mollusca, I created a selection of Sculptural Prosthetic sockets, drawing inspiration from the internal structures of shells, and illustrating sections of the shells that I was most drawn to. 

'A sculpture in its own right': my collection of sculptural prosthetics

Prototype conceptual prosthetic sock sculpture inspired by National Museum Cardiff's Mollusca collection © Matthew Day 2017

Prototype prosthetic sock sculpture inspired by National Museum Cardiff's Mollusca collection © Matthew Day 2017

3D printed, fabric dyed prosthetic sculptural socket, inspired by the Mollusca collections at National Museum Cardiff © Matthew Day 2017

3D printed, fabric dyed prosthetic sculptural socket, inspired by the Mollusca collections at National Museum Cardiff © Matthew Day 2017

What’s next?

My MA is now reaching a climax, and I am starting the final major project module after the summer, which I am very excited about.

For the final part of my studies, I want to take all that I have explored and incorporated into my research to date, and use it to create a concept prosthetic limb which would be wearable, but also a sculpture in its own right – work which is now on track.

Concept design of prosthetic sculptural leg, inspired by the Mollusca collections at National Museum Cardiff © Matthew Day 2017

I aim to create a really spectacular prosthetic limb using 3D printing, further incorporating the shell-inspired aesthetics you see in this blog.

More of my work can be found on my website: Matthew Day Sculpture