Personalising content presentation in museum exhibitions: a case study

Museums need to attract more visitors. Personalization of exhibitions is one way to achieve this end. Various options for personalization using information systems have been proposed. A major question is how directive personalization should be. Is visitor satisfaction highest if the system limits the burden of choice, or should it leave a great deal
of autonomy to the visitor? This paper reports on two explorative studies into methods for personalizing digital content presentation in museum exhibitions. The methods differ as to the degree of control they allow the user. Visitor preference for and acceptance of 1) profiling methods, varying as to context sensitivity and 2) presentation methods, varying as to the amount of guidance imposed on visitors by the presentation, were tested using a simulated exhibition. Test visitors varied as to age and museum experience. The main findings are that visitor satisfaction with context sensitive, stepwise profiling was higher
than with immediate, abstract profiling; that independent exploration was preferred to directive guidance; that visitor variables had only minor influences throughout on satisfaction with both profiling and guidance methods. Implications of the studies for the implementation of personalized museum visitor support systems may be that using context-sensitive interaction resulting in suggestions to the visitor is a much more successful option than sign-in forms and the like opaque methods instantly returning a profile. In closing we recommend a continuous and adaptive form of profiling during the entire visit, enabling a flexible form of presentation varying as to the degree of guidance.