Creative new media design: achieving representative curatorial practice using a Cultural Interactive Experience Design method

Technology has driven the development of interaction with an emphasis on creating spaces, objects and information which can draw audiences into innovative and entertaining realms. This development can be seen increasingly within the domain of cultural institutions, as new media artefacts start to permeate libraries, galleries and museums. However, questions remain as to whether the postmodern cultural institution better represents the needs of the community it serves, or whether topdown curatorial practice is simply being bolstered with new media artefacts. Using the museum as an example of curatorial practice in cultural institutions, this paper discusses the role of new media in the transition from the traditional, curator-driven modernist museum to the community-based post-museum. It then applies this theoretical framework to the library environment as a cultural institution evolving with comparable concerns. The paper introduces Cultural Interactive Experience Design, a work-in-progress structured method which enables the curator of the community-based institution to capture and analyse disparate community needs from the bottom-up, and to translate this analysis into the creation of compelling cultural interactive experiences. The CIED method will be illustrated through two design projects which are currently being designed for major Australian cultural institutions. It is expected that these projects will be displayed at the Symposium.