The integration of new media technologies into the wayfinding system of a museum environment

This practice-based research project addresses the application of digital technology in wayfinding for use in a museum environment, specifically the National Science and Technology Museum (NSTM) of Taiwan. According to the New Museology, at the beginning of the twentieth century, museums were no longer just places where artifacts/ objects were conserved but had become more human-oriented. One of the ways this human orientation was reflected was in greater attention to visitor wayfinding in the museum environment. A wayfinding system, such as a paper map or sign, is a channel of communication by which people locate themselves. This research views the humanoriented aspect as the central idea in the production of a smart, flexible wayfinding device, which can communicate instantly with visitors and museum personnel who share wayfinding needs during their visit to the museum. Activity-Centered Design is a practiceoriented design methodology and is used in this research to examine existing problems of the wayfinding system in the NSTM, to critically analyse the tensions between the traditional system and the possible future digital wayfinding device (the prototype of this design research), and to propose benefits this new wayfinding device might bring in terms of a new visiting experience. The results from user feedback, based on a questionnaire, an interview and prototype testing in the NSTM, indicate that most of the participants agreed that this digital wayfinding device was more effective in assisting them to find their location than the traditional wayfinding system, and that a more humanised interaction with the environment was a valuable tool to increase the level of visitor satisfaction.