digital futures museum websites at ma 2014
DESCRIPTION
A 20 min session delivered at the 2014 Museums Association conference in Cardiff. The session took place in the afternoon on Thursday 9 October. It has the title of “What Makes the Perfect Museum Website?” and the aim was to give delegates a chance to think about how their own websites work and what could be changed and improved. I spoke about the importance of using museum websites from a marketing point of view, with a primary focus of driving visitors through the door of the museum, while the other speaker would look at sites from a curatorial or educational side - i.e talking more about online content and community. We looked at the ways these approaches differ, how they can work together, and the various challenges each raises.TRANSCRIPT
DIGITAL FUTURES: MUSEUM WEBSITES
@zakmensah / Head of DigitalMuseums Association Conference
Zak Mensah+44 (0)777 522 7272zak.mensah@bristol.gov.ukzakmensah.co.ukbristolmuseums.org.uk@zakmensah
What Makes the Perfect Museum Website?
(see notes section)
User needs
Digital Principles
1. Users at the heart2. Evaluation3. Digital services4. Build digital skills5. Experiment6. Collaboration (Partnerships)7. Sustainability8. Open practices
Designing for four screens
Listening
Content Strategy
...online, you don’t have a captive audience. You have a multi-tasking, distracted, read-to-leave-your-site-at-any-time audience who has very specific goals in mind.
If your content doesn’t meet those goals, and quickly, they will leave.
Content strategy plans for the creation, publication, and governance of
useful, usable content.
http://alistapart.com/article/thedisciplineofcontentstrategy
Basic Principles
● Good content is appropriate● Good content is useful● Good content is user-centred● Good content is clear● Good content is consistent● Good content is concise● Good content is supported
The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane
Measurement
Do these
1. User needs 2. Listening3. Improving our web literacies together