Volume 58 Number 4 October 2015

BOOKS

Designing for the Museum Visitor Experience

by Tiina Roppola. NY: Routledge, 2012. 321 pages. Paperback. $48.83.

REVIEWED BY ANDREW PEKARIK AND GARY SHANK

Tiina Roppola opens Designing for the The open-ended aspect of her research
Museum Visitor Experience with an example of shares a debt to the early and ongoing tradition
her own experience approaching a museum: of grounded theory. Even better, her work
shows a rich and nuanced understanding of how
My eyes are struck by soaring glass features, this technique has evolved beyond its relatively
by the organically curved (almost bulbous) na€ıve early days; it has become a method that
cement-rendered walls. Textured metal panes respects our prior understandings, while simul-
glint in the early light. I take a breath and enjoy taneously building upon them to lead us in new
an impulse of energy. The juxtaposition of form directions. A hint of this process can be seen in
and finishes makes a statement in the landscape. the quote at the beginning of this review. Early
A statement of what? A statement of creativity, models of grounded theory insisted that
of decentering tradition? Yes, I think. With that researchers set aside their preconceptions (as if
I get back on my feet and meander down to see they could). But Roppola does not, by any
what this jaunt will bring. (1) means, set aside her assumptions and presuppo-
sitions. She is aware that experience per se can
In this fashion, Roppola introduces us to lead her far beyond what she might expect. This
her unique take on design and the visitor experi- stance also allows her to conduct and interpret
ence. She thrusts us at the outset into subjective her many interviews by allowing them to stand
experience—vivid and informed but open to on their own, without trying to shape them into
discovery—an attitude that characterizes the her guiding perspectives. This is a skill that few
best of what a qualitative research perspective qualitative researchers are able to master, espe-
can bring us. As a result, we are prepared to look cially to the degree Roppola shows in this book.
upon her research strategies and tactics on their As an industrial designer steeped in semi-
own terms. otics, Roppola’s motivation for undertaking this
This book is a refreshing addition to the lit- research is very understandable. She wishes to
erature on visitors in museums for two reasons. create an intellectual framework for museum
First, it is based on open-ended qualitative design that will make it easier for designers,
research that is well-designed and thoughtfully content specialists, and educators to work as
executed. Second, it incorporates relevant equals in creating exhibitions that work for visi-
insights from the field of semiotics. tors. The book began as a doctoral dissertation

Andrew Pekarik ([email protected]), Senior Research Analyst, Office of Policy and Analysis Smithsonian Institu-
tion. Gary Shank ([email protected]), Professor, Duquesne University.

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CURATOR THE MUSEUM JOURNAL

and, as such, is dense with references to the visi- museum. In each location, she selected specific
tor studies literature. Roppola uses these refer- displays according to a type categorization:
ences skillfully—both to support her key points Image-based, Audiovisual, Touchscreen, Arti-
and also to review and summarize the literature fact-based, Model/replica-based, Hands-on,
itself. From this reading, Roppola extracts Simulation, and Reconstruction. For each type
four key principles that will seem very familiar: she had at least one example in a humanities
experience as multidimensional, learning as setting and one in a science setting. Altogether,
experiential, experience as coproduced, and she dealt with twenty-two exhibits and inter-
maximizing emergent experience. From the viewed nearly 300 visitors.
semiotic literature, she introduces the concept In each case Roppola began by unobtru-
of “multimodality,” i.e., the wide range of “rep- sively observing visitors at her target exhibit.
resentational resources” that visitors draw upon When the visitor(s) finished their engagement
—ranging from the visual to the auditory to the with the exhibit, Roppola approached and asked
kinesthetic. for an interview. Interviews were semi-struc-
The book is divided into nine chapters. The tured and used open-ended questions such as:
first, “Envisioning the Discipline,” offers an “What stood out most in your mind(s) while
introduction. The second, “Exhibition Design you were at this particular display?,” “How did
as Mediation” is an historical overview of exhi- that make you feel?,” and “What were you
bition practice, and the third, “‘Experience’ in thinking about that?” Some of her questions
Museums” considers different ways that experi- were more directive, such as: “Is there a particu-
ence has been conceptualized in the museum lar message you think is meant by this exhibit?,”
field. Chapter four, “Deconstructing Visitor and “Did anything about the physical setup of
Experience” describes her research method. the display strike you?” Others were compara-
Chapters five through eight, “Framing,” “Res- tive, such as, “How does this display compare to
onating,” “Channelling,” and “Broadening” other displays you’ve seen today?” Probing fol-
present her data and interpretations according low-up questions were used to clarify responses.
to the four central themes that she identifies She recorded her interviews and then analyzed
within them. The concluding chapter, “Design them (presumably from transcriptions). Since
for Exhibition Ecologies,” is a brief attempt to Roppola’s aim was to construct a grounded the-
systematize the four themes. ory, her interpretation is richly illustrated with
The heart of the book is Roppola’s analysis interview excerpts.
of her interviews seen in chapters five through Roppola arrives at four central processes to
eight. As a self-described “user-centered” describe the ways that her interviewees related
designer, Roppola conducted interviews with to the displays: Framing, Resonating, Chan-
visitors to find what mattered to them, why, and nelling, and Broadening. Each of these, in
how the content and setting affected those turn, is divided into sub-categories, and sub-sub
responses. In order to be able to generalize to categories. The whole is even illustrated as a
some extent she chose six different Australian pie-chart circle, implying relationships across
institutions as research sites: two natural and and among categories.
cultural history museums, two science and tech- Framing deals with expectations. This is
nology centers, and two themed museums—a based on what the visitor anticipates that a
war museum/memorial and an immigration museum display will be—either because of the

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 Volume 58 Number 4 October 2015

definition as a museum (displayer of artifacts, emotional identification, narrative authority and

place of learning, place for enjoyment, or place process, and “speaking silences out loud.”
of pilgrimage), because it is seen as a re-framing There is a fundamental semiotic aspect and
of what a museum is (either in terms of architec- context that is interwoven into each of these
ture, aesthetics, time period covered, or use of four categories. This aspect adheres to a princi-
media), or because of the way the exhibit itself is ple: the phenomena that we seek are not
seen as distinct (materially distinct from other constituted by the components of the exhibits or
media, explanatory, or time-limited). the goals of the visitors, but instead by the nec-
Resonating describes the ways that visitors essary interaction between the two. That is, the
are drawn into relationship with the exhibits. somewhat mysterious thing we call “the visitor’s
The exhibits can be energizing through attraction experience” is real based on its own relational
(by means of size, beauty, light and color, real- terms. In semiotic language, she shows us how
ism, sensory aspects or movement, and/or these experiences are mediated consequences
sound) or by the way that they “amplify” energy that are shaped by the desires of the designers,
because of the sense of a match between the and the needs and expectations of the visitors—
individual and the environment. Another type but are not constituted by either of them. Just as
of resonance is described as “perceptual reso- an expression in language is neither denotation
nance,” which refers to the ways that the exhibit nor connotation but some mediated balancing
stimulates the construction of a larger, internal point, so indeed is the “visitor experience” a sim-
reality (through an identification with the peo- ilar mediation.
ple depicted or experience presented, or through When the four categories are seen as such
the illusion created by the activation of multiple mediational phenomena, they take on a life of
senses). In addition, resonance can be described their own. Framing is no longer the a priori
as coalescence (through physical interaction, per- intent of the designer, but is instead an act of
sonal engagement, or social engagement). Rop- mediation between such intents and the orien-
pola also identifies three situations that work tation of each visitor. In this sense, the visitor
against resonance: “The people I’m with won’t experience is an interpretation in the purest and
let me,” “You can only take so much in,” and most semiotic sense of the term. Framing
“It’s all jumbled: Visual Static.” allows us to see and examine the “family tree” of
Channelling refers to the influences on the interpretations that continues to build and grow
sequencing of experience. These can be spatial over the lifetime of the exhibit.
(moving, navigating, pausing, alcoves/recesses) Resonating represents the awareness on
or multimodal/multimedial, (restorative through the part of the visitor that he/she is a potential
variety, fragmented, selective/directive, or syn- participant in the mediational process described
chronous). Channelling can also be based on above. Without some degree of resonance, the
narrative. experience is empty for the visitor. But the nat-
Broadening describes different ways that ure of resonance indicates the degree of media-
visitors are affected by their experience. In the tion that is present. Roppola approaches this
sciences, these include moving from the physical process through the energy metaphor as
to the theoretical or the theoretical to the physical, described above, while skilled designers often
standing in testimony to life, and science as storied. begin their work within the notion of the “com-
In the humanities, broadening includes direct fort of meaning.” Roppola argues that if the

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CURATOR THE MUSEUM JOURNAL

visitor accepts the exhibit as meaningful, even if Near the end of the book, Roppola offers
it is uncomfortable or creates troublesome her categorization as an “ecology” of experience.
meaning for the visitor, then resonance is pre- She uses the circle diagram to suggest that the
sent. Otherwise, we have the sense of a “jum- movement from framing to resonating, to chan-
ble.” neling, and then to broadening is a recursive
Channeling reflects the quasi-linguistic sequence that leads back to framing (although
nature of the visitor-exhibit mediation. Just as not necessarily in such a linear fashion). Her
language uses connotation, poetics, metalingual recognition of the constantly shifting dynamic
and phatic cues (and the like), so do good exhi- among visitors between perception and subjec-
bits manipulate space, media, time, and other tive understanding leads her to forcefully pre-
dimensions in a similar fashion. The skillful use sent exhibition making as a semiotic activity
of channeling is one of the main tools of the that would benefit from being addressed explic-
exhibit designer, and Roppola is sensitive to the itly as semiotic. By choosing to speak of “semiosis”
impact of channeling on the perspectives and rather than the more familiar “meaning-mak-
experiences of the visitors in her study. ing,” she integrates a broader understanding of
Finally, Broadening represents the cohe- cultural and historical patterns of thinking and
sive growth and development of the previous discourse into our understanding of the visitor
three categorical dynamics. The visitor comes experience.
away either untouched by the experience, or As Roppola admits, the analysis presented
changed to some degree. They are not changed here is incomplete—in part because major
by bits and pieces of the exhibit, but by the museum types were not included in the
whole experience on its own terms. Further- research, such as zoos, art museums, botanical
more, when broadening is done properly, it sets gardens, etc., and in part because she did not
up new framing for this and future exhibits. attempt to distinguish among different types of
In short, her semiotic perspective on visitors. There is also the problem, inherent in
these four categories puts the burden of all such research, that people are not necessarily
understanding not on the designer and not on able to accurately articulate the motivations,
the visitor. Instead, the burden is on precisely experiences, and responses that underlie their
the conceptual and relational space between behavior and experience. Roppola’s call for
them, as instantiated in the actual exhibit in future research could profitably be expanded to
question. include controlled experiments that do not
As the summary of categories indicates, require the mediation of either the visitor’s or
Roppola also seeks to enrich our understanding the researcher’s conscious understanding to
through the identification of discrete elements reveal key aspects of visitor experience.
that she perceived in her interview data. She has Roppola’s introduction of this preliminary
managed simultaneously to present a checklist taxonomy of semiotic processes in museums
for designers and exhibition developers to use in raises the hope that explicitly recognizing them
considering the potential and pitfalls of specific might prove useful for designing exhibitions
exhibits. She has also been able to avoid the crit- that are valuable for many different kinds of vis-
icism of reductionism by using semiotics to tie itors. Can such awareness help to remove the
the pieces together into a more robust concep- “unwelcome” mat that has been placed at too
tual unity. many museum doorways?

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 Volume 58 Number 4 October 2015

Bottom line: This book is an important

contribution both to the field of visitor studies
and to semiotics because of its grounded-theory
approach, its thoroughness, and its multi-disci-
plinary frame of mind. Everyone who creates
exhibitions should become familiar with its core
concepts. END

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