Translating Physical Museum Exhibits to the Digital Realm

The infrastructure offered through exhibit design is not limited to a physical, in-person setting.  

In our previous post, we introduced foundational exhibit design concepts that serve as the infrastructure essential to storytelling: story path, storytelling performance types, and sensory setting.  

In this post, we will review the three central aspects of storytelling with exhibit design and see how they translate to the digital realm. 

Storytelling Infrastructure 

To refresh, storytelling infrastructure in exhibit design includes: 

• The Story Path 
• Storytelling Performance Types 
• Sensory Setting 

We will explore how each aspect of storytelling infrastructure is executable on a digital platform, such as a museum CMS. 

Exhibit Design Translated: The Story Path 

The story path is the structure upon which the story is built; in a digital exhibit space, it is the digital pathway visitors take as they travel through the exhibit. 

There are two types of story paths: 

• Linear Pathway: There is only one digital pathway through the exhibit and therefore, only one true way to experience the story. 
• Multiple Pathways: There are several digital story pathways visitors can take. While there is a sense of beginning, middle, and end, there is no wrong way to progress through the story. 

Translating story path to a digital space comes with a few new challenges. In a physical space, it is evident that there is a physical path to follow—and there are typically visual cues to indicate whether you are at the beginning, middle, or end of the exhibit.  

The physicality of the space doesn’t necessarily translate to a digital storytelling platform, which means we—as the story publishers—need to be direct in communicating to the visitor the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and orient them to where they are in that start-to-end flow.  

Otherwise, visitors can be distracted or have difficulty understanding how the information they are receiving fits into the larger story. This confusion can dissuade visitors from continuing because they have no sense of how far they’ve come nor how far they have to go. Placement within a story can be signaled either textually or visually, in keeping with the overall exhibit style. 

Exhibit Design Translated: Storytelling Performance Types 

In addition to determining a pathway type, we must then consider how we intend to perform the story. As we explored in an earlier series, storytelling happens in several ways:  

• Oral: Narration, oration, recitation, interviews, conversation 
• Written: Exhibit panels, documents 
• Visual: Objects, drawings, graphics, photographs, visual media 

Each of these performance types are easy to incorporate digitally and lend themselves well to a digital platform. In fact, the digital venue sometimes makes it easier to include audio-visual media and images at a higher quality or offer an increased number of optional performances from which to choose.  

Since many digital exhibits are specifically for visitors to enjoy outside the museum, the visitor can more easily engage with the performance types of their choosing and within the comfort of their own setting.  

Exhibit Design Translated: Sensory Setting 

Finally, once a story pathway and storytelling performance types have been selected, there are sensory aspects to consider. Sensory elements help provide an atmosphere to the story and can even be used to enhance a portion of the story. Understandably, there are limitations on which sensory elements we can provide via a digital platform, but there are still many ways to use sensory elements to increase audience engagement. 

In a digital venue, setting the story atmosphere can include: 

• Lighting (limited): Captured lighting during object imaging.  
• Sound (no limitations): Narration, interviews, music, and even soundscapes are options to convey a portion of the story or help create the atmosphere. 
• Color (no limitations): The use of color is a subtle way of conveying a mood of a story and signaling a tone shift. Humans interpret colors as emotions, so they can be used to both attract attention as well as convey an emotion that may otherwise be ambiguous. 
• Texture (limited): Design elements with texture can also aid in setting an atmosphere. A rough, sharp texture can signal danger or wariness. A smooth and pleasing texture can emit a sense of peace and satisfaction. Regardless of whether a visitor can touch the elements, they can still subliminally pickup on how the textures in the room help set the tone. In a digital setting, texture can still convey information and help set the atmosphere. 
• Temperature: Not applicable. 

While there are some limitations to the sensory experience a digital story can provide for, in other ways the platform can offer an expansion of experiences via the senses it can affect. Additionally, as digital storytelling technology improves, there may be new and exciting ways we can further engage visitor senses. 

Digital Platforms Offer Rich Museum Visitor Experiences 

Translating stories from physical conception to a digital platform offers both opportunities and challenges. However, with creativity and a few good tools, the digital platform can often offer a richer and more accessible experience to visitors. In our next post we will review a digital exhibition using the story infrastructure elements we’ve reviewed as a way to examine the experience.