Meeting needs

WebExhibits has a diverse audience, and targets visitors ranging from high school students to adults. Over the years, our understanding of how to use exhibit design to draw in a diverse audience has increased exponentially. If you’re interested in expanding the reach of your exhibit, you may find the following suggestions for each potential audience helpful. We will incorporate all of these strategies in future exhibits.

• Uninterested in your topic: Using a multidisciplinary approach increases the likelihood of tapping into a sliver of your visitor’s interest and encouraging further exploration. Our exhibit, “Color Vision & Art,” for example, has information for those who want to know how color nerves sense color, but then invites them to delve into the ways in which artists use that information in their work. Similarly, introductory “hooks” can invite exploration through posing a question or inviting a visitor to click to learn more.
• Interested in your topic: Genuine, deeply researched content lends legitimacy and authenticity to your exhibit, while prompting visitors to delve deeper into their topic of interest and explore ancillary topics.
• Linear thinkers: Visitors who assimilate one piece of information after another in a straight line appreciate an exhibit with a clear hierarchical structure. Navigation with “next” and “previous” links is useful, as is a traditional site map.
• Nonlinear thinkers: These visitors thrive when they can make connections between related concepts – or even seemingly unrelated concepts. Multiple hyperlinks enable them to jump around to related topics, and a local search engine allows them to quickly find what they need without scanning pages of irrelevant material. Presenting your exhibit in an alternate view, such as a concept map like SpicyNodes, provides an at-a-glance visual representation of the relationships between pieces of information.
• Graphical learners: For these visitors, a picture is worth more than a thousand words. They assimilate information from images, maps, interactive timelines, visually appealing layouts, and SpicyNodes concept maps.
• Auditory learners: Museums have long used audio guides with physical exhibits. Virtual exhibits can incorporate audio guides, audio clips, and standalone podcasts to appeal to those who learn by listening.
• Read/write learners: Visitors are accustomed to reading text on web sites, but lucid, clear writing in a journalistic style is most appealing to this audience. Narrative captions that provide additional information, bulleted lists, and sidebars also draw in read/write learners.
• Kinesthetic learners: This audience thrives on interaction. Exhibits that provide an alternate node view, and incorporate movies, do-it-yourself activities, clickable illustrations and maps, and concrete examples, are more likely to reach kinesthetic learners.
• Spanish speakers: Ideally, an exhibit translation should go further than a literal translation from English. Strong, journalistic writing in native Spanish will engage in Spanish speakers, as will content that draws upon distinctly Latino and Spanish source material. The same is true for localiztion into any languages.
• Teachers: Online exhibits can be welcome additions to the classroom, providing teachers can find accompanying lesson plans. Lessons should note alignment with educational standards, and include learning objectives, supplies, timelines, and assessment rubrics.
• Members of multi-user virtual environments: Creating a subset of content for communities like Second Life can reach visitors who might not otherwise find an exhibit.
• Visually disabled: Exceeding §508 requirements creates an exhibit that is accessible to the visually impaired, and also works well for future devices. Audio guides provide an alternate way for those with visual impairments to access the exhibit.
• Mobile users: Reflowing content for mobile devices with various sized screens enables access anytime and anywhere.