This document outlines the Nelson-Atkins Museum's process for planning and developing an in-house mobile tour program. It discusses gaining stakeholder buy-in through interdepartmental collaboration, visitor research, thorough planning research comparing in-house vs vendor options, and proposing a phased program evolution. It then details the in-house project planning, including developing content, publishing to devices, hardware provisioning, and staff/visitor training. It concludes with lessons learned around limiting hardware, cross-platform needs, training requirements, and WiFi challenges, as well as the best decisions around collaboration, a web-based application, multi-platform support, and creating a unique experience.

1. Planning a Mobile Program In-house:
Nelson-Atkins Mobile Guide Case Study
Museums & Mobile Online Conference II, Project Planning & Strategy
Emily Black, Associate Educator, Digital Media
March 22, 2011

2. mobile GUIDE
American Indian Audio Tour
available on Mobile Guide –
fall 2010

3. stakeholder BUY-IN
• INTER-DEPARTMENTAL COLLABORATION
• VISITOR EVALUATION
• THOROUGH RESEARCH
• PROPOSING A PROGRAM EVOLUTION

4. stakeholder BUY-IN
INTER-DEPARTMENTAL TEAM
•EDUCATION & INTERPRETIVE MEDIA
(PROJECT MANAGEMENT, CONTENT DEVELOPMENT, VISITOR
ENGAGEMENT)
• CURATORIAL
(CONTENT DEVELOPMENT & VISITOR ENGAGEMENT)
• DESIGN
(GRAPHIC APPROACH)
• INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE &
MAINTENANCE)
• VISITOR SERVICES
(TRAINING, DISTRIBUTION)

5. stakeholder BUY-IN
VISITOR EVALUATION
HOW DO OUR VISITORS ENGAGE WITH WHAT’S THEIR HARDWARE
AUDIO GUIDES? PREFERENCE?
DOWNLOAD OR PAY FOR AN
INTEREST BEYOND AUDIO? APPLICATION?

6. stakeholder BUY-IN
THOROUGH RESEARCH
QUESTION: DO WE USE A MOBILE VENDOR OR IN-HOUSE STAFF?
VENDOR IN-HOUSE
• THIRD PARTY RELATIONSHIP • STAFF TIME
• TOOLS ALREADY DEVELOPED • OWN CONTENT MANAGEMENT
• REVENUE SHARING MODEL • EASY TO MAINTAIN AND UPDATE
• LOW COST

7. stakeholder BUY-IN
THOROUGH RESEARCH
QUESTION: DO WE GO WITH A NATIVE OR WEB-BASED APPLICATION?
NATIVE APP. IN-HOUSE WEB-BASED APP. IN-HOUSE
• LEARNING DEVELOPMENT CURVE • BASIC HTML
• LONG PRODUCTION TIME • LESS PRODUCTION TIME
• UPDATES REQUIRE DOWNLOADS • EASY TO UPDATE
• LIMITED DEVICE ACCESSIBILITY • CROSS PLATFORM INTEGRATION
• REQUIRES WI-FI
• FLEXIBLE FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

8. stakeholder BUY-IN
PROPOSING A PROGRAM EVOLUTION
• PHASED EQUIPMENT PLAN
• STRATEGIZE MULTIMEDIA CONTENT ADDITIONS
• RE-ASSESS VISITOR INTEREST AND NEEDS

9. in-house project PLANNING
PLATFORM & CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Content: Script Content: Media Publishing to Hardware Mktg, Sales &
Development Production devices Provisioning Distribution
Museum alone Museum alone Museum alone Museum alone
Museum with Vendor
Produced audio at
local University
Studio.
Applied existing audio
entries from previous
vendor tours.

10. in-house project PLANNING
ASSESSING MOBILE DESIGN
HTTP://WWW.NELSON-ATKINS.ORG/DESKTOPGUIDE/
ASSESSING MOBILE DESIGN

11. in-house project PLANNING
EQUIPMENT & SECURITY RESEARCH
Video

12. in-house project PLANNING
TRAINING STAFF & VISITORS

13. 5 things we wish we would have KNOWN…
• LIMIT HARDWARE
• UNDERSTANDING CROSS-PLATFORM NEEDS
• UNDERESTIMATED STAFF &VISITOR TRAINING
• IPODS &WI-FI CAN TIME-OUT
• RETRO-FITTING 1933 BUILDING WITH WI-FI IS CHALLENGING

14. 5 things we wish we would have KNOWN…
CHALLENGE: PLACING WI-FI ACCESS POINTS IN GALLERIES

15. Best DECISIONS
• INTER-DEPARTMENTAL COLLABORATION
- SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE
• CHOOSING WEB-BASED APPLICATION
- PLATFORM FOR PROGRAM EVOLUTION & FLEXIBILITY
• MULTI-PLATFORM (DESKTOP VERSION)
- DYNAMICALLY LINKS TO TMS
• MAINTAINING SIMILAR INTERFACE AS LEASED UNITS
- UNDERSTANDING VISITOR NEEDS
• CREATING AN EXPERIENCE UNIQUE TO THE NELSON-ATKINS

16. Thank YOU!
EMILY BLACK
NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART
WWW.NAGUIDE.ORG
@EMILYLEWBLACK – TWITTER
EBLACK@NELSON-ATKINS.ORG