A special study on the UX of the best museum apps around the world

We're presenting a study on the UX and accessibility of the best museums from around the world. This guide is for operators of the sectors and for anyone who wants to understand how to use best pactices and technology to improve the quality of their users' visit.

Why a study on museum apps

Welcome to the study of user experience (UX) of different museum and library apps around the world.
We have reviewed a total of twelve apps from various countries and institutions to gain insights into the effectiveness of each in terms of usability, accessibility, interactivity, personalisation, and engagement.

We begin by explaining the background research and parameters that informed this study and its objectives. We then move on to our methodology and findings, before summarising the conclusions and offering recommendations.

To help contextualise the broad scope of this research, we include a synopsis of each of the twelve museum and library app experiences. Our findings indicated that the highest-rated apps excelled in usability, accessibility, interactivity, personalisation, and engagement.

What's the best UX for museum apps?

The best apps were those that offered a truly immersive experience, making use of technology in ingenious ways as well as providing useful information regarding opening hours, admission, and location. This study seeks to provide museums and libraries with insights into how best to improve the user experience of their apps and provide visitors with a positive, memorable experience.

The most impactful UX elements included a simple and minimalistic interface, improved accessibility, richly interactive elements, personalised pathways, and strong engagement.

You can read below an extract from the study.

1 - A great experience before and after your visit: the Rijksmuseum app

The Rijksmuseum's app offers an immersive experience that caters to users before, during and after their visit to the museum. Upon opening the app, users are welcomed with a clear and concise onboarding process, giving them the opportunity to craft their own individual journey through the museum.

Not only can visitors tailor their experience to their own interests, but they are provided with helpful information such as opening hours and admission, plus a detailed map to guide them around the museum.

The interface of the app is clean and minimalistic, offering easy access to all of the museum's features without cluttering the main exhibition space. At each point in the tour, users can view detailed information about the work on display and interact with it through a variety of media.

With one click away, visitors can find detailed information about the facilities, such as toilets, café's, shops and exits.

Additionally, the app also gives a 10% discount to customers who purchase items in the shop. All of these features comes together to provide an all-rounded user experience, making the app a great choice for those wanting to explore the museum to its fullest.
Furthermore, they can also benefit from the app's “Choice Assistant” system, a unique feature that recommends a route based on the user's individual interest. In addition to the interactive elements, the app is designed to maximize convenience for its users.

The app is certainly a great example of beautiful interface and great functionality.

However, it does lack in terms of accessibility. The app does not offer the option of changing language or providing additional information or features for users with special needs. While this is a limitation of the experience, the app still offers many features which make it a useful tool for visitors looking to explore the museum.


This is an extract from the "Study on the UX of museum apps" by Sparkr. Do you want to access the whole article? Download it below for free.