Ideally, the most important takeaway of any interactive should get communicated even if visitors haven’t interacted yet. Yes, that sounded crazy. But stay with me. Question: What is the one thing every interactive exhibition element must do? …

The pandemic struck. Museum visitation plummeted to zero. After the initial shock, we rallied and pivoted to digital. Livestreams. Virtual exhibitions. Online collections. Cloud databases. But now the bill is due. That bill is called technology debt. …

And now, I will make one of the great debates … vanish! Bwahaha! Yeah. I’m just being dramatic. Because, regardless of what they say, it’s not a debate. It’s just a decision. Centralize all the players, or distribute them? Here’s how to decide. …

Since the QR code comeback, they are up for consideration in every project. And for some things, they’re great. But before we put QR codes on every wall, let’s review 7 truths. #1: QR codes are just shortcuts online. But shortcuts to what? …

How many different types of experiences should one interactive offer? Easy: One. It is easy for us to dream up interactives for our exhibition as if they were the laptops we use to plan it. But interactive surfaces in exhibitions aren’t like that. …

In Las Vegas they have The Sphere, a hollow moon coated with LEDs, inside and out. It cost well over $2 billion to make, and it’s awesome, even though nobody knows what “LED” stands for. Can’t tell LED from LCD? You’re not alone. …

What is “immersive”? A. A bad, over-hyped marketing buzzword of the moment? B. A good, evergreen basic principle worth a spot in the toolkit? C. Both. Let’s clarify something here …

Technology changes fast. Flat panels are bigger now, LED is cheaper now. Both work in sunlight. In classrooms and conferences, projectors are dying out. But they are sometimes still necessary in (darker) exhibitions. When? …

Our visitors are surrounded by media better-funded than anything we will ever do. In a fair fight, we lose. So make it unfair. Capitalize on what makes exhibition media unique. Because it’s exhibition media. If it doesn’t work well on YouTube, it’s good. …

“Let’s go to the museum so we can use some touchscreens!” — Said No Visitor, Ever. Have you been in a newly-opened exhibition lately, filled with touchscreens worth millions, that nobody uses? I have. A big, famous one. We have reached Peak Touchscreen. …

Nothing dulls faster than the cutting edge.

Say it again with me.

Nothing dulls faster than the cutting edge.