Dollhouse-Owner View

Planners plan using floor plans.

A floor plan is a great tool. But sometimes even veterans make weird decisions because we’re thinking while looking straight down. We have a dollhouse-owner view.

Our visitors never have that view. They have a doll’s-eye view. And that difference can cause a disconnect. 

For example, imagine a two-sided freestanding panel.

In floor plan view, seen from above, it looks like a skinny rectangle. We exhibition planner types circle it with a red marker and give it a theme:

“What’s a Boson?”
“Bruce Springsteen, Inducted 2004.”
“The Biggest Femur.”

But then we make a dollhouse-owner mistake. We put that same theme on both sides of that flat panel, cleverly split in two:

Boson question on one side — boson answer on the other.
The Boss in brief — The Boss in detail.
Image of femur — image of … uh, Argentinosaurus.

We know there’s something related on the other side, and which side should come first. But our visitors don’t. They see one random side. Then they just go see something else entirely. Do we expect them to obediently circle everything we put out, hoping for related content … on the backs of things?

Here’s the thing:
Sometimes we make weird decisions because we have the dollhouse-owner view, but our visitors only have the doll’s-eye view.

A good idea isn’t a good idea until it’s tested the same way our visitors will experience it.

Warmly,
Jonathan

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MtM Word of the Day:
Interactive (as a noun). "An interactive" refers to any place-based museum interactive experience, such as a kiosk, touchscreen, or hands-on activity. (Using this adjective as a noun isn't common in most fields, but it is in museum projects.)