TMG EXPERIENCE DESIGN

Redefining Te Papa (Our Place)

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Design tensions

Tension:

Millennials are used to apps and technology, so an app may not excite and inspire them the way we want them to.

For Millennials to interact with the app and connect to Te Papa the app must facilitate two-way dialogue and be sustained (meaning always having something new).

Solution: 

Our solution is to have Millennials treat the app like a conversational app. They will be able to interact with other users posts and share their own. By sharing experiences (share your story), knowledge (create an exhibit) and opinions (home feed/reading others stories/voting on exhibition entries) millennials will have a way to connect where they are not limited and are encouraged to share whilst learning about history through others.

Tension:

an app has no location, so millennials may not be inclined to visit Te Papa itself.

Solution:

For Millennials to visit Te Papa we designed the app around communicating and experiencing Te Papa through staff members. By adding staff members to the home page, Te Papa becomes a transparent place of learning instead of a nostalgic memory that is full of objects instead of people.

We are attempting to make history and knowledge more personable, meaning that it would be attributed to real, everyday people instead of stationary exhibits.

We also designed the Create your own exhibit section of the app in order to bring Millennials in as they would have the opportunity to see their own work and knowledge on display in the foyer area. This enticement gives millennials a goal through the app and also the rewards that follow. Potential rewards for Millennials include having their work on display in a National tourist destination, having a confidence boost by being chosen/voted for on the app, the possible potential to use the competition as inspiration for future endeavours and/or interests

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Te Papa App

The Te Papa app relates to our touch-points of connect, inform and inspire.

The splash screen is place to create an account or sign in. Upon tapping Create Login you are bought to the next screen:

This screen is the “create your profile” page. Here you add relevant details that Te Papa will use to help facilitate relevant topics to interests you have. You input your name, email, nationality, a display picture, and interests that are set up by Te Papa. The topics are set by Te Papa to make the user journey easy to understand, and to streamline users into specific categories to connect with each other. This addresses the personalisation macro-trend.

The home-feed is a central hub of the Te Papa app. It is catered to each individuals interests. This means that users will see comments and suggestions of other users with the same or similar interests as well as staff members posting about their ideas and upcoming exhibits. This is an incredibly vital part of the app because it plugs directly into the “Being a Forum for the Future” value outlined in the Statement of Intent released in 2014 by Te Papa.

Being connected is important to millennials and introducing them to the app, which is in a familiar and friendly platform design, will connect them to Te Papa in a modern way, adding to the current nostalgic and historic feelings they may have about the site. This also adresses the social connectivity and real time & authentic macro-trend.

The Te Papa feed is a place for Te Papa itself, it is a place to see new entries in their database, to see lesser known events happening within Te Papa, and to create an exhibit that can be shown on the Te Papa floor on one of 6 touchscreen for a month. This addresses the macro-trends real-time & authentic, consumer control, and social connectivity. It is relevant to Te Papa because it shares decision-making with iwi (tribes), communities and individuals with respect to management and understanding of their taonga (treasures). It also calls and address the ‘Access All Areas’ value Te Papa has as it aims to share its collections, skills and knowledge with the diverse communities across Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas.

Share your story is a place where you can share a personal narrative of yourself, friend, or family member that relates to a specific event that happened in history. This addresses the ‘Being a Forum for The Future” & “Connecting with People” intention values of Te Papa as it provides Millennials to share their ideas and family history with other users, adding to the experience and connection the app strives to create. Added stories can be liked and commented on by other users, creating a personal connection which covers the social connectivity & consumer control macro-trends.

Also the addition of stories from others educates users on another side to history. This side if history is the side that people usually don’t know or hear about and is interesting to Millennials as they desire to learn more about the world and especially New Zealand.

The competition aspect of the app inspires Millennials to share their own knowledge about subjects they find interesting. Instead of the usual museum exhibitions, Millennials will have the chance to connect and inform others with their interests and knowledge.

This voting screen is for users to vote on the moderated finalists curations adding to the interest Millennials would have towards each other and to their country for the following months exhibition touchscreen displays. This fosters community, sharing of authority, access of all areas, and connecting with people which are 4 of the intention values of Te Papa. 

The goal is that, by sharing their knowledge, millennials will become more aware of New Zealand’s vast history and the vast knowledge accessible to them through talking and connecting to others.

The exhibition competition also links to the on-site exhibition, bringing Millennials in to Te Papa in order to see the winning creation and to learn about subjects they may not have been able to access by themselves.

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Mockup Presentation Script

INTRO

Millennials love to be connected. They don't see online and person to person communication as different avenues they see it as just communication as a whole.

TE PAPA GOALS

“Unite the National Museum and National Art Gallery as one entity.

Unite the collections of the two institutions so that New Zealand’s stories could be told ­in an interdisciplinary way.

Be a partnership between Tangata Whenua (Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand) and Tangata Tiriti (people in New Zealand by right of the Treaty of Waitangi).

Speak with authority.

Represent and appeal to New Zealand’s increasingly diverse society.

Be a place for discussion, debate, involvement, and celebration.

Link the past, present, and future.”

OUR BIG IDEA

Te Papa App (Whole App) - Connect Me

Te Papa App (News Feed, Upcoming Events, Te Papa Staff Page) - Inform Me

Exhibition Curation - Inspire Me

START - START - START - START - START - START - START - START 

Slide One - Introduction Speaker 1 - Tyler Context. We as humans, not only millennials, strive for our own context everyday, meaning how we are a part of everything else; how we fit in. The issue surrounding Te Papa though is that millennials no longer connect to the information on offer or what it stands for. We want to feel connected and part of a thriving, growing community and be able to share a mutual understanding of our different cultures and ideas of innovation & progress. Though the sign says “Our Place”, millennials find it hard to relate and connect to New Zealand and to Te Papa except through their memories of family/institutional trips.

Speaker 2 - Mackenzie Community fosters conversation, and conversation fosters growth and democracy. Redefining Te Papa to be not only a place of celebrating, showcasing, or, memorialising history, be it natural or cultural, it also facilitates and celebrates a more thriving community surrounding those elements and aspects that create the foundation of New Zealand.

Speaker 3 - Georgina Millennials, especially those who are connected to social media, are prime examples of connecting both through technology and community. For millennials to feel like they relate to Te Papa and for Te Papa to educate millennials, Te papa must connect, inform and inspire millennials to learn new information and share their knowledge.They see community and conversation in a much more broader context. Rather than seeing it as two binaries, in-person and digital, they see it as just connection and conversation (citation and data needed).

Shared Aims Speaker 2 - Mackenzie In creating ‘our big idea’ we wanted to be sure that it would be aligned with Te Papa’s current goals as an institution. In the 1992 Te Papa Tongawera Act, the defined goals of the museum include: telling New Zealand’s stories in an interdisciplinary way, connecting and creating a partnership between Māori and Tangata Tiriti, preserving history with authority and integrity, representing New Zealand’s increasingly diverse society, and connecting the past, present and future.

Speaker 1 - Tyler Many of these goals were re-iterated in a Statement of Intent released in 2014, with Te Papa additionally aiming to share authority with communities and individuals to better understand their treasures, and to facilitate debates which explore contemporary, political, and global issues.

Speaker 3 - Georgina Through our research, we also defined our aims. We want to use Te Papa as a way to facilitate a connection between millennials as well as connect millennials to Te Papa. We want to give people the authority and opportunity to tell their stories and connect them to history in a way that is relevant to them. We want to inspire Millennials to delve into history and share the stories of New Zealand that inspire and inform them everyday.

Slide 3-7 - Our Big Idea Speaker 1 - Tyler To make this ‘always connected’ habit productive within the lives of millennials we want to propose Te Papa to utilize an app, and create a space for exhibitions that emphasises a stronger connection between millennials and Te Papa through a more representative process of exhibition creation. This way millennials will connect with each other and Te Papa through their own history and New Zealand history.

Speaker 2 - Mackenzie Touchpoint #1 - Connect me The Te Papa app connects millennials to each other and Te Papa by presenting them with an interactive platform where they can share their ideas and stories as well as learn about others. The app prompts users to share their individual interests through the setup page and creates a unique experience with relevant information for each user. Users will also view ideas and comments from other users and Te Papa staff, connecting them to new ideas and people.

Speaker 3 - Georgina Touchpoint #2 - Inform me For Millennials to be informed about their history and New Zealand history the app offers information that each user specifies that they are interested in. This way users will connect with the information and be more likely to contribute to the app with a personal story or comments on others contributions. News Feeds will display upcoming events and exhibitions that could be of interest to users, again informing them on Te Papa and attempting to inform them about relevant issues within New Zealand. Millennials will also be informed about how they can contribute their knowledge through commenting on others posts, attending exhibits, sharing their story or creating their own small exhibition poster for Te Papa to present to the public.

Speaker 2 - Mackenzie Touchpoint #3 - Inspire me To inspire Millennials to use the app and visit Te Papa we suggest that Te Papa offers the chance for millennials to share their knowledge in an exhibit. The app will have a page that allows users to design their own exhibit on their chosen topic, which will then be submitted and have the opportunity to be displayed within Te Papa. This gives millennials the drive to learn and create in order to share the knowledge they have collected.

Speaker 1 - Tyler Need to talk about app - exhibition curation

Speaker 3 - Georgina Closing statement By creating the Te Papa app and exhibit space Millennials will be connected to Te Papa and to each other, informed of Te Papa events as well as information and history they show interest in, and that millennials will be inspired to share their knowledge with others in a creative and interactive experience.

Sources

https://ambition.com/blog/entry/2016-05-15-guide-millennial-employee-recognition-and-rewards/

http://blog.giftbit.com/article/millennial-engagement-3-incentives-that-actually-work

http://pipmag.com/feature_print.php?fid=201511fe02

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Exhibition Curation Page 

We are recommending six topics (which would only change after a significant amount of time), which would have monthly changing themes. The examples we have created are (topic: theme):

Technology: Space

Iconic: On the World Stage

Let’s get political: Climate Change

Multi-Cultural Society: Maori Fashion

New Zealand Place: Otago

Your Story: Christchurch Earthquake

These topics would be up for an approx. 2 weekly submission period, and then a 2 week voting period, after which the most popular of each category would be showcased at Te Papa for the following month, while the next cycle of themes began. To be clear this would mean 1st-16th May, users can submit exhibitions, 17th-31st May, users can vote on what exhibition they want to see, and 1st of June the exhibits with the most votes are shown, and on that same day another set of themes (listed below) starts the submission period. The rotation of themes allows for a wide range of interests and stories to be connected to, meaning a larger group of users will be motivated to create/engage. Also by keeping these topics/themes fairly broad, it gives the user a prompt to start creating from, but still allows a range of voices and opinions to be spoken. Te Papa can also set the topics to try and match artifact they have in their collections, to encourage the users to connect with these. 

Sample June Topic/Themes: 

Technology: The Phone

Iconic: Kiwiana

Let’s get political: Health Care

Multi-Cultural Society: First Gen Kiwis

New Zealand Place: Hamilton

Your Story: Student Loans

These exhibits created would also be saved to the user/creators profile. 

These screenshots demonstrate the process a user follows when creating an exhibition through our app. 

They start with essentially a blank canvas, however we provide some parameters for the post to give the users direction. Before they get to this creation screen, they must choose from one of the monthly changing themes (keeping this dynamic and sustainable). They must add at least one feature photo, a title, and then have options for adding either text, photos or videos, or adding items from Te Papa’s archives as they please. With the photos they can again connect these to Te Papa’s archives through a detail tag and search function. The photos/videos can be added either uploaded from the users device or from web links, allowing greater personalisation, as the users have the option to add their own personal images to the stories/exhibitions they are telling. 

This exhibition curation meets Te Papa’s goals, our goals and the macro-trends identified earlier in the blog. It gives the user control and authority over their own stories, and over what stories they want to see. The users gains connectedness with the community and with Te Papa, through the sharing and reading of each others stories, and through connecting those stories to the collections that Te Papa possesses. It is personalised through, again, the telling of peoples own stories, and control over creation of an exhibit that user is interested in. Through the availability to everyone, and also especially the Multi-Cultural Society topic, this aims to represent and appeal to a diverse audience, with different cultures, interests and knowledges, and to share and connect those people with others both alike and unlike them. The broadness of the topic/theme prompts allows for a wider range of debate and discussion, especially with the “Let’s get political” topic, by creating a prompt that lets users interpret it and tell their perspectives, we would expect a wider range of opinions to be shared, facilitating conversation and debate. We also link the past, present, and future, through asking users to tell their own stories and share their own perspectives, and in this asking them to connect those stories with Te Papa. 

A visual of the full functions is available in the linked PDF below. 

Functions detailed here

A major tension to note with this, is the information/images being put up by the users being inaccurate or inappropriate. Our solution to this would be moderation from Te Papa before any exhibit is published. This would however affect the real-time expectation from users (as identified in the macro-trends post), so would need to be regularly checked - or maybe the stories are not available for the user to see until voting, and then all moderated for content before the voting goes live, allowing a less intensive monitoring process. 

Perhaps also some sort of a verification tag on stories that have been confirmed as accurate and true, or maybe for users who have published verifiable exhibits in the past; this would create motivation and agency for the user to publish reliable stories and exhibits, and would also be good to assure them that the information they are receiving from other users is accurate. 

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Post Presentation Thoughts

A quick note for us to reflect on the presentation.

I thought it went mostly okay, and our setup was good, but in terms of explaining the app, our disorganisation was shown. It would have been good if we had explained how the app and each page is meeting specific user needs and following both our and Te Papa’s aims, linking it back to the set up, rather than rushing through and naming the functionality points of it. If we had the opportunity to do this again, this would be an aspect where I would be sure to be more organised in creating for the presentation beforehand, to ensure that we fully communicate the needs and goals that the app is providing for.

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Touchpoints - Inspire me

Solution : Create you own exhibit

The Te Papa app will have a Create your own Exhibit page where users will be able to design their own poster on information their interested in. Once the user has completed the design it will be sent to the Te Papa team.The Team at Te Papa will choose 6 exhibits which will be put on display in the foyer of Te Papa next to the information desk. 

This gives Millennials incentive to contribute their knowledge and inspire them to learn more about their topics of interest or even in topics that they previously would have never considered. 

Below are images of an example final exhibit, and an imagining of what it would look like on the screens at Te Papa, as if it were a ‘winning’ submission. 

The screen would include the topic: theme at the top, the users exhibit for the majority of the screen, and the user who submitted it down at the base of the screen, with the detail of their submissions and successful exhibits. 

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Touchpoints - Inform me

Solution: Te Papa app

For Millennials to be informed about their history and New Zealand history the app offers information that each user specifies that they are interested in (eg. political, Maori history). This way users will connect with the information and be more likely to visit Te Papa/ contribute to the app via personal story or comments on others contributions.

News Feeds will display upcoming events and exhibitions that could be of interest to users, again informing them on Te Papa and attempting to inform them about relevant issues within New Zealand. Millennials will also be informed about how they can contribute their knowledge through commenting on others posts, attending exhibits, sharing their story or creating their own small exhibition poster for Te Papa to present to the public.

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Touchpoints - Connect me

Solution : Te Papa app

The Te Papa app connects millennials to Te Papa staff, exhibits, information and other app users through an interactive platform that is familiar to use. By using a technological platform Te Papa will be able to widen is area of influence as anyone in New Zealand, or overseas, will be able to access and contribute to the app.

The app consists of four main sections. The home page will connect users to events at Te Papa as well as posts from staff members on relevant issues or upcoming exhibits. This way Te Papa becomes transparent; people view Te Papa as a place that like-minded people work instead of a ‘museum’ with staff members that lack any connection.

Millennials will have the opportunity through the app to connect to other Millennials and app users by sharing their interests and stories. 

The profile set-up page will prompt users to input their interests, which will determine their news feed page. This will notify them of any exhibits or events linked to their interests and they will also be able to see who else is interested in the same things.

Millennials will be able to share their stories on history or relevant information through the Share your story page. Other users with the same interests will be able to access the story and like/comment on it. This is a great way for millennials to connect to each other on a safe/familiar platform.

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‘Exhibition Curation’ Development

Thinking through the Exhibition Curation page and the idea is changing a little. Instead of a 3D creation, we want to make it more accessible and easy to use on a flat screen. And instead of the top exhibitions being actually created in a room somewhere, we are thinking the user-created pages can be displayed in a series of screens, which again would be more accessible and visible to many visitors, as we are thinking these would be placed near the second floor info desk.

We are now going to create a series of six screens, which correspond to six main topics that are the options for the users. These topics might change periodically over a larger timeline (maybe once a year or two), but currently thinking they would be semi-permanent, but with monthly themes to keep it dynamic, interesting for the users to keep coming back to regularly, and also good for a lot of different user interests as there is always something different giving more opportunity for a subject they are interested in to arrive. 

The topic ideas (and theme ideas) for now are: 

 - Technology (Space)

 - Iconic New Zealand (People - On the world stage) (Another example could be iconic childhood memories - ie buzzy-bee, what now, etc)

 - Political Issues (Climate Change)

 - Maori Culture (Fashion)

 - NZ Place (Otago)

 - Your Story (Christchurch Earthquake)

We have tried to keep the topics near to things that are relevant and interesting to Millennials in particular. The topics are intentionally broad categories, as this allows for a lot of different themes. The themes are also somewhat vague and broad, the intention of which is to allow people to interpret it differently (and personally) and end up with a wider variety of interesting exhibition creations. 

These themes would be on a monthly cycle, allowing for fast rotation and adding a sense of urgency and exclusivity for the users to a) create their exhibition online, and b) go see the winning exhibitions in person. Each month would consist of: theme released on the 1st, 2nd-16th a submission/curation period, 17th-month end voting, and the winners shown at Te Papa on the 1st of the next month for the whole month (and on that same day the next theme cycle begins). 

The sixth topic (your story) is to connect the users again to te papa, and draw all of our site pages/recommendations together as a more cohesive and connected set. We really want ‘our big idea’ to emphasis the thought of sharing users stories with the community and creating connection to Te Papa through this. A tension with this though is that I feel it might be a little unethical to have a popular vote type situation on personal experiences and could create a strain if your story is not valued and seeing the levels compared to other stories. Perhaps a resolution to this would be that this topic is exempt from the voting stage, and Te Papa could select the exhibition to display through some other means. 

It could be a possibility that Te Papa could use this feature for some sort of automated data collection, allowing them to learn what artifacts/topics/themes/etc users engage with most frequently, and this could lead them to creating a real exhibition at some point. This isn’t something we are going to develop into the idea, but is worth noting as something we have considered might be a useful thought connected to this feature. 

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The idea is:

Effectual  - The idea is effectual as it is on a popular platform that most people will have access to, will help connect users in a non-threatening way to other users and Te Papa and will subtly educate users on the exhibits and knowledge to be learnt within Te Papa museum.

Sustained - Because our idea is based around Te Papa and its exhibits, the proposed idea will always be changing and morphing depending what’s on offer at Te Papa or what the most recent issues/exhibits are.

Two-way - The stories are verified/responded to by Te Papa & other users. Feedback/data from the users exhibitions goes back to Te Papa to create an exhibition, the exhibitions are voted on by users. 

Relevant/important for Millennials - the idea is relevant for millennials as it connects them to a range of people and concepts including staff, industry and history that is relevant to them/interests them. 

Relevant/important for Te Papa - Millennials need businesses and institutions to be transparent and be able to see Te Papa employees as people, not as staff members’. Our idea will bring millennials in to Te Papa and connect them to information on offer and to staff members in a less formal and friendly way.

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Target Audience - Millennials

Millennials are looking for:

- Transparency: Millennials want to feel more connected towards businesses and institutions. Businesses who advertise the people who work for them more than the business itself have more connection to Millennials.

Advertising employees as people and their lifestyle through the business... not branded employees.

- Connection: Millennials want to feel more connected with the environment and their history. This is due to the growing concern and importance of lifestyles and the countries millennials are connected to. 

Importance of ones history in order to inform the future

- Relevance: Millennials not only want to feel relevant in the work industry and in institutions but also in the surrounding environment. This relevance can be seen as their relevance in New Zealand as well as New Zealands’ relevance to them.

- Activity: Millennials want something that actively engages them, whether in physical activity or by being intellectually stimulated. This is why many Millennials go overseas. They want to see the world and learn about it by interacting with it physically and historically/intellectually

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Using the macro-trends

All of these pages contribute to the macro-trends identified from the earlier posts. 

Personalisation through the profile creation and filtering of information that is relevant to each user. 

Social connectivity through seeing the people connected to the same histories as you, and through the events. 

Social mission through the showcase of many different users voices and stories, connecting people to each other and to ‘our place’. 

Education and entertainment through learning other people’s stories and perspectives on history, through meeting new people, through the conversations and events at Te Papa connecting to community members and topic experts. 

Real-time and authentic through the publishing of one’s own story, could be published fairly quickly (although some sort of moderation would be needed), the users could perhaps see real-time responses from Te Papa and other users, and maybe there could be some sort of verification process (from Te Papa) for the stories, creating an authenticity for the history people are sharing. 

Consumer control through the choice of publishing your story; through choosing what you are interested in, want to know about, and are expert in - the users getting to decide, personalise and filter the information they are receiving. 

Integrity through the consistency of the social mission to connect people to each other and to Te Papa itself.

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Quick map visualization of the site navigation and pages necessary to our idea. 

Starts with a login/sign up page, which will go either to a profile creation page or if already signed up, to a feed page. 

Profile creation has the opportunity for users to select their interests, areas of expertise, their cultural heritage, etc. 

Feed page has two main feeds, one for Te Papa related connections (exhibitions/artifacts/archives relevant to the users chosen interests/histories), one for community related connections (people’s stories/who is connected to the same histories+artifacts, etc). This feed page would also connect to three other pages - your story, te papa events, exhibition curation. 

Your story would prompt/allow the user to share their story related to a specific topic or cultural experience and choose which topics to connect this to. These stories would then be saved and connected to the users profile, and appear back in their feed, and other users feeds who have chosen the relevant interests/histories for their own profiles. 

Te Papa Events is where Te Papa could facilitate events to connect the users in person with each other and incentivise going to Te Papa itself. These events could be created based on the users interests, as an example creating an event around the rugby world cup and it invites everyone who has chosen that they are interested in rugby, or creating an event about the Wahine sinking and the event shows up for everyone who has shown an interest in NZ maritime history and everyone who has a story connected to that event. Users could perhaps have an option to save events, to see all the events that are suggested as connected to them, and to see all the events. This event page is personalised and the events facilitate and create social connectivity. 

Exhibition curation would be an area that users can create an exhibition that they would perhaps like to see at Te Papa. There would be a select amount of topics at a time, and a set space to create this exhibition in, along with set artifacts that the users could choose from. This allows Te Papa to set parameters with the things they could actually display, and to narrow the focus to something that they would want to show. The topics shown could be tailored to the user, either through their interests or perhaps in areas they have demonstrated/chosen that they have expertise in. These curated exhibitions could be fed back to Te Papa, with data about what objects are the most used, which topics have the most interest shown in them etc and then create an exhibition based off of this information; or perhaps after a given timeframe, each of the users creations could be voted upon by the users and the top one being actually exhibited at Te Papa. Either way, this creates a sense of consumer control and personalisation which are macro trends identified earlier. 

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Our Big Idea: The Network

Connection is an important part of millennial culture. We want to connect Millennials to each other through their shared interests and histories. 

We are creating a network to go throughout Te Papa and it’s exhibitions. 

The users could login, preferably via Facebook (as this would allow the immediate connection to an already rich amount of data), or create a login (although this would be harder, it would be necessary for users to input their interests/etc themselves). This would immediately connect them to the relevant exhibitions/artifacts/archives/stories that relate to them and their histories. For example if they had Auckland listed as their place of birth on Facebook, this could connect them to any exhibitions connected to Auckland, and show the other people who are listed as born in/connected to Auckland. 

We want to connect to the earlier story idea, and as a part of this will include a place for people to tell their stories as connected to New Zealand/Te Papa/their histories/connections with artifacts and exhibitions in Te Papa. This allows for the users to add information that isn’t on Facebook, and connect further to what they are interested in and to other people. 

The users will have the ability to request information on specific topics or items of interest, either from Te Papa or from other users who have knowledge related to those topics. This gives a two-way interaction towards the information and other people, creating a more reliable, conversational way of accessing information. 

There will also be a feature that facilitates events, which could include social events to connect to people with similar interests/histories. 

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Community Connection

http://entertainmentdesigner.com/news/museum-design-news/6-strategies-for-creating-attractions-with-deeper-community-appeal-and-heart/

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User Storytelling Example

Found an example that is somewhat similar and relevant to our ‘big idea’.

This is a museum memorial dedicated to 9/11, but it asks only for the public's stories. 

“We made a radical decision to avoid a singular, “official” narrative. Instead, we collected thousands of stories from those at ground zero and around the world, creating a museum with a plurality of views.”

Their project utilizes hundreds of voice recordings of peoples stories about when they heard of the attacks. Visitors can also navigate and explore video interviews with national figures, and then reflect and record their own responses in an adjacent recording booth, and curators integrate those responses into the exhibition too. There is a projection of all the news articles, which is updated as more are published. Near the end of the exhibit there is also ‘the steel column’: “As rescue workers continued the task of clearing the World Trade Center site, the last steel beam to be removed became a symbol of hope for visitors and volunteers alike. Starting with just a few names, the beam evolved into an immediate, living memorial.” Finally, there is another space for visitors to interact and leave a response: “Towards the end of the museum, visitors may write a note of hope and remembrance. These digital contributions are projected temporarily onto a space near the beam, then stored in the museum's permanent digital archive. No message will ever be lost or forgotten.”

National September 11 Memorial & Museum from Local Projects on Vimeo.

This is relevant to us, not only as an example of integrating user storytelling/experience with education and a museum setting, but also because this exhibition uses many of the macro-trends and innovations identified earlier, through our primary and secondary research. As a few examples: there is social connectivity through the sharing of ones own story and seeing others’ stories; consumer control through the user choosing which recordings to listen to, videos to watch, questions to record response to; real-time and authenticity through the constant update of the exhibition (adding the user stories, adding the news articles) and through the steel column being there; personalisation through all of the factors above combining to give an individualised experience, and sharing a personal story/experience. 

These factors are definitely something we want to emulate in our ‘big idea’, and we want to do this in a way that is also relevant to New Zealand Culture/ Heritage as would befit our exhibition/idea topic. 

I’ve also linked here some other relevant projects from their work: 

An American Oral History Archive - Again local storytelling, and captured in a way that is relevant to the history that it surrounds. Participants enter the booth and interview each other for stories related to American History. 

Dreams of Freedom NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY  Uses digital and physical media to tell the stories of European Jewish immigrants, stories found in their letters from the early 1900s.

Memory Maps - People could pin their stories about the city to a specific location, and this was later used to begin/create an online ‘storymap’ of New York

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4Ps - Price, Promotion, Product, Place

Price General admission to the majority of the museum is free. There are guided tours available, with a price range of $6-11 for children and $12-18 for adults (16+ years) depending on which tour is chosen. There are non-permanent and touring exhibitions that often charge for entry; the recent Bug Lab charged $5 for children, $15 for adults, and $10 concession charge for students, SuperGold Cardholders, etc. 

Te Papa also offers a membership program called “Friends of Te Papa” (7) which has a range of prices from $20/yr for a student living outside of Wellington, through to $65/yr for a family of four. The “Friends of Te Papa” benefits includes discounts in many areas of the museum, including in the Te Papa stores, the cafés, and discounted entry to the paid exhibitions, as well as invitations to exclusive events and private exhibition viewings, and parking privileges (8). 

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Promotion Te Papa promotions are largely for the non-permanent and touring exhibitions. The current ‘Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War’ exhibit was initially advertised through billboards and posters around the Wellington area, but the promotion was fundamentally based on media coverage. Te Papa is also promoted through word-of-mouth of the users, and their reputation amongst the national and international community. 

In an online resource from the Te Papa website (1) they recommend working closely with the media, saying “An ongoing relationship with the media based on respect and integrity will stand your museum in good stead and help raise your public profile”, and “media coverage can draw visitors to your museum - and prove to be cost effective as a marketing tool”. In another of their resources (2), Te Papa speaks on handling users complaints and how this can affect word-of-mouth: “Customers who feel their complaints were badly handled will tell an average of twelve to twenty other people. Customers who are pleased with the way their complaints were handled will tell an average of four to six other people” and that if the complaint is handled well “[you can] turn a complaining customer into an advocate for your museum or cultural organisation”. 

Other examples of advertising used by Te Papa include a mail-out brochure, direct marketing presenting to the target audience, attendance at external events, a website page on a particular area, internal promotion - regular staff training; including a specific area within a generic Te Papa promotions; brochures and posters in Te Papa @ the info desk/in bathrooms/in discovery centres/etc, directional signage to area; PR - developing and maintaining relationships with relevant media outlets, providing them with information and images (3). 

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Product Te Papa provides education and entertainment through a range of exhibits surrounding many topics. These exhibits are highly informative and have many areas where interactive learning is used to create a more effectual experience. There are five main topic areas currently - Art, History, Taonga Māori, Pacific Cultures, Natural History. 

The main missions according to the 1992 act (4+5) is to create a place where:

New Zealand’s stories are told ­in an interdisciplinary way, using a range of media and art forms.

They facilitate, connect, and create a partnership between Tangata Whenua (Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand) and Tangata Tiriti (people in New Zealand by right of the Treaty of Waitangi).

New Zealand and international information/history is presented and preserved with authority and integrity.

New Zealand’s increasingly diverse society is represented.

Discussion, debate, involvement, and celebration is facilitated.

The past, present, and future is connected.

A Statement of Intent released in 2014 (6), also considers their strategic intentions for the following four years. These intentions (quoted) are:

Access all Areas: Te Papa will share its collections, skills and knowledge with the diverse communities across Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas.

Connecting with People: Te Papa will be a waharoa (entranceway) making learning a playful and entertaining experience. Te Papa will set the highest possible standards for an integrated experience. 

Housing the Treasures: Taonga (treasures) within the guardianship of Te Papa will be at the heart of the Museum’s activities.

Sharing Authority | Mana Taonga: Te Papa will share decision-making with iwi (tribes), communities and individuals with respect to management and understanding of their taonga (treasures).

Being a Forum for the Future: As a cultural and intellectual leader Te Papa will signpost pathways to the future by initiating, hosting and engaging in debates that explore a wide range of contemporary issues.

Saving the Planet: Te Papa will engage and excite by conducting leading edge research and by modelling environmentally responsible practices that are smart, accessible, and inspiring.

Te Papa offers a lot of programs aimed at children and families, such as the Discovery Centres, School Holiday Programs, regular school tours and accessible resources for educators to organise those tours. 

The two stores in Te Papa offer a more tangible product for users to purchase as souvenirs/symbolic reminders of their visit to Te Papa, and these stores offer a very wide range of items from Kiwiana-themed cushions, to biographies from Gallipoli, to Wellington branded tote-bags. 

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Place (In the market + physically) Te Papa Tongarewa is the National Museum of New Zealand, so in terms of cultural institutions, this immediately places Te Papa as an incredibly important site. On tripadvisor, Te Papa ranks #1 ‘thing to do’ in Wellington, and in New Zealand, with almost 10,000 reviews and over 8,000 of those rating their experience there as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ (9). 

In Te Papa’s 2015/16 Annual Report (10), the 16-24 year old age group made up 17% of the visitors, while 25-34 year olds made up 14%. This is fairly close to the New Zealand population statistics - 16-24yr olds are 16%, 25-34yr olds are 16%, but this year has also been noted as a year with record visitor numbers, thanks to the opening of the Gallipoli exhibit (11). 

All of this places Te Papa as a highly prestigious, trusted, and powerful institution within New Zealand culture. 

Other nearby cultural institutions (Te Papa’s ‘competition’) include: Zealandia, Space Place, Weta Cave, Wellington Museum, and Wellington Zoo. Other recreational activities that compete for people’s time include: trail walks up Mount Vic and around the town belt, Galleries such as { Suite }, Kura Gallery, Page Blackie Gallery or New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, tours of Parliament, etc. Te Papa has a point of difference from many of these other cultural institutions, because it is mostly free, and also the range of exhibits and information inside is larger, creating wider educational/entertainment possibilities, so it is therefore appealing to more users tastes and interests. 

Te Papa is located on Cable St, right on the Wellington Waterfront, which is an ideal central location. This location allows for a great view of the Wellington Harbour from the roof, and relatively easy access from the ferry terminals and train station nearby. There are also plenty of buses around and walking to Te Papa is fairly simple and fast from much of the accommodation in central Wellington. Being easily accessible, especially through public transport, is essential for Te Papa as many of the visitors will be from outside of Wellington - 72% in 2015 (10) - and relying on these systems (or walking) to get around. 

Resource Links:

(1) https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/sites/default/files/1-working-with-the-media_0.pdf

(2) https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/sites/default/files/25-customer-service.pdf

(3) https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/sites/default/files/19-developing-a-marketing-plan_0.pdf

(4) http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1992/0019/latest/dlm260204.html

(5) https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/about/what-we-do/our-history

(6) https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/sites/default/files/statement_of_intent_2014-18.pdf

(7) https://www.friendsoftepapa.org.nz/

(8) https://www.friendsoftepapa.org.nz/join-friends/

(9) https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Attraction_Review-g255115-d257133-Reviews-Museum_of_New_Zealand_Te_Papa_Tongarewa-Wellington_Greater_Wellington_North_Island.html

(10) https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/sites/default/files/te_papa_annual_report_2015-16_web-full.pdf

(11) https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/about/press-and-media/press-releases/2016-news-and-media-releases/te-papa-marks-record-year-for