The MUSETECH Model

The MUSETECH Model posits that in order for museums to successfully utilize technologies, there are three stakeholder perspectives that must be considered. Throughout all stages of a museum technology project, these perspectives offer views that complement and inform the others in a way that can build institutional synergy. This model also states that there are four primary stages or constituents of a museum technology project. These quartiles contain evaluation criteria per perspective, grouped by thematic categories called clusters, which allows for a granular overview of the considerations throughout each stage of the technology project.

Navigating the Model

(EC) Evaluation Criteria

There are a total of 121 Evaluation Criteria that provide a granular overview of the project for the museum as an institution, cultural heritage professionals and visitors.

Read More: MUSETECH Evaluation Criteria by Cluster

Each Evaluation Criteria is assigned a unique ID, making it easier to address specific areas of the matrix. Each Evaluation Criteria is listed by Quartile, Cluster, Perspective and Evaluation Criteria. For example, D1Pa refers to the “Design Quartile”, “Cluster 1: Design and product ideation” for the “Cultural Heritage Professional”, Evaluation Criteria “a”.

Perspectives

(M) Museum as an Institution

This addresses the needs of the institution as it exists interdependently with the Cultural Heritage Professionals it employs and the Visitors that utilize its resources.

(CHP) Cultural Heritage Professional

This addresses the needs of professionals who works within a Museum institution, regardless of their department or title. These professionals perform a large portion of the interactions with Visitors and often create content through utilization of the Museum’s resources.

(V) Visitor

This addresses the needs of individuals who are accessing the Museum’s resources by utilizing content created through a Cultural Heritage Professional, in both self-directed or facilitated interactions.

Quartiles

(D) Design

This stage regards the ideation of the technology project, its interaction methods, user experience, and aesthetics.

Cluster	Perspective	Evaluation Criteria
D1. Design and Product Ideation	Cultural Heritage Professional	D1Pa. Design Concept
		D1Pb. Integration with Exhibition
		D1Pc. Integration with other ICT
		D1Pd. Balancing Physical with Digital
		D1Pe. Understanding the Fabrication Process
		D1Pf. In-house technical knowledge
	Museum	D1Ma. Level of Innovation and business intelligence
		D1Mb. Brand name, uniqueness, originality
		D1Mc. Integration with other ICT
		D1Md. Budget
		D1Me. Staff acceptance
	Visitor	D1Va. Co-design, front-end evaluation and visitor acceptance
D2. Experience Design and Narratives	Cultural Heritage Professional	D2Pa. Experience added value
		D2Pb. Relevance to audience
		D2Pc. Tailored content
		D2Pd. Attentional balance
		D2Pe. Social interaction
		D2Pf. Before and after the visit support
	Museum	D2Ma. Interpretive, educational and learning potential
		D2Mb. Personalization potential
		D2Mc. Public outreach and communication
		D2Md. Big data potential
	Visitor	D2Va. Engagement
		D2Vb. Personalization
		D2Vc. Learning, entertainment and edutainment
		D2Vd. Attentional balance
		D2Ve. Affective impact
		D2Vf. Social interaction
		D2Vg. Ability to follow usage on other platforms
		D2Vh. Sense of belonging to a community
D3. Interactions, Affordances and Interaction Metaphors	Cultural Heritage Professional	D3Pa. Quality of Affordances
		D3Pb. Suitability of interaction metaphors
		D3Pc. Interface design
		D3Pd. Clarity of navigation
		D3Pe. Follow-up usage on other platforms
		D3Pf. Multisensoriality
	Museum	D3Ma. Follow-up usage on other platforms
		D3Mb. Brand name, uniqueness and originality
	Visitor	D3Va. Utility, usability and ease of use
		D3Vb. Intuitiveness, learnability and learning curve
		D3Vc. Responsiveness
		D3Vd. Clarity of navigation
		D3Ve. Personalization
		D3Vf. Social interaction
		D3Vg. Ability to follow-up usage on other platforms
		D3Vh. Presence of Multisensoriality
D4. Aesthetics, Look and Feel, and Visceral Qualities	Cultural Heritage Professional	D4Pa. Look and feel
	Museum	D4Ma. Brand name, uniqueness and originality
	Visitor	D4Va. Look and feel

(C) Content

This stage regards content creation and management for the technology project.

Cluster	Perspective	Evaluation Criteria
C1. Content Creation	Cultural Heritage Professional	C1Pa. Utility, usability and ease of use
		C1Pb. Learnability and learning curve
		C1Pc. Personalization and adaptation
		C1Pd. Multilingualism
		C1Pe. Community support
		C1Pf. Technology knowledge and support in the house
		C1Pg. Interoperability
	Museum	C1Ma. Continuity of usage
		C1Mb. Logging
	Visitor	C1Va. Perceived content quality
		C1Vb. Visitor-created content, creation and curation
C2. Content Maintenance	Cultural Heritage Professional	C2Pa. Ability to make changes in-house
		C2Pb. Potential for documenting and archiving
	Museum	C2Ma. Staff acceptance
		C2Mb. Interoperability and modularity
	Visitor	C2Va. Personalization
		C2Vb. Social interaction and sharing
		C2Vc. Continuity of usage

(O) Operation

This stage regards the logistics of running and maintaining the technology project through its lifetime and beyond.

Cluster	Perspective	Evaluation Criteria
O1. Deployment and setting-up	Cultural Heritage Professional	O1Pa. Ease of use for installation
		O1Pb. Distance monitoring
		O1Pc. Workflow
		O1Pd. In-house technical knowledge
		O1Pe. Additional staff training
	Museum	O1Ma. Set-up and start up
		O1Mb. Modularity and interoperability
		O1Mc. Staff and front-desk training
		O1Md. Distribution, recovery and guarantee
	Visitor	O1Va. Visitor experience quality and customer care
		O1Vb. Visitor-owned devices
O2. Robustness and Maintenance	Cultural Heritage Professional	O2Pa. Environmental constraints
		O2Pb. Robustness
		O2Pc. Maintenance required
		O2Pd. Updating and replacing
	Museum	O2Ma. Storage cost
		O2Mb. Level of maintenance
		O2Mc. Loss, deterioration, theft and replacement
		O2Md. Reusing and disposing
	Visitor	O2Va. Robustness
		O2Vb. Responsiveness
		O2Vc. Stability
		O2Vd. Speed and speed of recovery
O3. Power and Energy	Cultural Heritage Professional	O3Pa. Day to day running and maintenance
		O3Pb. Stability
	Museum	O3Ma. Interventions in the exhibit space
	Visitor	O3Va. Prevent feelings of failure and frustration
O4. Costs	Cultural Heritage Professional	O4Pa. Workforce, time and additional staff
	Museum	O4Ma. Financial costs and investments
		O4Mb. Running costs
	Visitor	O4Va. Costs (value for money and time)
O5. Additional Resources	Cultural Heritage Professional	O5Pa. Instructions and how-to guides
	Museum	O5Ma. Adopting, financing and sponsoring
	Visitor	O5Va. Uptake

(MP) Compliance

This stages covers ethical and legal considerations regarding health, safety, and liability as they relate to the technology project.

Cluster	Perspective	Evaluation Criteria
MP1. Health, Safety and Accessibility	Cultural Heritage Professional	MP1Pa. Accessibility
		MP1Pb. Appropriateness
		MP1Pc. Safety
	Museum	MP1Ma. Safety
		MP1Mb. Emergency management
		MP1Mc. Disposal and recycling
		MP1Md. Hygiene, cleaning and maintenance
	Visitor	MP1Va. Accessibility
		MP1Vb. Appropriateness
		MP1Vc. Safety
MP2. Logging and Monitoring	Cultural Heritage Professional	MP2Pa. Logging and monitoring
	Museum	MP2Ma. Log storage, access, privacy and analytics
	Visitor	MP2Va. Personalization
		MP2Vb. Legal compliance
MP3. Ethics and Legal Issues	Cultural Heritage Professional	MP3Pa. Protecting audiences
		MP3Pb. Data gathering and protection
	Museum	MP3Ma. Other legal issues
	Visitor	MP3Va. Trust and confidence in museum