A study of interaction design in the Catalunya Railway Museum of Vilanova i la Geltrú

Abstract

El Museu del Ferrocarril de Catalunya has one of the most renowned and largest train collections in Europe, more than fifty-­‐two trains on display, including 28 locomotives, the biggest collection on the continent. It allows visitors to experience what travelling was like from the second half of the 19th through to the 20th century. The museum is located next to the train station of Vilanova i la Geltrú, a former station depot, where railway workers lived and work. It has a vast collection of trains documenting 160 years of railway history. In order to improve visitor experience, the museum wants to offer new initiatives and services that would make the visit to the Museum a more interactive and educational resource. The aim of this project was to improve the experience, through the application of user centred design and embracing contemporary technology. In order to develop the project, various research methods were used, including questionnaires, focus groups, expert reviews, and creative sessions. Based on the outcomes of this research new interactive technologies were investigated to decide on the most suitable solutions for visitor experience enhancement. The research lead to two separated results and advises for the museum. The first one is an advice based on improved signage and way finding inside the museum changing signs with info graphics and including routing elements. The second one is a mobile application, which conveys, to a better experience for the visitors in the museum. The mobile application is replacing the audio device and the map the visitors have to carry with them during an audio tour and adds interaction to the museum, a photo application to share in social media, different tour recommendations and information addressed to both common visitors and train enthusiasts. These two end products provided answers to the main questions of the research, namely: -­‐ How can the user experience and interaction of the museum visitors be improved? -­‐ What is the current experience of the visitors and what are they missing?