Designing Context-Aware Mobile Systems for Self-Guided Exhibition Sites

This study examines the design of digital systems created to support users in self-guided exhibitions (i.e., sites without human personnel to support the users). We developed a location-aware smartphone guide called Aratag, which utilizes Bluetooth beacons to serve contextual information at the user’s request. Using this guide, we conducted a user study to investigate what types of content institutions perceive as relevant versus the kinds of content users actually find relevant. The study also contributes to our understanding of users’ attitudes toward using smartphones to support their self-guidance in exhibitions. Our results provide insights into designing for interplay between the physical setting of the exhibition and the digital platform, so as to inform the utility, desirability, and usability of mobile guides. Based on these findings, we present the following two design insights that should be considered when designing future mobile systems for self-guidance in exhibitions: 1) multi-level content to accommodate individual user interest by scaffolding information layers from glimpses to an increasingly immersive experience and 2) real-time location tracking with clear visual feedback.