How Do Museum Staffs Make Decisions During the Design Process?

Although every design choice is characterized by all four components, one component usually dominates a particular decision. For example, designers at the Urban History Museum considered whether to include a Ku Klux Klan robe in "Without Boundaries." The choice primarily pertains to an object and is a resource issue. But the team also considered the other three components. Including the object must satisfy the relevant design goals. For example, the team felt a responsibility to tell the history of the city in a balanced way and the Ku Klux Klan is part of the city’s history. Yet the team also considered how the presence of that object might affect visitors’ ability to enjoy the exhibit. Design techniques suggest how the Ku Klux Klan robe might be displayed. For example, juxtaposing it with more pastoral images, such as an original copy of Gone with the Wind, might be effective storytelling and promote interpretation. The team also needed to consider constraints. For example, the team needed funds to acquire the robe and also needed to consider whether including the robe might have an effect on attendance and donations. An additional constraint emerged as the team tried to purchase the object; they had difficulty finding someone who would sell a robe.

Because the object dominates the decision and objects are resources, this is a Resource-Oriented Choice. Choices dominated by certain components characterize the different stages in the design process.

Different types of choices seem to dominate different phases of the design process. The process presented is a generalized model; it is based on the 18-step procedure documented by the Urban History Museum. I have adjusted that process to represent the procedures followed by the other two museums, but which they do not document. In doing so, I have condensed several of the steps in the process described by the Urban History Museum.

1. Concept. At this phase, which can last several years, an idea is proposed and, through discussion among colleagues in the museum, refined into an initial concept for the exhibition. The product of this phase is a brief report describing the topic of the exhibition and ideas, if any, of how the topic might be presented. The report might be used to generate funding for planning of an exhibit.

This phase is characterized by Goal-Oriented Choices, such as the decision to mount an exhibit on computer networks at the High Tech Museum, build an educational activity center at the Industrial History Museum, and create a permanent exhibit on the city’s history in the Urban History Museum.

2. Funding for Planning. At this phase, staffs submit an application to a funding body (in the cases of the museums studied, the National Endowment for the Humanities or the museum’s endowment fund). If successful, the museum receives funds that cover the expenses of developing the storyline and blueprint for the exhibit.

No design choices are made at this phase.

3. Storyline. At this phase, the storyline of the exhibition is prepared. The storyline is a written document that presents the key elements of the visitor experience. The storyline refines the subject of the exhibit, identifies key topics to be addressed, and discusses possibilities for presentation, including how content in the exhibition might flow and the types of objects to be included.

This phase is characterized by Goal- and Techniques-Oriented Choices. At this phase, the team at the High Tech Museum decided to focus on humanities issues in "Network Earth" and the team at the Urban History Museum decided to create four period cities in "Without Boundaries."

4. Script and Blue Prints. At this phase, the team develops detailed plans for the exhibit. By the end of this phase, the design team should have a documented "vision" of how the finished exhibition will look.

This phase is characterized by Resource- and Techniques-Oriented Choices. For example, the designer of "Network Earth" planned vistas that give visitors a view of the entire exhibit from a central hub and the designers of "Without Boundaries" decided to use sound effects to create the moods of the different periods of the city’s development.

5. Funding for Implementation. At this point, the plans should be complete enough that someone who has not worked on the designs of the exhibition can visualize it and production personnel and fabricators can build the various elements of the exhibition.

The plans are also complete enough that the exhibit design team can estimate the cost of the exhibition. Using this estimate, a team submits a grant application to a funding organization to cover the cost of building the exhibit. Representatives of the funding agency review the storyline, script, and blueprints to assess their suitability for implementation.

No design choices are made at this phase.

6. Fabrication. The various components of the exhibition are separately produced at this phase: objects are prepared for display; construction begins in the exhibition galleries; labels are typeset and mounted; and audiovisual presentations are filmed and edited. The product of this phase is completed exhibition components.

This phase is characterized by Resource- and Constraint-Oriented Choices. For example, the design team for "Without Boundaries" changed the materials used to construct a streetscape when faced with a budget crunch (a Constraint-Oriented Choice).

7. Installation. The various components fabricated earlier are brought into the exhibit space and installed. The product of this phase is a finished exhibit.

This phase is characterized by Constraint-Oriented Choices. For example, concerned that videos ran longer than visitors’ attention span, the designers of "Network Earth" removed scenes from videos to shorten their playing time.

8. Opening. The exhibit opens to the public. An exhibit opening is a series of events that includes formal celebrations, such as parties and receptions; tours for the press (who promote the exhibition to the public); and recognition of outstanding contributions by donors, volunteers, and staff.

No design choices are made at this phase

9. Maintenance. Components of the exhibit are maintained as needed. At the least, this includes physical maintenance, such as cleaning display cases, changing light bulbs, changing textiles and documents to avoid damage from prolonged exposure to light and to the public, and fixing interactive pieces that are broken by visitors. At the most, this involves refining the exhibit that pose problems to visitors, such as adding labels to clarify points.

The designer for "Without Boundaries" commented that, ideally, each component is considered at each phase. They are, but the design team does not always have complete information available when making decisions. Seemingly major changes therefore occur late in the process. In those instances, the teams make a decision that is appropriate given the information known at the time. Later, teams realize that one or more of the assumptions underlying that decision is incorrect and must take corrective action. At the Urban History Museum, for example, the team was preparing to fabricate displays and realized that the blueprints were not sufficiently complete. As a result, they needed to redesign the blueprints. The solution involved hiring another design firm.

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(c) Copyright. 1998. Saul Carliner. All rights reserved.