Since it’s the end of the year, I’ve been staring at my list of “things I’d like to do in 2012” and trying to turn them into a workable personal professional development plan. In looking at all the events and places I’ve highlighted, it turns out an emergent theme in 2011 has been looking for/at trends in museums and trying to be more proactive than reactive. Between Museums and the Web, the Horizon Report and the Salzburg Global Seminar, MCN, and the daily drip of inspiration coming in from Twitter, it’s been a heady Fall.
At the same time, I ranted a very little bit about computers in museums. The upshot of this was starting to talk to Seb Chan about putting together some kind of conference presentation on new justifications for computer interactives. I had one of those flow moments, where a bunch of seemingly disparate elements all suddenly snap into alignment and seem like a coherent whole. Maybe this could be my theme for the coming year! Studying new approaches to interactivity in museums!
Now I’m wondering if I can turn an unwieldy pile of people, places and events into a course of sorts that would push me to learn more about new ways you and your friends are using interactivity in museums. There’s lots to learn!
Here’s my admittedly incomplete list of things that I want to know more about and incorporate into my practice. Can you add other trends or examples to the list?
- Universal design finally becoming more mainstream.
Less “compliance”, more access! - Maker culture and the DIY ethos influencing museum practice.
First Arduino, then hackerspaces and MakerFaires, now Raspberry Pi, oh my! - Responsive web design.
Is it an app, a web app, or a mobile app? And does anyone care as long as it works? (thanks to Patty Toland and the genii at Filament Group.) - Using visitors’ personal technologies.
Mobiles, mobiles, mobiles. - Gestural interfaces.
Kinect and Wii hacking and more. Using your body to control real-world and digital experiences. - New publishing models for digital content and making better web experiences
(thanks to Koven Smith). - Participatory design and practicing how to be authoritative instead of authoritarian
(thanks to Rob Stein). - Collaborative multitouch exhibits.
What else have I left out?
Filed under: Design process, New Media, Professional Development, Thinking tools Tagged: Horizon Report, inspiration, Koven Smith, MCN2011, MW2011, Patty Toland, professional development, Rob Stein, Salzburg Global Seminar, Seb Chan, twitter