Evaluating User Experience of a Multimedia Storyteller Panorama Tour: The Story of the Markham Car Collection

Abstract

A storyteller panorama tour, The Story of the Markam Car Collection, was developed as an example for museums and cultural institutions concerning the use of panoramas combined with multimedia to tell stories of specific large objects (antique cars). It was designed for multiple platforms to involve and engage audiences via large curved screens while allowing for access via portable devices. Understanding users’ requirements is essential when designing and developing virtual museum tours. Measuring digital productions’ usability is an ongoing challenge that affects the improvement of user experience and the actual output. A variety of techniques and approaches are available to test digital productions’ usability and the related user experience. It is possible to measure and evaluate the production’s usefulness, including users’ engagement and understanding. However, the best method for assessing museum-related digital productions varies depending on aims, capacity, audience, and local context. In this paper, we demonstrate the strategy we employed to evaluate the particular storyteller panorama tour’s usability, user experience, engagement, and resulting audience understanding. The results of the evaluations showed that storyteller panorama tours could be an effective, attractive, and engaging storyteller method for cultural institutions. However, the findings also indicated that the users’ age, gender, and computer-related experience influence the use and enjoyment levels. We share our experiences and offer an example of how to evaluate a storyteller panorama tour. We believe that the presented evaluation strategy would be applicable to other museum-related projects, as well.