Exhibit Multimedia Blog by point2explore

Key consideration #8: ROI

Continuing our series:  Ten Key Considerations for Exhibit Multimedia Success.

ROI (Return On Investment) is a popular business term, but I believe that too many museums overlook the importance of tracking the ROI of an exhibit.  In simple terms, ROI means “What you get for what you spent” or “Was the expense worth it?”  Most museums, unlike businesses, wouldn’t track ROI based on dollars, but rather by usage, or response.  These things can be difficult to track for traditional exhibits, but for computer based exhibit elements, it’s really very easy.

Most computer kiosks are set up to run one computer program (or several programs, one  at a time).   One of a computer’s strengths is the speed in which it can do calculations or tasks.  Current computers are so fast that they seem to do multiple tasks simultaneously.  Running two (or even 3 or 4) programs at once is now commonplace for today’s computers.  Bottom line:  kiosk computers are typically underutilized.

Tracking usage is a very simple task for a computer.  By simply counting the times a program is used and saving the data to a file, already, valuable information is collected.  Add to the usage number the time of day and day of week and now you have data worthy of a Board of Directors meeting.  By knowing the busiest days and by forecasting the future visitor patterns, you can prepare to better accommodate your visitors.  All computer kiosks should track this basic data at a minimum.

Tracking response is just as simple.  Most computer kiosk programs offer choices to users, whether it is the choice of a program on the kiosk or choices within the program.  Tracking these choices will give you information on what subject matter interests your visitors and what types of programs they enjoy.  This data is valuable in future exhibit development.

Using surveys and quizzes also gives you an opportunity to track valuable data.  We have found that visitors are very willing to complete a simple survey to help you collect data.  They realize that the data will help you better serve your visitors and are glad to help with that effort.  You can easily set up a survey with questions like “what was your favorite exhibit?” or “what is your zip code?”  A quiz can tell you the knowledge level of your visitors and possibly the effectiveness of  the other exhibit components.  Again, all of this data is very valuable and very easy to collect with your computer.  Using our point2explore Pop Quiz and Score! Market Survey programs will get you up and running quickly and affordably.

Finally, although tracking data is important for use by the museum in service and development, another important area where tracking ROI is valuable is in fund raising.  If you have data on the usage of your kiosk, you can present the data to prospective donors to give them a sense of the value of what they are contributing to.

So make sure that when you (or your software vendor) develop your kiosk programs, you include functions within the software to track data and you will benefit from every “touch” of the screen.

If you have any recommendations or additions, please comment by clicking the “Comments” link below.  We’d love to hear from you!!

Chris Meyer

President

CD Meyer, Inc./point2explore

point2explore is product line of customizable touch screen kiosk programs including interactive games and informational programs.  point2explore products are currently running in over 50 museums and have been used in corporate events across the country. Visit our web site at www.point2explore.com.

Key consideration #7: Stability of Software

Continuing our series:  Ten Key Considerations for Exhibit Multimedia Success.

Although bugs may be interesting creatures, when it comes to bugs in software, you want to make every effort to eradicate them before you open your exhibit.  Basically, bugs (in software terms) are errors in computer code that cause the software to fail or run improperly. 

If you are developing your software on your own, you need to make sure that you do comprehensive testing of the software well before your launch.  The basic methods of testing for software include…

• Set up your software to run on the hardware you intend to use in the exhibit (that means EVERYTHING).
• Test early, sometimes it takes a while to get some of the trickier bugs completely fixed.
• Let the software run for as long as possible in a testing environment (we’re talking days and weeks, not minutes and hours).
• Test all of the functionality several times (every button, every function, etc.).
• PROOF READ!!!  You can’t depend on spell check to know that PAIR should be PEAR.
• Let someone unfamiliar with the software test for you (better yet, let a child or a senior citizen give it a try). 
• If you abided by the suggestions in previous posts in this series, you need to test all of your “time outs” to make sure that they “kick in” and redirect properly.
• Don’t take anything for granted and seriously consider any navigation or functionality suggestions you get from your testers.

Following these steps should help you identify the bugs in your software so now that you know what they are, fix them.  Don’t let any bug, no matter how insignificant, get by.  The implications of “minor” bugs can be much more “major” than you initially expect.  Once the bugs are fixed, test and test again.

If you are hiring a development company to do your programming, make sure you are aware of their quality control procedures and the software warranty.  It can be difficult to make software updates in some cases on a system that is in use.  Any reputable software development company will fully test their software and offer a reasonable warranty.  Our point2explore products are put through our 24 point quality control check list and are covered by a full one year warranty.

Consider purchasing customizable software products like our point2explore line.  Not only are these software products fully tested each time they are set up, but they are all currently running in facilities across the country.  So not only do you have the peace of mind that the software is bug free, you have great references to check.

Why bother with all this testing?  Well, bugs in software can cause a number of unwanted results during use including…

• Unexpected exit to Windows Desktop (if  you have read the earlier blog submission on security you know why this is bad).
• Unresponsive software “freezing”.
• The “blue screen of death” as it’s called by coders and engineers (this is when Windows shuts down completely leaving behind a blue “DOS” screen.
• Gradual slowing down of responsiveness of the program.
• Loss of some functionality.

Don’t take bugs for granted and make sure you invest the time and effort to completely test your software before you release it to the public. 

If you have any recommendations or additions, please comment by clicking the “Comments” link below.  We’d love to hear from you!!

Chris Meyer

President

CD Meyer, Inc./point2explore

point2explore is product line of customizable touch screen kiosk programs including interactive games and informational programs.  point2explore products are currently running in over 50 museums and have been used in corporate events across the country. Visit our web site at www.point2explore.com.