PHEON: Practicing Problem Solving and Gaining Museum Literacy from Transmedia and Alternate Reality Games in Museums

The Luce Foundation Center of the Smithsonian American Art Museum ran a transmedia game, called PHEON, as an in-museum scavenger hunt-style game from October 2010 through September 2011. Players took on missions that sent them throughout the Museum\u27s collections. From a summative evaluation of the game, we learned that PHEON supported problem solving skills, increased museum literacy, and help players connect with the Museum and its resources. Players also identified opportunities for improvement related to the game materials and its narrative. The paper offers a summary of lessons learned for others hoping to deploy an ARG or transmedia game in their learning setting

Teenage Visitor Experience: Classification of Behavioral Dynamics in Museums

Teenagers' engagement in museums is much talked about but little research has been done to understand their behavior and inform design. Findings from co-design sessions with teenagers suggested they value games and stories when thinking about enjoyable museum tours. Informed by these findings and working with a natural history museum, we designed: a story-based tour (Turning Point) and a game-based tour (Haunted Encounters), informed by similar content. The two strategies were evaluated with 78 teenagers (15-19 years old) visiting the museum as part of an educational school trip. We assessed teenagers' personality in class; qualitative and quantitative data on their engagement, experience, and usability of the apps were collected at the museum. The triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data show personality traits mapping into different behaviors. We offer implications for the design of museum apps targeted to teenagers, a group known as difficult to reach