Digital technologies as shaping the visitor experience

In the context of the digital revolution, the use of digital technologies within the cultural field is increasing rapidly. Museums have opened their doors to visitors after a closure due to the global pandemic, all while emerging technologies such as AI and Machine Learning are gaining prominence across sectors, including museums. At the same time, ICOM’s museum definition has also undergone a transformation, with a renewed definition in 2022 highlighting the importance of visitor experiences in museums. To gain a better understanding of the use of digital technologies and museum experiences during this transitional phase, this thesis aimed to generate new knowledge on how museum professionals view the use of digital technologies in their exhibitions as facilitators of audience-centric experiences. Ideally, the purpose was to include countries that have incorporated digital technologies into their exhibitions. Thus, this thesis conducted in-depth interviews with museum professionals from the countries of Finland and the Netherlands. To further guide the research, this thesis proposed the following research question: How do museum experts perceive the role of digital technologies in supporting museums with delivering audience-centric visitor experience? Based on the empirical data generated through the in-depth interviews, the thesis conducted a thematic analysis, resulting in significant findings in the ways museum professionals view digital technologies. While the adoption of audience centrism is not a linear shift, the experts highlighted several ways technologies support visitor experiences. The Netherlands and Finland had overlap in the expert views, however, some discrepancies were also found. Experts from both countries are interested in ways to facilitate active participation, virtual museum spaces and personalised experiences. The Dutch experts were more receptive towards allowing the visitor to hold more power within the exhibitions, mainly by increasing autonomy in the creation of their museum experiences. Meanwhile, the Finnish experts emphasised the opportunities digital technologies have for more diverse storytelling strategies. From the interviews with Dutch experts, the collection and use of visitor data also surfaced, which has been concluded as one of the areas for further research. Considering the research question, it was found that museum experts in Finland and the Netherlands have diverse expectations for digital technologies. This means that positive outlooks on the use of technologies have been expressed, with many case examples, however, it was also emphasised that digital technologies should always be incorporated with a specific purpose in mind.