Museums deal in the economy of experiences. It is our duty to engage visitors around the objects and scholarship that takes place at The Warhol. We craft our experiences with care so they are intellectually fulfilling, emotionally stimulating and leave visitors craving more.
Alongside the compelling experiences offered by The Warhol is an ethos of open engagement around museum collections, exhibitions and programming. Emerging technologies allow the museum to participate in meaningful ways with visitors, whether they are with us in the galleries or online. The museum embraces interaction with visitors and is an active participant in the global dialogue surrounding Warhol and the Warhol ethos.
###2.1 On-site
People have many choices when considering where and how to spend their leisure time and money. Here in Pittsburgh, someone could attend a ball game, enjoy a tasty meal, go to a concert, see a film or visit one of many cultural institutions within the city. All of these options offer unique experiences.
The experience at The Andy Warhol Museum must not only be top-tier in Pittsburgh, but also must be world class. The museum's gallery experience must honor Warhol's legacy. It must be active, participatory, surprising and delightful.
With respect to digital technologies, the on-site experience must not be intrusive or overbearing. Digital initiatives must be easily available when visitors want them and invisible when they don't. The digital components must align with visitor behavior patterns and augment the analog museum experience in tasteful, meaningful and interesting ways.
We do not deploy technology projects for technology's sake or as an add-on afterthought. Instead, the digital components to the on-site gallery experience are a part of the discussion from a project's inception, through its installation, and throughout its duration. Having digital leadership involved from the outset is instrumental in creating seamless, integrated experiences.
###2.2 Online
Much like physical visitors have options when deciding where to spend their time, attention and money, online visitors also have choices. The Internet offers infinitely more choices. Experiences offered across the museum's digital landscape (web, mobile, e-marketing, social) must be on par with the best of the Internet. Quality and stability are paramount.
User interfaces must be consistent, elegant and fun to use. Interacting with museum subject matter must be easy. The narratives must be valuable, engaging, shareable and worth sharing.
The digital team strikes a balance between developing internally-supported platforms (websites, blogs, mobile applications, etc.) and managing activity on third-party platforms (social media, email marketing, etc.). Activity on third-party platforms are platform-specific and make use of each platform's unique functionality.
We emphasize community and work to grow the depth of interactions around The Warhol's objects and stories, and work to amplify artistic expression created through the lens of Warhol.
###2.3 Strategy In Action
The following are projects initiated or deployed between 2015 and 2017 that exemplify the Experiences and Engagement strategy outlined above:
- Fully responsive warhol.org — January 2015
- Responsive website for Someday is Now: The Art of Corita Kent — January 2015
- The Warhol Tumblr — February 2015
- New responsive email marketing templates and refined messaging strategy — March 2015
- Participation in #MuseumWeek — March 2015 and March 2016
- Amiga 1000 gallery interactive — April 2015
- Unboxed iOS interactive — January 2016
- Responsive website for the exhibition Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei — June 2016
- collection.warhol.org launch — June 2016
- Participation in @52museums — July 2016
- Soft launch of Out Loud, The Warhol’s inclusive audio guide — August 2016