Traditionally, museum interpretation has been focused on the primacy of text as the dominant form of communication. However, museums have become more aware of their responsibility to increase the access of their collections, they have begun to broaden their conception of interpretation and offer a wider range of ways to connect with content. As a result, interpretation strategies are now moving away from a text-on-walls approach, requiring us to think more deeply about the challenges and opportunities that new types of interpretation offer audiences. 

Tired of queuing to read a text panel? Then the leaflet might be for you. Providing each visitor with their own leaflet, which contains all the interpretive texts and imagery of the objects, these miniature guides offer a more personalised visitor experience. However, they are costly to produce if you are expecting high visitor numbers and require a certain kind of lighting. While text panels can be lit as part of the exhibition strategy, if visitors need to be able to read from their leaflet from all positions there are questions around the suitability of the space. At several particularly moody and atmospheric exhibitions I have resorted to squinting and, on one rare occasion, using my phone torch to access the text. 

Still, when carefully aligned with the content and environment, this can be highly effective way of communicating with your audience. Offering room for curators to provide more detail about the work without visually overwhelming the visitor and creating a small memento from the exhibition, it can be a highly effective strategy when carefully considered. With rigorous accessibility testing to ensure adequate lighting, text size and imagery, these leaflets can act as a map to guide visitors through an exhibition, clarifying the visitor experience and quenching the visitor’s curiosity – as well as providing branded collateral that helps extend the memory of the visit beyond the physical experience.

Panels that you can pick up and examine are on the rise again. Whether showing a blown-up version of an object or offering more detail about an object in a show case, the drive away from the often-overwhelming label rail has given birth to a range of new pick-up interactives. Allowing you to view objects within showcases without having your thoughts immediately being interrupted by contextual information, these panels can offer visitors a cleaner clutter-free experience. For certain exhibitions this might allow objects to be seen in a new light, as an art object for example rather than related to a specific function. 

Easily slotted out of sight, they are a boon to the curator who wants the object to come first and foremost. However, with all interactives there is always the chance that they will be dropped or disappeared, requiring either the presence of an invigilator or an additional budget for replacements.

The phrase ‘we’ll can put that on the Bloomburg app’ must be the bane of every interpretation editor’s existence. The proliferation of QR codes in museums in recent years has coincided with the desire to offer a range of interpretation depths, allowing the subject-matter expert to take a deep-dive. But how often do you see someone whip out their phone to connect with new information? 

In my experience, if audience members are taking out their phone it’s more likely that they are checking their texts or snapping a cheeky photo than adding depth to their experience. This may well be because museums are places where we go to escape the digitality of our own lives – connecting instead with the joy of the tangible remnants of history. Museums are visceral places and while QR codes can offer exciting new digital layers to the museums experience, uptake appears to be relatively low. 

Additionally, digital exclusion is a real concern. Research by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) highlights how 1.3% of the population is unable to access exclusively digital transactions and content, whilst 6% of households don’t have a smartphone. This means that museum experience focused entirely on digital content are completely out of reach for some.

However, for museums attempting to add new layers of content and interpretation, the QR code is still an easy fix as long as it is an addition rather than the key to access. New approaches to digitality in museums are on the rise and it may not be long until we have no choice but to embrace them – though the question of exclusivity still lingers.

Sometimes interpretation panels can reach beyond the traditional boundaries, becoming something which adds more than contextual information. Depending on the exhibition, creating text panels which are in themselves works of art can help create intrigue, and set the tone of the exhibition. 

Increasingly, the materiality of interpretation panels is being considered an important method through which the shifting themes of an exhibition can be communicated, while also introducing a sense of tactility and atmosphere. The panels became the guiding device of the exhibition, creating new environments and communicating more than just contextual information. 

It can be an expensive approach, requiring the designer to work with an artist to create the final product, but it can also be a highly effective way of communicating with the audience, especially when dealing with complex and often sensitive content. 

So where does the future of interpretation lie? Clearly interpretive texts aren’t going away entirely but these examples highlight how museums are becoming more inventive and creative with their interpretation strategy. There is also a push to allow visitors to see objects by themselves and think about their own associations, away from the curiosity-crushing label rail. 

But new approaches require new design strategies – from new approaches to lighting to new collaborations. Each exhibition space has different needs, and the interpretation strategy must seek to offer maximum intrigue within the constraints of the environment. Experimenting with new approaches teaches us how audiences respond to these strategies and helps us understand how to communicate more effectively with a broader audience base. This is a period of experimentation and there may be a multiplicity of answers coming along that challenge the dominance of the text panel.