KarenR_R10

This reading, Reflections on Museums 3, provided more information about Saul Carliner than it did about learning or information design. It was very noisy.

From this reading I learned that Saul Carliner is very well traveled. He can speak multiple languages including Spanish and French, but his primary language is English. He is very interested in history. He travels with his partner whose primary language is Spanish. His partner has some interests that are similar to his and others that differ. Saul prefers to read any written information provided in museums. His partner prefers to listen to provided audio guides and inspect the objects themselves. They both dislike guided tours, even though they provide more information, and the both find videos and computers in museums to be time consuming.

Remove the personal information about Mr. Carliner and company from this post, and what is left is nothing that is not obvious to anyone who has ever been to a museum.

You go to a museum because you or someone you know is interested in what is going on there. At the museum, supplemental information about each exhibit is provided to you in several different formats: written words, audio guides, tour guides, videos, touch-screen computers, etc. Some people prefer one format to another, for personal or practical reasons. Some people prefer to ignore the supplemental information altogether and focus exclusively on the object or exhibit itself.

I did not find any of the information Carliner provided to be very significant. He discussed the different ways information is presented. He stated that people will prefer one presentation to another. He did not indicate which presentation was most effective in communicating the information. He did not say which presentation most people are drawn to. He did not say whether or not he retained any of the information he gained. Any assessments made of the different presentations of information were strictly personal, and only represented Saul Carliner, one person.

I am not sure what I am supposed to take away from this as a student of design. Simply stating that people have choices and that different people choose differently is useless because it is obvious. Why do people choose? How do people choose? What do people choose? I now know why, how, and what Saul Carliner chooses, but what good is that?