How do you accommodate 8 million visitors annually when your century-old building was designed to welcome 500,000? That was the challenge facing the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. To reduce the friction of visitors moving throughout 325,000 square feet of exhibit and public space, we deployed a digital wayfinding system. With the installation of 15 screens and kiosks atstrategically mapped points throughout the museum,we were able to unclog the museum’s arteries without sacrificing discovery along the way.
To populate our digital infrastructure, we built a scalable, custom content management system (CMS). This gave the Smithsonian maximum flexibility and control over the ever-changing content on the screens. Now, over 85 animations not only provide direction and answer FAQs, but expand discovery and appreciation for the museum’s immense collection. Ultimately, this investment in a digital infrastructure helped the Smithsonian fulfill its mission by inspiring curiosity, discovery and learning about the museum itself.
