Extending museum experience through digital touchpoints: Mapping touchpoint strategies for young adult visitors in Finland

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Volume Title

School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Bachelor's thesis
Ask about the availability of the thesis by sending email to the Aalto University Learning Centre oppimiskeskus@aalto.fi

Authors

Date

2025

Department

Major/Subject

Design

Mcode

Degree programme

Bachelor's Programme in Design

Language

en

Pages

63+11

Series

Abstract

In recent years, museums have evolved beyond their traditional roles of preservation and education, increasingly positioning themselves as spaces for social interaction with an emphasis on visitor engagement. Digital touchpoint has been one of the significant factors in this transition, freeing its service limit from geographical location. This shift is particularly relevant in the context of young adult visitors, who are digital natives and expect seamless integration of technology in their cultural experiences. Despite their importance, there is limited touchpoint-specific research in fine arts museums, especially in the Finnish context. This thesis aims to address this gap by exploring the opportunity digital touchpoints could offer to Finnish art museums in their visitor journey, look-ing at the case of young adults' engagement. Through this research, this thesis seeks to provide actionable insights on how the current service could improve through digital touchpoints while also taking into account the contextual challenges revolving around digital touchpoints. The literature review was done to understand young adults' engagement in museums, current initiatives by Finnish museums to invite young adults, the service design framework on digital touch-points and digital touchpoint implementation in museums and its role. Following this, seven semi-structured interviews were completed with four young adult regular museum visitors and three professionals with experience in working with multiple museums, mainly in Southern Finland. This interview provided insights into the current usage of digital touchpoints, their role and expectation, and managerial and operational context. Through thematic analysis of interview outcomes, the study identifies the list of digital touch-points currently used by young adult visitors of Finland and their functions, expected roles and potential opportunities for use expansion. The research revealed the interplay between museum-owned and third-party touchpoints in the visitor journey formed by regular interaction and established expectations with museum visitors. There was a pronounced asymmetry in information trust and interpretation. Visitors relied on institutional sources for authoritative factual information while seeking interpretive perspectives through external, often social media-driven platforms. Interviewees also expressed the need for more straightforward outreach and navigation both to and from museum-made content to other touchpoints, motivated by their desire for educational and inspirational content. Challenges in advancing digital touchpoints include staff training requirements, financial constraints of expected free digital service and visibility of existing digital touchpoints. Notably, an opportunity was identified in relation to digital touchpoints. The interviewee raised media as a touchpoint to incentivise their visit, suggesting collaboration with the museum's partner may open up a room for broader reach, addressing the current visibility issue. Museum workers also raised AI personalisation as a future opportunity, making web 2.0 touchpoints important. These research implications offer strategic guidance for those involved in visitor experience design, marketing and management of museums in Finland.

Description

Supervisor

Joseph, Antony

Thesis advisor

Chun, Namkyu

Keywords

Finnish art museums, digital touchpoint, service design, young adult engagement, visitor journey, museum digitalisation, cultural engagement

Other note

Citation

Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202507135585

Collections

[kand] Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu / ARTS