Design research on engaging and educative museum experiences with the use of games within museum applications : A case study of a treasure hunt game within the Nationalmuseum’s application

This paper discusses factors that affect engagement during a museum experience with a focus on applying gamification into a museum application. At the center of this paper, the educative and engaging purposes of a museum visit are situated and analyzed in the form of design research. Following the design thinking methodology, first a background study with relevant literature, theoretical framework, and related studies on existing museum experiences using games and mobile technology is presented. Moreover, in order to narrow down the perspective of the study a case study with an existing museum application is selected. As a result of this research, a prototype of a game within the Visitor Guide application of the Nationalmuseum of Sweden was created and tested in a showroom environment, in a museum exhibition. The aim of this study was to find out if a game within a museum application could engage the visitors while educating them. The findings create space for discussions about several topics, including different factors affecting engagement and how gamification can help to educate the museum visitors in a non-gamified environment