The
year is 1716 and the Golden Age of Piracy is at its height. The ship “Revenge” is moored alongside a
Caribbean dock while her pirate crew celebrate a successful cruise. At first light they sail for the pirate haven
of Nassau. This description
is on the sign that first greets you at the entrance to the Pirates of Nassau
museum. The museum itself is a lot of
fun. There isn’t much learning that
happens inside, but the museum is filled with real life exhibits that look like
they started their life as movie sets.
One suggestion I have to improve the museum experience
is to make the location of the entrance more clear. There’s a large sign that says “Entrance” out
front but that sign just leads you to a dark tunnel. Once you walk through the dark tunnel you
have to turn left and the ticket booth is right there. The museum should either move the ticket
booth to the front of the tunnel or add a sign inside the tunnel that says
ticket booth around the corner.
My second suggestion for the museum is to make the
exhibits more interactive. The majority
of exhibits have only a small description on the wall that describe what’s
going on but if the museum integrated virtual reality through a smartphone app
much more information could be communicated to guests. In addition, since the museum is unguided the
app could incorporate a prerecorded video for each exhibit that helps explain
what’s going on in the scenario being depicted.
The app could also serve as a way for the museum to collect guests’
reactions to exhibits by asking a few exit questions after each exhibit right
through the app. The museum could also
track popularity of each exhibit by monitoring which exhibits are being accessed
on the app the most.
