Pirates of Nassau

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.