Using a participatory approach to design a technology-enhanced museum tour for visitors who are blind

In this poster we trace the discovery and initial design phases for a digital museum guide for visitors who are blind, for use at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. Our design goal was to create a prototype for a handheld device that would provide contextual, descriptive, and historical information about artifacts in the museum's permanent collection. First, we reviewed existing assistive technologies. Second, a participatory design approach was identified as a useful methodology to understand the specific characteristics of the context of use and the unique perspectives of the users in this study. Third, in collaboration with participants who are blind and museum staff, we developed a medium-fidelity prototype. Using a simulation technique with participants in situ, we created rapid iterations of our prototype. Here, we present our key findings and recommendations.