Last year, the Helsinki Design Museum opened its doors to a renewed collections exhibition: Utopia Now – The Story of Finnish Design. Together with Bond Creative Agency and SceneSkope, the museum elevated its visitor experience through revitalised branding, spatial and digital design. The museum experience is a truly dynamic process. More than ever, museums are building on their collections of "real objects" and their reputations as places of trust and expertise to make an impact. 

While museums are competing for people’s time and money against a host of other leisure activities, a visit to the museum as a lasting experience is drawing more attention through heightened service design and digital activity. Utopia Now reviews social and economic issues in the design field, exploring the values included in objects, as well as the impact that design can have.

The new exhibit aims to increase interactions between the visitor and collections throughout the museum, with memorable digital experiences. “A digital archive allows visitors to discover more, while offering further possibilities of engagement, opinion and feedback gathering,” says Hanna Kapanen, educational curator at the museum. With heightened digital interaction comes a deeper sensory-perceptual involvement from visitors, which in turn, creates the type of engagement that people will remember long after their visit (so much more impact than a quick ‘like’ on Facebook or retweet on Twitter).

Part of the digital fun includes being able to choose a Marimekko pattern, animate it and project it into an immersive room. Here, the visitor curates their own artwork for others to see and enjoy, promoting a sense of meaning, ownership and pride. This installation encourages more active participation – an experience that engages, delights and educates.

Over 100,000 people have visited the museum since it opened in 2017, while 35,000 have used the Marimekko table. This year, new digital experiences will be added to the mix, such as a visitor engagement platform. This will collate visitor feedback and opinions available on their mobile phones as they leave the museum. In collecting real-time data on visitor interaction and behaviour, the Design Museum can gauge visitor opinion, and impact.

Combining admission, sales, ticketing and restaurant data on a live dashboard, reveals the pulse of the museum, allowing the curation staff to make data driven decisions on visitor engagement. This enhanced personal relevance through digital communication achieves the museum’s purpose – to provide great experiences for everyone.