Improving the Online User Experience at the American Art Museum

Nick Malzahn (right) and his mentor, SAAM Media and Technology Deputy Chief Sara Snyder hard at work

Nick Malzahn, a graduate student studying human computer interaction at the University of Michigan, is currently interning at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in the Media and Technology Office.

Nick’s has been learning about improvements in the museum’s websites. One of most rewarding techniques for this has been usability testing, which involves observing and analyzing how real people complete a set of tasks using a particular site. The results of these tests provide data that the American Art Museum staff will use to help create better online experiences for its audiences, and experience that Nick can take with him at the end of the summer.