It’s Thanksgiving Week in the US, meaning no newsletter on Thursday. Today, a top ten list of the worries I bet we all have in common. Tomorrow, a top ten list of the joys we all share. It’s Thanksgiving, after all. Here’s the worry list: …

Planners plan using floor plans. A floor plan is a great tool. But sometimes even veterans make weird decisions because we’re thinking while looking straight down. We have a dollhouse-owner view. But our visitors never have that view. …

Morning, Bob. [Morning.] Got the content hose? [Yep.] Good. Which gallery are we doing? [Roman.] I think I did half of that yesterday. It’s a blur, right? [Yep.] OK, here we go. Look, that wall is totally empty. Let ‘er rip. [Right.] Whoa, that new hose is something. …

Sometimes you have an object that feels too big for its display case. Sometimes you have an object that’s just the right size. And sometimes the object feels small compared to its case.  But why does “big case, little object” have to be a bad thing? …

Most objects in museum collections are photosensitive — they can be harmed by light. To preserve such objects, we can only display them lit dimly. So we have to light galleries dimly too, and even use dark interior colors. We end up with a lot of darkness. But …

White walls reflect light, creating glare and flattening contrast. Our eyes adapt to the brightest surfaces, shrinking pupils faster than they can expand again. Our eyes can never rest. That makes it hard to see details in things nearby. If not white, then what? …

Why are so many museum gallery walls white? Good question. Because white is hardly ever the best color for effective display, or human visual comfort. The “white cube” idea originated 100 years ago with MoMA and the Bauhaus …

You almost certainly know about immersive art, the for-profit leisure-time trend that has been influencing the museum projects for a few years now. But that’s not the only thing out there. Allow me to introduce the “-tainments” …

One in four people has a disability. Why aren’t we designing museums better for them? Sina Bahram & Corey Timpson from Prime Access Consulting join Jonathan to discuss “Inclusive Design Will Change the World.”

Many tech trends in the museum world disappear as fast as they came. (Come baaaaack, spin browser!) But there is one I swore was going to die an early death years ago … and it never did. How did touch tables never die? …

Behold, the trippy art spa. You might not know it by that name. But keep an eye out for one opening near you. It’s a kind of immersive art venue on steroids. Giant room with projections covering walls and floor? That’s just step one. …

In any complex organization, especially a non-profit, decision-making is complex. Planners and designers need to give committees choices. Usually, creative contracts call for “three options.” But in our studio, we find three is not enough. …

Wait, what’s digital signage again? It’s the site-based screen media we use for promotion — as opposed to the media we use for edutaining visitors. There is one huge mistake everybody makes with digital signage. Want to avoid it? Just remember this …

For the finale, do museums get equal amounts of each type? And does it vary by kind of museum? Here’s the lowdown. History museums, science centers, and natural history museums share a similar list, if you rank visitor types from most to least. …

Museum researcher John Falk’s “Five Visitor Identity Types” framework first appeared in his 2012 book, “Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience.” Today, many of us know his framework by name. Here are Falk’s five: …

We’re all involved in exhibitions all the time. But sometimes we’re so focused, we don’t always think about why all our visitors really visit. Imagine how better informed our work would be — if we did. Let’s dig into it. For Part 1, let’s get all the reasons out there:

Visiting an exhibition is like visiting a city. Both need a mix of two things: Matching systems - elements that are always the same. And unique one-offs - elements that are never the same. Street signs, stoplights and bus stops need to match. And if they don’t …

There is a song we sometimes sing in our exhibition and experience projects: We’re poor. Our budgets don’t have the money those “other” industries have. We’re the ones who have to do a lot with a little. But is it true? …

Sitting at a corner table are MONIQUE, exhibition developer wise beyond her years, and PHIL, anxious independent museum consultant. PHIL: This coffee is terrible. No wonder it was so cheap and fast. MONIQUE: Iron Triangle, baby. [Sips matcha] …

In a classic MtM podcast on “How to Build a Museum,” architect David Greenbaum called out “esprit de corps” as a must-have for every museum project team. It is the unity, loyalty, and camaraderie among team members. …