Here are the last three. D. Separating narratives: The next concern is conflicting narration (different narrators saying different things). Just keep these distant enough. Test it. Distant voices are less distracting than you think.

Here are six solutions. The first is mind-blowing to some, but the most useful by far: Allow overlaps. Total elimination isn't desirable. Ambient overlaps make spaces feel normal. (Ambient: no loudness, catchy melodies, or narration.) You can have way more overlaps than you think.

In the competition for Most-Worried-About Technical Aspect of Exhibitions, there can only be one Greatest Of All Time: Sound bleed. If I had a dollar for every time I have been asked if we’ll have sound bleed problems ….

Here's a quick win. There are many ways NOT to label a screen in an exhibition:

NOT on the wall nearby.
NOT above or below the screen.
NOT running up the side of it.

Why? When the screen breaks (it will) it will look even more broken. 

Have you ever re-watched an old film you loved for its special effects, and realized that it didn't age well? The media industry raises the bar on production values every day. Museums can’t do that. How can museum media be valuable longer? Pre-age it.

You plan public-facing technology in most of your exhibitions. How cutting-edge should it be? It depends, but here are two things to remember. First: Nothing dulls faster than the cutting edge…

In the real world, we expect a sound to naturally emanate from its source. The happy toot of a baby elephant emanates from a baby elephant. Not the sky, the ground, or a nearby fern.

It should work the same in our exhibitions. Those happy toots should come from speakers as close as possible to the elephant's on-screen image.

Nothing dulls faster than the cutting edge.

Say it again with me.

Nothing dulls faster than the cutting edge.

There are three aging speeds to consider in every project: Building Speed, Furniture Speed, and Technology Speed. (Here come more animal metaphors.)