Research by Design (RbD) Method as a Process for Creating an Effective Museum Message

One of the most interesting areas in the field of interior architecture design is undoubtedly exhibition design, which now focuses not only on creating the architecture of exhibitions and displays, but also on building a cultural, aesthetic and social message that engages the viewer. Exhibition venues are increasingly becoming active places for meeting, education and exchange of ideas, moving away from the traditional static exposition of collections to interactive experiences. The objects of presentation become not only works of art, individual goods or entire organizations, but also phenomena and ideas. Kang emphasizes that the museum exhibition space is nowadays a medium for debate with the audience and the transmission of information [1]. At the same time exhibition design is a remarkable synergy of various disciplines and the implementation of pre-design research, leading to the creation of a space for communication, conveying selected content in the most evocative and engaging way for the audience. For this purpose, new methods and tools are currently being used, for example, AR and VR technologies [2]. In this context, the predesign phase is significant, important for selecting the scope and amount of content to be communicated in terms of visitors’ perceptual capabilities and ensuring their fluctuation [3]. This also includes issues of the accessibility of the message of information and directing the attention of visitors. Research improving the exhibition design process is also being conducted on the concept of wayfinding or perception [4, 5, 6]. Their results indicate, among other things, the importance of exhibit and label placement and visibility for visitor movement patterns.

At the same time, the focus on the viewer and on immersive messages in the process of creating exhibitions requires acquiring knowledge that allows preparing the content of the message tailored to the viewer’s capabilities. The oculocentrism of museums is being questioned and the message is increasingly built around immersive, multisensory exhibition environments, using, among other things, the concept of atmosphere of G. Böhme [7]. focused not only on the presentation of exhibits, but primarily on education to expand the audience [8]. Therefore, this unique branch of design differs significantly from the standard design and implementation processes associated with the creation of interior architecture [9]. Studies indicate that for today’s visitors the most important thing is the interactive message [10, 2] and the individual experience of the exhibit, which is related to the flexibility of the message and immersive technologies [11, 12, 13, 14, 15]. Modern exhibitions are increasingly using audiovisual solutions that not only make the presentation more attractive, but also help to better understand some scientific issues, stimulating the human imagination. This also includes messages based on gamification, the use of game elements and virtual reality. The potential of VR and AR technologies can revolutionize the user experience and influence the spatial design of museums [16]. Exhibition designers must therefore be competent to manage and creatively use digital communications [17]. Aiming to adapt the message to the needs of modern audiences, designers create attractive and engaging exhibitions that promote interaction and develop creative thinking. However, since most often an interactive message accompanies an authoritative display, attention is required to balance these two traditions in exhibition design [13]. Pilegaard also draws attention to the idea of activating the space between the visitor and the exhibition through the integration of spatial and material aspects of exhibition design. This idea exploits the tension between the body and the world, providing the opportunity to create an active, sensory (e.g., tactile) experience of the exhibition [18]. At the same time, exhibition design is constantly evolving and exploring new directions, expanding experience design [19].

Exhibition design is therefore an integrated, multithreaded, multidisciplinary process that often combines architecture, interior design, graphic design, the use of multimedia and technology, lighting, sound to create multi-layered narratives around a theme or issue [20]. This raises the question of the research methods and tools used in the various stages of exhibitions and the role of the designer in the process. In addition, there is no in-depth analysis in the literature of the tools used in the post-design research phase as an indication of tools for optimizing the message of information and evaluating its interactivity [21, 22, 23]. The purpose of the article is also to identify the key problem areas that need to be addressed in the pre-design phase, which is crucial for gathering exhibition content, and to indicate the tasks of the architect/exhibition designer at all stages of museum exhibition implementation. The designer, thanks to his knowledge and competence, carries out the project not only in the artistic context, but also in the construction context, which is extremely important, for example, in the context of designing exhibitions taking into account the capabilities of people with disabilities [24].

A perspective was adopted in which the designer, when undertaking the development of problematic exhibitions, draws on social experience by combining it with an artistic message, using various forms of expression and multimedia technologies. In addition, the analysis of examples of realized exhibitions in the post-design phase is carried out to verify the created message in terms of the criteria of experience and communication with the viewer.

The Research by Design (RbD) method is used as a path to gain new knowledge and critically examine the tools and results of the design process at each stage [25, 26]. In this study, the RbD method was adopted, based on assumptions derived from past experience gathered during the realization of the author’s exhibitions. The research during the realization of exhibitions concerned the author’s own projects with her team, created in the Architecture Studio Cechownia for the Silesian Museum in 2017-2023. The research was divided into three stages: the pre-design phase, the design phase and the postdesign phase.

Phase one involved developing the exhibition objectives together with the curatorial team, defining design problems in the presentation of the exhibition idea, and collecting material for the exhibition. This phase was also an analysis of the possibilities of the exhibition space in terms of the spatial concept of the exhibitions. In this process, the research carried out by the architects on the subject of a particular exhibition was extremely important. Without a deep understanding of the work, artist or issue, designers are unable to effectively present the subject to the audience. In this context, available literature sources were used, numerous interviews were conducted with artists, and tools that can be used to create an exhibition were verified. In addition to the development of the visual narrative and the content of the message, the technical aspects of the implementation of the exhibition were also covered at this stage. The work in the pre-design phase used techniques typical of the conceptual phase of a project: 3D design, brainstorming, modeling. These were mainly techniques for positioning ideas and solutions within the expert team and generating further questions. Their results were juxtaposed with the assumptions made in the preliminary exhibition scenario. The result of the pre-design phase for each exhibition was the accumulation of specialized and unique knowledge regarding possible solutions in each category, and as a result, the development of the exhibition scenario.

In the second phase, the most interactive and immersive phase, the designer was a researcher in the design process, concerning a specialized design task. According to theory, design is a significant method of generating practical-productive knowledge and solutions, but it can also identify potential areas for development [25, 27, 22]. In this process, critical evaluation, verification of solutions was an iterative process, subject to continuous evaluation against the assumptions and spatial possibilities. The design phase was a stage of exploratory work, combining analysis of the collected initial material, its synthesis and evaluation in an iterative process. In all the cases discussed, this was the most intensive phase of the work. This phase of the process used techniques such as brainstorming, sketching, digital modeling, detailed drawings, and updating the documentation on the basis of facts. This process was demonstrated using examples of exhibitions held at the Silesian Museum. In addition, the designer coordinated the work of the multispecialist team by organizing the knowledge obtained at each stage, which guarantees the successful realization of the exhibition.

The post-project phase was already a stage of synthesis of accumulated knowledge and experience. In some examples of exhibitions prepared by Author, it was also included an element of deeper contact with the audience in the framework of events accompanying the exhibition for debate related to its theme (e.g., workshops, curatorial tours). An element of evaluating the analyzed exhibitions in terms of their adaptation to audience perception was the use of categories and subcategories developed by Roggem et al. [28].They were divided into three main categories of audience perceptions of the exhibition space: user experience, display interactivity and information accessibility as the basic concepts used in the implementation of interactive exhibitions (see Table 1). Each category has its expansion in the form of subcategories relating to specific factors with different weights. Among the categories of user experience, user experience, i.e. the availability of the museum’s infrastructure and environment, and audiovisual experience, have the highest weight. It should also be noted that the coordination of many elements such as spatial layout, display and fluctuation is an accessibility element linked to the multi-sensory elements of the project (visual, auditory and olfactory experiences). The evaluation of the emotional experience category was the result of linking the nature of exposure to the emotional layer of the message. Within the group of information accessibility categories, multimedia applications carried the most weight. In terms of information accessibility, the most significant was the provision of a mobile app, which were not applicable to the exhibitions in question.

The Silesian Museum is an institution with a rich and long-standing record of exhibitions. In addition to permanent exhibitions on the heritage of the Upper Silesian region, its multiculturalism, the Museum organizes temporary exhibitions devoted to dialogue with the past and current social issues. The 4 temporary exhibitions presented here are the result of the author’s direct cooperation with the Silesian Museum, while the W4 exhibition is the result of cooperation with the musk kolektyw studio.

• W1 exhibit entitled. “Everything is achieved through hope. The Cultural Heritage of the Reformation in Silesia” (2018) under the curatorial supervision of under the supervision of the curatorial team of the Silesian Museum; the main content of the exhibition was the 500-year tradition of the Reformation Church in the region, in the socio-cultural context and on the historical background of the development of the Reformation.

• W2 exhibition entitled. “Prohibitions, Exclusions, Superstitions. A Photographic Tale of Women in Industry” (2019) prepared by Mariusz Gąsior, head of the Silesian Museum’s Photography Department; the main theme of the exhibition was a kind of confrontation of the role of women in society in the face of worldview changes and the hitherto patriarchal model of the Silesian family.

• W3 exhibit titled “Close but from a Far World. The History of Mammal Domestication,” (2019), Dr. Renata Abłamowicz; the theme of the exhibition was the little-known history of mammal domestication around the world with a presentation of animal skeletal elements and a presentation of the work of archaeozoologists.

• W4 exhibition titled. “Głusza” (2022), curators: Dagmara Stanosz, Dr. Michal Burdzinski, Michal Justycki, Agnieszka Kolodziejczak; the exhibition talks about the relationship between language and the perception of our reality by bringing the little-known g/deaf culture closer through the works of deaf artists, but also through multi-sensory installations.

  This first exhibition in Europe dedicated to deaf individuals was a significant challenge for the designers. It required thoughtful consideration of the tools and methods that could be used to reach deaf and mute users in order to convey their values and emotions, without causing offense in any way. For the designers, this experience provided a rare opportunity to step into the world of people with special needs — a truly invaluable experience.

• W5 exhibition entitled. “Chopin to Duda-Gracz” (2023), under the curatorial care of the painter’s daughter Agata Duda-Gracz; the theme of the exhibition was the passing of ideas, history, traditions and eras, and the commonality of experience between the two artists. Chopin’s music was an important part of the exhibition’s message.

Figure 1.

Exhibition “Everything is Achieved through Hope. The cultural heritage of the Reformation in Silesia”. Source: Silesian Museum

Figure 2.

The exhibition “Prohibitions, Exclusions, Superstitions. A photographic story about women in industry”. Source: Silesian Museum

Figure 3.

Exhibition “Close but from a Far World. History of the domestication of mammals”, source: archives of Cechownia Studio

All exhibitions were temporary expositions. A major challenge in creating object-based exhibitions was to integrate the concept of the exhibition space with the museum space, which remains discreetly in the background, giving priority to the artworks on display. In the examples shown, the arrangements are only a background for the artworks or other exhibits on display, and the graphic visual key introduced serves only informative purposes and is subtle in its expression. In addition, some projects required a special approach in preparing the displays, which further affected the exhibition preparation process.

Figure 4.

“Głusza” exhibition, Photo: Sonia Szeląg, Silesian Museum archives

Figure 5.

“Chopin to Duda-Gracz” Exhibition, source: Silesian Museum

A great added value of the exhibition was that it was also open to animals. This contributed to the exhibition being warmly received and gave it a somewhat less formal character. It could be said that this factor made the exhibition more accessible.

The topic of exhibition design has been addressed in the context of both the course of the design process and the creation of an engaging dialogue with the audience. The educational message of exhibitions is currently the result of a multi-phase design process, utilizing a wide range of methods for gathering knowledge and building interactive communication with the audience [38]. Importantly, a comprehensive approach to exhibition design is a process that engages the audience also at the post-design research stage, allowing for the collection of knowledge about visitor experiences. Previous studies on this stage have employed methods such as: observation of behaviors [5, 13, 23, 14], games [14], semi-structured post-experienced interviews [2, 23], IT tools as system logs [23]. Moreover, in this process, an engaging approach that reaches into the world of play, emotional storytelling, games, and digital technologies is increasingly being used [13, 14]. However, in the analyzed projects, means serving multisensory play with the audience were primarily used (utilizing visual, tactile, auditory, and olfactory experiences): the geometry of the exhibition layout in exhibitions W1 and W2, tactile and visual experiences in exhibition W4, music in exhibition W5. They also simulated multi-perspective experiences of the exhibition content, thereby provoking the audience experimentation. The aim of these actions and design solutions was primarily to build an emotional connection with the audience. This is related to the subject matter of certain exhibitions, particularly those conveying content with a strong emotional charge (as in the case of exhibition W2). This particularly concerns the W4 exhibition, which, due to the socially significant content it addressed, was a response to the question of what importance the linguistic and cultural representations of d/Deaf users of sign languages have in exhibition spaces [29]. The analyzed exhibition implementation processes clearly indicate the coordinating role of the exhibition designer in synthesizing the specialized knowledge of the project team and in the application of design tools and methods [22].

According to the research by Qi et al., interactivity, especially the presentation of exhibits, is the most significant factor influencing the assimilation of exhibition content by the audience [2]. The zoological theme of exhibitions is a particularly strong example of this; their preparation could be closely connected with gamification and techniques of stealth learning [13]. The knowledge gathered and presented within exhibition W3 required direct contact with the exhibits, which determined the methods of presentation (e.g., display cases, multimedia presentations). In the evaluation of the analyzed exhibitions, example W4 clearly indicates the most developed layer of interactive communication, including multisensory experiences in the design of cultural exchange zones. This was due, among other things, to an extensive pre-project phase, in which the collection of new knowledge about the Deaf community was crucial.The evaluation presented in Table 1 confirms the leading importance of solutions affecting user experiences in all examples, built on knowledge resulting from an in-depth research process in the pre-project phase and through a very individualized approach. It should be unequivocally emphasized that the designer is the main coordinator of all activities and integrates the work of a team of specialists and experts.

Selected literature sources include a summary of experiences from interdisciplinary and collaborative practice-based research projects, including conclusions regarding creative techniques and events used for exhibition evaluation [36].

The following diagram is a synthesis of all phases of the exhibition design process, highlighting its iterative nature as well as the main methods and scope of responsibility of its participants. It also assumes an active post-project phase, which in practice is not always utilized due to time and organizational constraints. It is worth noting that the post-project phase requires the use of effective evaluation tools or developed mechanisms for gathering knowledge about the experiences of recipients, as the time limits for the implementation of exhibitions are very tight.

Figure 10.

Synthesis of the research process in exhibition design (Authors, 2025)

The analysis of the exhibition space design process indicates the degree of complexity of the design process. Traditional exhibitions are giving way to modern, interactive forms of display that engage visitors. Contemporary museum exhibitions focus on innovative solutions, such as virtual reality visualizations, interactive audio-visual installations, and mobile applications. The transition from static to interactive digital exhibitions is a sign of the evolution of museum culture, where the past meets modernity, and traditional stories come to life in the world of new technologies.

Undoubtedly, this is a process characterized by the designer’s individual approach, marked by their sensitivity and knowledge. The most significant stage is the pre-design phase, the results of which, gathered in the form of a script, accumulate specialized knowledge regarding both the exhibition’s theme and the methods and tools used to create an engaging message. It is also worth mentioning the methods of working in an interdisciplinary team and the related competencies of the designer. In the analysis of the perception of the exhibition space by the audience, three groups of criteria were also used: interactivity, user experience, and access to information.

The development of research in this area should be focused on a broader range of socio-cultural factors that promote development and innovation in the design of exhibition spaces in museums. Moreover, the development of effective methods for evaluating the quality of exhibition communication can contribute to more efficient knowledge gathering on effective audience engagement methods.