An android application proposal for regulating visitor circulation in exhibitions

Exhibition design is a problem-solving process with multiple unknowns that requires multiple variables to be interpreted together. It is possible to improve visitor satisfaction by understanding visitor behavior and by using this knowledge to steer the exhibition design process. In this study an application for mobile devices was developed on the Google Android Platform for aiding decision making throughout exhibition design processes. This application encompasses 20 criteria developed through an extensive literature survey and 33 images developed as visual feedback for the criteria content. The user can access the images at any point during the design process and solve any problems or deficiencies the exhibition design might face. These 20 criteria cover the following 7 overarching categories (1) understanding the target audience of the exhibition; (2) planning the exhibition area; (3) relationships between exhibit elements; (4) planning the visitor circulation; (5) continuity of visitor circulation; (6) time and attention limitations of visitors; (7) exit and backtracking behavior. In order to evaluate the android application developed for this thesis an experiment involving 48 students from various design disciplines was conducted. The sample was divided into treatment and control groups, and each participant was asked to design a given exhibition space. The treatment group utilized the android application and the control group only benefited from the written criteria. The findings indicate that the android application developed in this thesis to be beneficial in numerous ways throughout the exhibition design process. Keywords: Google Android, Exhibition Design, Mobile Applications, Visitor Behavior.