Understanding Visitors’ Learning Experience through Exhibition Design at the Universiti Malaya Art Gallery through Multifaceted Approach

Background: Exhibition design is tied closely with the function and the appearance of every facet of the museum system. It embraces all tangible evidence of the museum activities and at the same time supports the meaning of the exhibition and becomes an essential feature for visitors’ learning experience. Purpose: Driven by the question of how we can create an exhibition that suits visitors’ learning experience, the making of exhibition prototypes was conducted. Methodology/Approach: Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to identify visitors’ learning experiences through the exhibition design created and to discover creative solutions to complex exhibition problems through an interdisciplinary approach. Finding/Conclusions: It was found that each museum visitors have a certain standard and need in viewing the exhibitions. The process behind design thinking provides several advantages and benefits in this research. It assists in the creation of the prototype while mise-en-scene works as an instrument in designing the exhibit. The outcome of this research will assist art galleries and museums to understand better the learning experience from the visitor’s perspective and on top of all enable gallery management to provide better exhibition design with better learning outcomes for visitors. Implications: The ‘new practice’ will be a huge contribution to future development and highlight the importance of exhibition design in improving visitors’ learning experience process with the intent that it can lead to a better understanding not only from the visitors’ perspective but also from the gallery.