Tablet publishing

4 December 2014 Stockholm Malcolm Sutherland

Stockholm 4 Dec
Staffan Ekholm, Executive Vice President, MagPlus, kindly introduces me (my Swedish non-existent) Im thinking What a big screen!

What is the V&A?

!! Tagline: The world s No 1 museum of art and design !! Mission Statement: Our Knowledge inspires Your Creativity !! Values: scholarship, creativity, coherence

!! The V&A is a Museum of things, sublime, beautiful occasionally vile things

a well-known London critic in 2013

!! Less about keynote objects (like the British Museums Rosetta Stone or Elgin Marbles)

What is the V&A?

!! An experiential museum !! Extravagant design !! 11 diverse collections

Timber Wave, Amanda Levete, October 2011

My V&A is different to yours

!! because we have different interests

Some Facts

!! 3 millions visitors a year !! 60,000 objects on show !! Over 1 million objects

The National Art Library

!! Over 963,000 books

The Theatre and Performance Collection

!! 101,000 books and periodicals

Warhorse arrives A visitors interpretation of the Lion King exhibit8

Background: 2010
2010

!! !"#$%#&&!'()% !! *+(%,-)(-,%.#)%/0(&!12%)(($%3-1$!12%3/&%!11/'#4'(%5&/6(78)% % !! *+(#8&(%9%"(&3/&,#17(%:/;;(74/1%#7<-!&($%#%'#)8%5+/8/2&#5+!7%#&7+!'(%.!8+% 7/5=&!2+8>%8+(%?/-2;#)%@(0&(=%:/;;(74/1% !! "&/5/)#;%,#$(%8/%4(%8/%(A5;/&#4/1%/3%;#&2(%)7&((1%8#B;(8%5-B;!)+!12%8/%;#&2(%)7#;(% $!2!4C#4/1%/3%5+/8/2&#5+!7%1(2#4'()% !! :&(#8(%#%5&/$-78%3/&%!"#$%8/%(A8(1$%8+(%&(#7+%/3%8+(%*+(#8&(%9%"(&3/&,#17(%:/;;(74/1%

Outline Specification (Aug 2010)

10

Functional Specification
! Key content, feature and functional requirements outlined in a functional specification document (for a prototype) ! Visual appeal and authority (100 Plays) ! Text, images, video, audio ! Ability to browse external weblinks ! Extendable over time ! Search and database driven options desirable ! Project plan put together ! A visual (non-functional) prototype was developed for sign-off ! Museum agrees to project

11

Wish list
! Popular Science (Bonnier (proprietary platform)

! Wired (Adobe Digital Publishing Platform)

12

We liked
! Popular Science innovation ! On/off top layer ! Not just a magazine

! Wired usability ! Multiple navigation routes

13

Production issues: publishing platform

! Bespoke publishing solution v off the shelf ! Bespoke builds begin at 40,000 (and offers poor ROI) ! Maintenance costs have be factored in ! Able to match to all project requirements ! Off the shelf publishing solutions = 2-4,000 ! Maintenance costs shared with other publishers using that solution ! Flexible environment where we jointly share learning with the developer (Mag+)

14

Year deal with Mag+

! We looked at: ! Adobe Digital Publishing Suite ! PressRun ! Mag+ ! Bespoke ! Key point, Bonnier product becomes available as Mag+ 2.0 (June 2011) ! Positives ! Visual style (V&A is the leading Museum of Art & Design) ! Cost of platform ! Approachable sales/support team ! No fee per download (unlike Adobe) ! Negatives ! No search ! Opaque navigation (visual depth indicators of page)

15

So

we put all our wishes into the 2010 visualisation

16

Dec 2012
2010 Final

17

Better navigation with Mag+ 3.0

With tablet platforms dreams do come true, in the time it took to generate content for the product

18

The V&A February 2012

! Experiment ! Free day by day guide to the museum, ! first in sector & produced in-house ! No 5 in free Lifestyle iPad charts ! Refreshed/expanded/newsstand ! Retina option ! 4-6,000 downloads per month

19

The V&A 2013

! A growing audience ! A key object each month ! Expanded news section ! More focus on commercial

20

Digital only products, showcased

! The Maps

21

New product, new audiences

22

Mag+ allowed us to produce multiple Products

! DA8(1$!12%8+(%'#;-(%/3%/-&% !1'()8,(18%8/%7&(#8(%1(.% 5&/$-78)E%*+(%F9G%:#;(1$#&% ! HII%5;#=)%B//J%3&/,% K(8+-(1%?&#,#%

23

Lessons - be prepared for feedback

24

User Testing is vital

L)(&%*()412%!)%'!8#;%!1%5&/$-78%$('(;/5,(18% % ! M%2&/-5)>%(A5(&8)>%!18(&,($!#8()>% 1/'!7()% ! ?()!21%)!,5;!N($% % ! O-P/1)%8/%6-,5%#&/-1$%#%5#2(%% 7/13-)($%-)(&)>%)/%&(,/'($% % % %

25

Quality content takes time and resources

Timeline and resource estimates ! Timeline dictated by research, text generation, image processing all of which were unknown quantities at the start ! 2nd draft proof completed, March 2012 (4 months beyond estimate)

Optimistic

26

Quality content takes time and resources (2)

! ! ! ! ! !

Tendency to underestimate time to produce large-scale quality projects

Time to source, acquire and process images and edit text defined the build time, not technology Images had to be processed whilst plays were still being selected 1000+ images scanned by Photo Studio in Blythe House 600+ images retouched and quality tested Gap between digitization, ingestion, retouching and the final availability of images

27

Achievements The V&A

! Free monthly app The V&A is first to market in sector ! Growing monthly narrative for a new tablet audience ! Development of in-house understanding and skills ! Content can be reused

28

Achievements Modern Theatre in 100 Plays

! Archive content now accessible beyond Blythe House ! The app is now freely accessible in T&P Galleries - enhances in-gallery experience ! New standard set the app itself has raised the bar on how a collection can be displayed in the digital space ! Content can be reused ! Theatre book generated in conjunction with Methuen (worlds largest drama publisher)

29

Questions

30