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The Project Odyssey: A Comment on Contemprorary Museum Experience in Turkey

Copyright © 2019 by Camus Group; Murathan Biliktü, İhsan Oruç

Printed on May 2019

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Printed in the Republic of Turkey

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The Project Odyssey

A Comment on Contemprorary Museum Experience in Turkey

By
Murathan Biliktü & İhsan Oruç
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Project Odyssey
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Table of Content
Introduction 8

Comparative Research 12

Target Audience 16

Design Methodology 19

Findings & Discussions 35

Branding 48

Posters 50

User Interface 72

Concluson 82

References 83
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Introduction
Theme: ​Project Odyssey, aims to develop an application that primarily
focuses on providing guidance to users, researchers and visitors throughout
their visit to museums and historical places under the Ministry of Culture.
Application will include the works that are categorized according to their
subjects and contents, thus provide a guidance to the user.
Initially, it is expected to build a prototype according to the list acquired
from the Ministry of Culture1 which consist of the top ten most visited
museums and archeological sites in Turkey.
Introduction 9

Problem:​ During visits, it is found that the museum (visitor)

experience is profoundly lacking and inefficient in national mu-
seums which form the content of the project and which are the
main subject of the project. According to the research, museum
experience includes topics as; personal context, social context and
physical context.2 These contexts that make up museum expe-
rience have been scattered and inadequate in the digital environ-
ment. and with the advancing technology the need to migrate the
experience to an interactive medium occured.

According to Introduction to Museum Work by G. Ellis Burcaw: “

Visitors who are principally seeking recreational still demand in-
terpretation; they want informed people to explain things. Many
visitors to museums with quite adequate labels still prefer guided
tours. They prefer being told to discovering on their own. I re-
member working in museum once when a man who was looking
at one of our well interpreted exhibits nearby asked me what it
was about. I walked up to him and pointed at the main labels in
the case and read them to him and explained the exhibit. He was
very appreciative...”

The story which is mentioned above supports the problem that

the project find out about.

Objectives: ​ Project Odyssey aims to carry the museums, specifi-

cally three museums and one archaeological site which are chosen
to be in the initial prototype, and their contents (visual and work
information), map contents (city and museum interiors), audio
guide, Müzekart and electronic ticket services through a mobile
and a web platform for the benefit of researchers and visitors.

The main objective of the application is that the museum expe-

rience should be prosperously effective as the user uses it while
visiting museums and if the museum lacks these qualities the app-
lication will effortlessly support the experience as it is an interac-
tive platform it self.
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Benefits for the Visitor and the Museum

Visitor
1. Visitors can purchase Müzekart and tickets by using mobile appli-
cation, this way entrance to the museum would be seamless.

2. Visitors and researchers could scan across specific topics, periods

and artworks and create a personally curated collections.

3. Application can help the visitors navigate around the museum or

archeological sites in the time frame that they selected.

4. User could use the plan of museums and could find the works that
they desire to see by using the application.

5. Instead of buying an audio guide at the entrance of museums, user

could use their own smartphones or tablets as an audio guide by
purchasing audio guide on the application.
Benefits for the Visitor and the Museum 11

Museum
1. This project integrates Müzekart and ticket sales into the appli-
cation, this will reduce printing costs and ensures the simultaneous
collection of statistical data, thereby aiming to gather more healthy
data.

2. Project aims to create a unified institutional and methodical lan-

guage for the museums under the Ministry of Culture and gather
them on a single unified platform.

3. The gathering of museums on a single platform will encourage the

downloading of the application and thus facilitating the introducti-
on of museums.
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What are the examples that exist?

Comparative
Research
Various applications that are designed to promote and en-
courage users to visit museums and galleries are available in
Turkey and worldwide application markets. Some of these
applications are listed below with details, and the following
examples are compared with Project Odyssey.

New York Metropolitan Museum

(USA - iOS/Android - Daniel Juarez Garcia)

Home Page: There are texts and some visuals

that introduce the city and the museum.

○ Collections Page: It displays the works in the

museum according to their subjects and reads
these texts through artificial speech synthesis.

○ List of Works: Lists the important contents in

the museum as text.

○ Tour Link: Redirects to TripAdvisor New York

tours page and purchasing is
available on that page.

○ Maps Page: Shows museum sketches and floor

plans as visual files and
provides download of city maps.
Comparative Research 13

Müze Asist
(Turkey - iOS/Android- Kodar Bilişim)

Museums Page: Shows some public and some

private museums in Turkey under the Ministry
of Culture. Gives information about museums.

○ Map Page: Shows the locations of museums

on the map.

○ Events page: Shows events with dates.

○ Likes page: Allows the user to list the mu-

seums that they like.

Museum Guides
( Europe - iOS/Android Museum Guides Ltd.)
4 Paris Museums Bundle(Louvre, d’Orsay, Orangerie & The Water
Lilies, Rodin Museum), London Museums Bundle(British Museum,
National Gallery, Natural History), Berlin Museums Bundle(Per-
gamon, Alte National Gallery, Neues) 5, The applications offered
separately. However, they all have the following contents.

About Page: Provides information about the museum

and its history. Gives information on how to get to
the museum.

○ Explore Page: Shows floor plans.

○ Objects Page: Displays works with only images

without names. When clicking
on the images, the title and information are given.

○ The topics are displayed on the Home Page and

their images are displayed in
the same way as on the objects page.

○ The application is downloaded free of charge, but

purchase is required to gain
access to all works and start the tour.
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Saatchi Art
(UK- iOS - Saatchi Art)

○ Collections page: Shows permanent and

temporary exhibitions in the gallery and
their information and texts.

○ It also has sale of works within the app-

lication.

○ The “See in room” button shows the

work in AR.

○ Exploration Page: Works can be sear-

ched with the search button or selected
from the topics on the page.

Arts & Culture

( Global - iOS/Android - Google)

Homepage: Shows the featured collections.

○ Explore page: There are categories and

these categories are listed as; artists, art
movements, historical events and venues.In
the Collections tab, the world’s most visited
museums (British Museum, Louvre, MET
etc.) are shown with their collections.

○ Nearby page: Shows the nearest museums

to the user’s location.

○ Profile page: Shows works that are favori-

ted by the user. Lists artists and
galleries and allows sharing on social media.
Comparative Research 15

Basilica Cistern, Panorama 1453,

Fetih Museum
(Turkey - iOS - İpek Bilgisayar)

Home: Keypad, QR Code, About Page,

Works Page, Help Page

Keypad: You can access the voice guide

by entering the numeric code of the work
using the keypad.

○ About: Provides information about the

history of the museum, visiting hours and
charges.

○ Artifacts Page: Images and information

about some of the works are shown.
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Who are we talking to?

Target
Audience
According to Neil & Philip Kotler’s Museum Strategy and
Marketing: “Museum audiences are varied. They include
people who just wander in and people whose visits are
planned in advance.” Anyone who visits museums and
can reach the internet on mobile is the target audience
of the project. However, the experts who wrote about the
personalization of the exhibitions in the museums (David
Dean, John H. Falk) have classified the visitors according
to the classification systems they have created and the
most suitable profiles for the target group of the project
are mentioned below:

- John H. Falk has divided the visitors into five and

Explorers, Experience Seekers and Professionals from
these five are the profiles that fit the target audience of
the project.

John H. Falk’s Division

- Explorers:​ Curiously focused visitors have a general interest in the content
of the museum. They expect to find content that will draw their attention and
feed their learning.

- Professionals:​ Visits typically have the desire to fulfill a specific purpose for
the content.

- Experience Seekers: ​They perceive the museum as an important place, their

satisfaction is related to their desire to be there first, and to achieve the purpo-
se of being present where they think they should go.
Target Audience 17

David Dean’s Division

- Cursory Visitors:​They are interested in museum experience
and collections.

- Visitors for study: ​Visitors who carefully and carefully exami-

ne the contents of the museum visits.

Our Takeaway
Researchers (Professionals and Visitors for study purposes): Maintaining the
statistical data kept simultaneously is one of the most important elements that
will help the researchers. On the other hand, the high resolution of the visuals of
the museums in the application and the access to the texts from the application is
another important element.

Curious (Cursory Visitors, Experience Seekers and Explorers): This is a visitor

profile that visits museums according to their interests. This application aims to
reach the profile mentioned with guidance, map and content service.
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Expected Result
As a result of the completion of the literature survey and prototype in line with
the objectives of the project, the expected outcome of the project is as follows:

1. Completion of Visual Design Applications in accordance with methodology.

2. Collection of archives for the project
3. Performing User Survey
4. Reporting the Project
5. Completion of the prototype

The elements that must be included in the application are as follows:

1. Guidance and rotation page
2. Screening and display of works
3. Map and sketch
4. Create and share collections

Contributions to the Field of Project

The contributions of the project to museums and visitors and visual communi-
cation design were examined as;

Museums and Visitors: ​The three main topics of the interactive experience mo-
del; personal, social and physical, which are lacking in the museum experience
are contributed to museums by the project, by using a mobile platform.

Visual Communication Design: ​The contribution of the project to the visual

communication design works is the design language we call the Odyssey De-
sign System. This language has been created using the Google material design
system as stated in the report. This system has provided a modular, sustainable
design language.
Methodology 19

How do we do it?

Design
Methodology
Medium: Mobile application and web platform
According to a survey made by the We Are Social agency says the num-
ber of access to the Internet in Turkey is 54.3 million. The number of
users who have access to the internet as mobile is 51.5 million.

The number of museum visitors received from the Ministry of Cultu-

re data is 28.169.615 in 2018. With reference to this information, it is
seen that the easiest way to reach the user’s mass is the mobile and web
platform. These are the most suitable environments for the scope of the
project.

Method: This project is planned to complete the design and prototype phase
within 3 months and prepare for the software stage. These stages are prepared
according to Design Sprint and Design Thinking principles used by many large
companies.

These stages are divided into five:

1. Understanding Phase: Identifying the users and finding their needs, Basics of
sub- text, Competitor comparison, Strategy development.

2. Deviation Stage: The foundations of the design process through the strategy.

3. Decision Phase: Using and reporting the best solutions.

4. Prototype Phase: The application is presented to the users as prototypes, and

upon which a dynamic process and optimal design decisions are made.

5. Verification Phase: Preparing the finalized design ideas to the software stage
and ending the reporting.
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Expected Result
To expand upon deviation stage, a design sprint has been conducted. Sprint tasks are
listed below;

Deadlines:
● First Sprint: 13-14-15 March
● Second Sprint: 19-20-21-22 March
● Third Sprint: 25 March - 10 April
● Evaluation phase: End of April to May 2nd

First Sprint:
● Outline the project’s essential deliverables
● Diminish the vagueness by focusing on the essential elements
● Understand the user by emphatical approaches and exercises
● Plan out the sketches and continue to apply the iterative emphatical approaches
● Create a wireframe

Second Sprint:
● To test out the initial wireframe write a simple story
● Create a storyboard for the wireframe
● Iterate these processes to find out new possibilities to the solution that we are
offering.
● Visit a museum to conduct a research which will allow us to clear out the obstacles
on our path

Third Sprint:
● Conduct interviews with possible personas from the target audiences specified on the
proposal paper.
● Discover the new possibilities or confirm the available design choices.
● If everything goes right complete the sprint and move to the design building phase, if
not repeat the crucial steps of the sprint.

Techniques
● How Might We: How: assumes opportunities exist. Might: says we don’t have to find
something. We: is all about doing this together
Expected Result 21

Considerations and Opportunities

- Is the solution likely to be web-based? mobile? embedded?
- Where will data and information come from?
- Will user data be used for personalization?
- How will privacy be addressed?
- How will accessibility be addressed?
- What devices are likely to be used for the solution?
- What product areas are involved and need to be coordinated?

Technique: It is inevitable to create a common design language and design

identity as the museums are gathered on a single platform. It will be crea-
ted by the principles of Google’s material design language which is univer-
sal and already used by billions of people in the creation of this language.
Project Odyssey
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Part One
Introduction
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Flowchart 23
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About The Material Design

Material Design is a visual language that synthesizes the classic principles of good
design with the innovation of technology and science. Material is a metaphor, Material
Design is inspired by the physical world and its textures, including how they reflect
light and cast shadows. Material surfaces reimagine the mediums of paper and ink.

Project Odyssey’s Design Language

Odyssey is inspired by the journey that the visitors of museums will take with the
Müzeler app. Typography, iconography, elements and the color palette is specialized for
the Odyssey design system; which is based on Material design system. The journey-fo-
cused design system allows us to create a flow that presents museum contents with the
precise details the user needs.

Architecture of the System

Müzeler’s information architecture is organized into the chunks that seperate diverse
contents and leads user as they use the application. Everything is systematic and con-
sists of simple atoms that can be used with every other element.
Components have various shapes and sizes but they all have a grid structure that makes
them control-able in a unified design language.
Design Methodology 25

Elevation: To indicate elevation Odyssey Design System uses shadows. Shadows are
available if there is a need to differentiate an important element from the rest of the
elements. For example you can see elevations on alerts and important elements such as
a “most popular tour package” to draw attention.

Iconography: We takes the approach of using recognizable, functional icons that don’t
have customized, distinguishing characteristics or ornament. By not giving their icons
branding or distinct style, they can be paired with any content of any tone and not
conflict with that content’s style.

Color Palette: Colors are a crucial part of the system. The Primary color is a tone of
white and it has been inspired by the materials of the ancient statues.

The now colorless statues are supporting the idea of perfection and reminds us a saying
by Dieter Rams “ Less is more”.

Secondary color is especially selected for its similarity of the Turkish flag color. Also it
automatically pops out and indicates the important actions that users should interact
with.
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Typography: A modern and geometrical sans serif font had to be selected in order to
make the content more readable and, aesthetically undisturbing and pleasing.

Home Page: Home page contains relevant informations that the user might need and
some featured contents that the museums want to promote.

Branding: ‘Müzeler’ logotype at the top left is concidered as the starting point for the
eye tracking movement. Müzeler uses a standard navigation bar to navigate through
the whole app.

Featured Brief Section: With the feautured brief section users can explore more about
the cities they are interested or have a plan based on that city. This section also allows
users to interact with the cities in a much more familiar way.

Home page also has specially selected events and collection recommendations based
on the users’ usage of the app.
Design Methodology 27

The personalisation the most important aspect of the application. ‘Based on topics you’ve engaged.

Explore an Artifact: This section is thought to bring more interest to the selected artifact by the
curators of Müzeler app. By using this section users can interact with an artifact more, because
of the video explanation that it has. Based on Your Plans: Based on your plans is a simple caution
alert for the user’s upcoming travel plans. It shows the weather and and some other details for
the cities that are in those plans.
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Typography: A modern and geometrical sans serif font had to be selected in order to
make the content more readable and, aesthetically undisturbing and pleasing.

Home Page: Home page contains relevant informations that the user might need and
some featured contents that the museums want to promote.

Branding: ‘Müzeler’ logotype at the top left is concidered as the starting point for the
eye tracking movement. Müzeler uses a standard navigation bar to navigate through
the whole app.

Featured Brief Section: With the feautured brief section users can explore more about
the cities they are interested or have a plan based on that city. This section also allows
users to interact with the cities in a much more familiar way.

Home page also has specially selected events and collection recommendations based
on the users’ usage of the app.

The generated travel plan is shown like this and it shows the date, map of the destinati-
ons and a list of the destinations that can be edited whenever user wants to edit.
Design Methodology 29

Müzekart Ads: Müzekart is a crucial part of the marketing strategy that Ministry of
Culture in Turkey and Müzeler app is well aware of that. When the users decide to
purchase the tour plan they will be presented with a simple advertisement for Mü-
zekart ,which occupies the %25 of the screen, is the direct focus. After purchasing
the plan the user can start their plan via the plan profile page designed to show the
essential informations for the tour.

Müzekart Ads: Müzekart is a crucial part of the marketing strategy that Ministry of
Culture in Turkey and Müzeler app is well aware of that. When the users decide to
purchase the tour plan they will be presented with a simple advertisement for Mü-
zekart ,which occupies the %25 of the screen, is the direct focus. After purchasing
the plan the user can start their plan via the plan profile page designed to show the
essential informations for the tour.
1: Remaining Time indicator. 2: Museum Slider

1: Remaining Time indicator. 2: Museum Slider

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Tour Page: Tour page is the main hub for the user. This page is designed to help user to
not lose their flow and not to drown in useless and unrelated information. Architecture
of this page is; name of the plan, a museum slider that indicates which museums they
are in and information about the other museums that they are going to visit.

A museum information card with a map and a brief information about the museum.
Museum’s collections and artifacts based on the user’s interests that they indicated at
the creation of the plan.

After Starting the tour if a user visits a page out of the tour plan page they will be pre-
sented with a timer that shows the remaining time until the next museum. This is de-
signed to remind the user that they have to be more careful with the time management.

Filtering the Content: With the usage of the filter button next to the search input box,
users can filter out the unwanted informations they might not need. This section con-
sists of “location, topic, collection, artifact, period, event” filtration selections.
Design Methodology 31

Audio Guide on Demand: If the user wants to listen an audio guide with an artifact
number they can use the red button that is floating on the bottom right corner of the
screen and open a drawer panel that allows them to type in any artifact number and
plays the audio guide.

Search Results: The results of the keyword searched are related topics, artifacts, events
and collections. These results may change according to the keyword’s character.(e.g. If
the keyword is a city it may not show artifacts but events that are upcoming instead.)

Profile Page: This page consists of user’s Müzekart, last tours, collections that they fol-
low and they created. Users can find personal options about their profiles here.
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Müzekart: Clicking on the Müzekart card will direct user to the Müzekart information
and upgrade options page.

Settings: Settings have to options; General Settings and history. History: It consists of
Previous plans visited places and previous events.

My Events and Collections: They show the events and collections that user is following
and the collections that user created.
Design Methodology 33

Müzekart: It is consists of the information of user’s Müzekart and has an upgrade but-
ton if the user wants to upgrade their Müzekart plan.

General Settings: Every setting option that user will need is here. Privacy is our main
concern since Müzeler app collects data to improve the analysis reports that the Mu-
seums will need, that is why there is a privacy settings option into the Müzeler app.

Other Profile Pages: Other Profile Pages such as Artifact, City, Museum, Topic and Col-
lection has a similar architecture. They are focused on the content and giving informa-
tion to the user.

Artifact Profile Page: It has a zoomable image at top. It has information about the artifa-
ct and a audio guide player specially for the artifact and an add to collection button.
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Museum Profile Page: It has an image of the museum at top and map for viewing the
location on Google Maps and an indoor sketch. Clock indicator beneath the title shows
the time of the opening of the Museum. This page also contains artifacts , collections
and events that are in that museum.

Collection Profile Page: It has a follow button on the top right. A brief information is
shown on a card. The creator name is shown benath it and all the artifacts are shown
with a slider design.
Findings and Discussions 35

What we found?

Findings &
Discussions
Museum Experience: “Museums offer experiences, ideas, and satisfactions not
found in other places. These derive from authentic objects of nature, history,
science, and the arts that museums collect and display; the sensory experien-
ces with three-dimensional objects that museums present and interpret; and
research, scholarship, and interpretation that support museum collections and
exhibitions.”

According to John H. Falk museum Experience is a learning experience. Falk

said “ We can view the museum experience as a timeline- a journey from first
thought of visiting a museum through an actually visit, and then beyond...” The
elements that creates museum experiences are; the personal context, the social
context and the physical context.

The Personal Context: “Such characteristics help to mold what an individual

enjoys, and appreciates.”

The Social Context: “Visits to museums occur within a social context. Most
people visit museums in a group, and those who visit alone in variable come
into contact with other visitors and museum staff. Every visitors’ perspective is
strongly influenced by social context.”

The Physical Context: “The museum is a physical setting that visitors, usual-
ly freely, choose to enter. The physical context includes the architectural and
“feel” of the building, as well as the objects and artifacts contained within.”

“The Interactive Experience Model can be visualised as a three-dimensional set

of three interactive spheres, each representing one of the three contexts. The
museum experience occurs within the physical context, a collection of structu-
res and things we call the museum. Within the museum is the visitor who per-
ceives the world through her own personal context. Sharing these experiences
are various other people each with their own personal context, which together
create a social context.”
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Museum Visitor Statistics

This project covers all the museums and ancient sites that depend on the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. However, the prototype surplus plan-
ned to be completed within three months is limited to three months. According to the
planned stages, four museums and a ruin are considered at the mentioned prototype
stage. These museums were selected from the list of the most visited museums and sites
mentioned on the website of the Ministry of Culture.

These four museums and ruins are listed below:

1. Topkapi Palace Museum:

- Number of Visitors: 3.004.620 (2018)
- Number of Artifacts: 79.017

2. Hagia Sophia Museum:

- Number of Visitors: 2.922.037(2018)
- Number of Artifacts: 3054

3. Istanbul Archaeological Museums:

- Number of Visitors: 378.675 (2018)
- Number of Artifacts: Old Oriental Artifacts Museum: 18398, Nails
Written Documents: 73272, Tiled Kiosk Museum: 1735

4. Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara:

- Number of Visitors: 269
- Number of Artifacts: 182.124

5. Denizli Pamukkale (Hierapolis) Ruins:

- Number of Visitors: 848,006
- Number of Artifacts: 5296 pieces Archeological Works, 18616 pieces
Coins. Surveying work: 320 pieces Archaeological, 405 coins

Thirty-six works for four museums and three 360-degree images for the ruins were
chosen. While selecting these works, lists of popular content sites were used, museums
that are listed were visited and the websites of these museums were used as a source.
The reason why these resources are used includes the websites that visitors use to plan
their trips.

These websites are: Tripadvisor.com, trips.google.com, lonelyplanet.com, culturetrip.

com, viator.com
Findings and Discussions 37

10 Most Visited Museums in 2018

1.Istanbul Topkapi Palace Museum - 3.004.620

2.Hagia Sophia Museum - 2.922.037

3.Konya Mevlana Museum - 2.817.386

4.Nevsehir Hacı Bektas Museum - 443.160

5.Istanbul Topkapi Palace Museum - Harem - 421.780

6.Istanbul Archaeological Museums - 378.675

7.Antalya Aziz Nikolaos Museum - 364.996

8.Ankara Republic Museum - 353.727

9.Gaziantep Zeugma Mosaic Museum - 268.374

10.Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara - 253.795

10 Most Visited Ancient Sites in 2017

1.Denizli Pamukkale (Hierapolis) Ruins - 1.494.893

2.Izmir Efes Ruins - 996.800

3.Nevsehir Göreme Ruins - 682.785

4.Aksaray Ihlara Vadisi Ruins - 386.590

5.Canakkale Troia Ruins - 329.258

6.Nevsehir Kaymaklı Underground City - 311.675

7.Nevsehir Derinkuyu Underground City - 292.465

8.Antalya Alanya Castle - 241.418

9.Antalya Aspendos Ruins - 229.354

10.Antalya Myra Ruins - 187.174

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Number of Visitors of Museums and

Historical Sites Between 2000-2018
2000: 6.887.344 2006: 16.086.050 2012: 28.781.308 2016: 17.521.316

2001: 7.590.138 2007:18.048.674 2013: 29.481.005 2017: 20.509.746

2002: 14.268.186 2008: 22.662.590 2014: 29.774.390 2018: 28.169.615

2003: 13.987.747 2009: 21.193.627 2015: 28.454.284

2004: 13.015.486 2010: 25.854.341

2005: 18.384.865 2011: 28.462.893

Müzekart Statistics: According to 2017 data31, the number Müzekart can be purchased
by citizens of the Republic of Turkey is 1,650,966.

When this information is taken into consideration, it is aimed to reduce the printing
costs of the cards by digitizing Muzekart.

Statistics of Similar Projects:

Google Arts&Culture: 5.000.000+

British Museum ( Museum Guides Ltd.): 50.000+

Natural History Museum ( Museum Guides Ltd.): 50.000+

Louvre Museum ( Museum Guides Ltd.): 10.000+

Orsay Museum ( Museum Guides Ltd.): 10.000+

National Gallery ( Museum Guides Ltd.): 5.000+

Orangerie ( Museum Guides Ltd.): 1.000+

Findings and Discussions 39

Rodin ( Museum Guides Ltd.): 1.000+

Pergamon ( Museum Guides Ltd.):1.000+

Alte National Gallery ( Museum Guides Ltd.): 1.000+

Neues ( Museum Guides Ltd.): 1.000+

Müze Asist: 1.000+

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Selected Artifacts

Topkapi Palace Museum

The Spoonmaker’s Diamond

The Spoonmaker’s Diamond is the largest and most famous of
the historical diamonds in the Imperial Treasury. This 86-ca-
rat, pear-shaped diamond is surrounded by 49 brilliant-cut dia-
monds. Several diamond experts have attempted to prove that
the Spoonmaker’s Diamond is the historical Pigot Diamond,
which was lost at the beginning of the 19th century; however, it
is known from a record in a daily accounts book (rûznâme) that
the diamond entered the Imperial Treasury by way of purchase
at the beginning of the 1680s.

Jade Fabergé Vessel

As a gift to sultan a jade Fabergé vessel with jeweled coat of
arms sent by the Russian Tsar Nicholas II

Oil Lamp
As a Caliph of Islam, it was the duty of the Ottoman sultans
to maintain and repair the Kaaba in Mecca, providing and
renovating chandeliers, censers, rosewater vessels, oil lamps,
supports and copies of the Qur’an.

Chest of Fatimah
Chest of Fatimah is among the most important holy relics to
be collected in the 16th century and the first half of the 20th
century.
Findings and Discussions 41

The Festivity Throne

The Festivity Throne (Bayram Tahtı) (made of walnut wood,
covered with panels of solid gold, and encrusted with chrysoli-
te) was used on occasions attended by the sultan. Among these
occassions, the most noteworthy are accession to the throne
and holiday festivities; this throne corresponds to the descrip-
tion of a golden throne found in records of the 16th century.

Footprint of Muhammad
The prohpet Muhammad left imprints of his bare feet on a
number of stones. Some of these footprints are preserved
in situ, where they were left by the prophet Muhammad, and
other footprints were moved and later preserved in mosques,
shrines, and tombs of prominent Muslim figures. Some of the-
se footprints were collected and are now housed in the Topka-
pi Palace Museum

Ottoman helmet
The weapons in the treasury consist of swords, daggers,
scimitars, yataghans, bows and quivers, thumb rings (zehgîr),
helmets, pistols, heavy rifles and maces

Vessel
It was the duty of the Ottoman sultans to maintain and repair
the Kaaba in Mecca, providing and renovating golden chande-
liers, censers, rosewater vessels, oil lamps, supports and copies
of the Qur’an.

Porcelain Gift
European porcelains sent to the sultan and to palace digni-
taries as gifts of state. These pieces are especially striking for
their fine craftsmanship.
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Hagia Sophia Museum

The Vestibule Mosaic

Located in the inner narthex, on the Southern vestibule door
is one of Hagia Sophia’s most prominent figured mosaics. This
mosaic was discovered during the repair process that Fossati
held in 1849. The base of the symmetrical mosaic panel is
composed of gold leafs, and features Virgin Mary on a backless
throne with the words METER and THEOU, an abbreviation
stating ‘God Bearer’, engraved on both sides. On Mary’s lap is
baby jesus.

Mosaic Tughra
On the wall to the right of the main entrance door of the outer
narthex is the Tughra of Sultan Abdülmecid. Tughra was built
by the Italian master N. Lanzoni from the golden gilded origi-
nal mosaics of Hagia Sophia during the repairs carried out by
the Fossati Brothers in Hagia Sophia in 1847-1849.

Caligraphic Roundels
The great rounded calligraphic panes on the walls of the main
place had been written by Kadıasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi who
was one of the famous calligraphers during the repairs between
1847 and 1849 of Sultan Abdülmecid period (1839-1861).

The Latin Cross

This Latin cross is located in the north window soffit of the
third bay from the south in the inner narthex and dates from
ca. 537. Its outline consists of two rows of dark red tesserae.
Findings and Discussions 43

Tomb of Enrico Dandolo

Enrico Dandolo, notorious also for his brutality during the
fourth Crusades was a Venetian Doge who took the full ad-
vantage of Alexios Angelos’ offer to help him overthrow his
uncle. After occupying Constantinople with a navy, Crusaders,
plundered the city during three days, under the leadership of
Enrico Dandolo

The Zoe Mosaic

Emperor IX. Konstantinos Monomakhos (1042-1055) and
Empress Zoe are placed in the mosaic board. The writing on
top of Emperor’s head says “Romans’ Religious Emperor, Ser-
vant of God’s Jesus Konstantinos Monomakhos”.

The Seraphim Mosaic

The pendentives feature four unidentical angel figures. It is
believed that these one headed six winged angels (seraphim)
protect the Lord’s Throne in Heaven.

Apse Mosaic
The Virgin and Child mosaic is located in the apse semi dome.
In the mosaic Mary is enthroned and she puts her right hand
on shoulder of the Child Christ who is seated in her lap. Her
left hand holds a handkerchief, which is on Christ’s knee. In the
mosaic, Christ has a fair complexion.

Deesis Mosaic
On the western wall of Northern gallery, there is the mosaic
board where the Deisis stage, considered as the start of re-
naissance in East Rome painting, is located. In the portrayol,
Ioannes Prodromos ( John the Baptist) on the right and Virgin
Mary on the left and in the middle Pantocrator Jesus Christ are
located
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Istanbul Archeological Museums

Alexander the Great’s Sarcophagus

The Alexander Sarcophagus is one of four massive carved
sarcophagi, forming two pairs, that were discovered during the
excavations conducted by Osman Hamdi Bey, an Ottoman of
Greek descent and Yervant Voskan

Sidamara Sarcophagus
The height of the marble sarcophagus is 313 cm, length is 381
cm and width is 200 cm. On the front of the sarcophagus is a
man sitting in the middle of a philosopher’s dress in the middle,
on the right is a young girl in an Artemis outfit, on the left is a
woman covered head of Demeter clothes.

The Treaty of Kadesh

It is the first treaty signed in the Near East. Although it is the
oldest international treaty ever recorded, the existence of
older treaties has been proven. The original copy of the treaty,
signed under the equal conditions copied to Egypt and Hittite,
was found in 1906.

Head of Poetess Sappho

Head of the Poetess Sappho, Marble, Smyrna (İzmir), Roman
Period (Copy of a type belonging to the Hellenistic Period)
The Head of Sappho, an example of the portraits from the
Roman Era, belongs to poet Sappho, born on the island of
Lesbos (Midilli).
Findings and Discussions 45

Code of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi was one of the only sets of laws in the
ancient Near East and also one of the first forms of law. The
code of laws was arranged in orderly groups, so that all who
read the laws would know what was required of them. Earlier
collections of laws include the Code of Ur-Nammu, king of Ur
(c. 2050 BC), the Laws of Eshnunna (c. 1930 BC) and the co-
dex of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (c. 1870 BC), while later ones include
the Hittite laws, the Assyrian laws, and Mosaic Law.

Relief of Ishtar Gate

The mušḫuššu; formerly also read as sirrušu, sirrush) is a crea-
ture from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. A mythological
hybrid, it is a scaly dragon with hind legs resembling the talons
of an eagle, feline fore legs, a long neck and tail, a horned head,
a snake-like tongue, and a crest.

The Statue of Marsyas

In Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas is a central figure in
two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the lyre and
played it in the other, he challenged Apollo and lost his life. In
antiquity, literary sources often emphasise the hubris of Mars-
yas and the justice of his punishment.

Bust of Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius; Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; 26
April 121 – 17 March 180), called the Philosopher, was a Roman
emperor from 161 to 180. He ruled the Roman Empire with
his adoptive brother Lucius Verus (who took Verus as a regnal
name) until Lucius’ death in 169.

Statue of the River God Okeanos

Oceanus, who was the son of Uranus and Gaia in Greek mytho-
logy, is conceived as a river flowing around the earth. He mar-
ried his sister Tethys who depicts the fertility of sea, and the
couple had many children.
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Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum

Vase of Inandik
It is the famous vase of the Hittite state in Hanhana (Inandık
Village near Çankırı) cult center. The picture depicts the mar-
riage ceremony of the holy gods. It reflects the Hittite culture
very well.

The Hittite Sun Disk

The disks can be divided into four distinct variations. These
are Semi-circular, Diamond shaped, Circular with bulls’ horn
and circular of semicircular with a complex design including
animals and horns. The last one of those types was replicated
in a monument.

The Hittite Sun Disk

It is the first treaty signed in the Near East. Although it is the
oldest international treaty ever recorded, the existence of
older treaties has been proven. The original copy of the treaty,
signed under the equal conditions copied to Egypt and Hittite,
was found in 1906.

Bronze Tablet
This document, written with the Hittite cuneiform found in
the Bogazköy excavations in 1986, is the only bronze tablet
found in Anatolia. King of Hittites IV. Between Tuthaliya and
the Kurunta King of Tarhuntas Country. This is the treaty text
made in 1235.
Findings and Discussions 47

Lactating Female Statuette

Made in casting technique. The woman who breastfeeds her
left breast with her right hand holds her child to the chest with
her left hand. Figures of this age of the mother goddess of the
schematic female figurines of precious metals and stones and
terracotta samples are available. Most of them were found in
graves.

Bull Shaped Pots

Bull-shaped vessels are one of the special ceremonial vessel
forms of Anatolia. The bulls are a pair, separated from each
other only in the direction of their tails. The filling hole and the
flowable nozzles on their backs indicate that they are presenta-
tion containers.

The Seated Woman

The Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük is a baked-clay, nude female
form, seated between feline-headed arm-rests. It is generally
thought to depict a corpulent and fertile Mother Goddess in
the process of giving birth while seated on her throne.

The Phrygian Cybele

Latin Cybele (Kybele), known as the Great Mother, is one of
the most interesting personalities in the religious life of the
Mediterranean world. The Mediterranean people continued
to worship the Mother Goddess from the early millennium BC
to the fall of the Roman Empire until the 5th century AD.

Leopard Reliefs
The leopards should have a special place or religious mea-
ning in the lives of the people of Çatalhöyük. These plastered
leopard reliefs adorned the walls of a Çatalhöyük house. The
plaster and paint layers above the leopard head suggest that
the reliefs were used in Çatalhöyük houses for many years.
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Who are we to Users?

Branding
Brand, is a Plutonic idea that revolves around the cus-
tomers’ minds that consists of the look and the feel of a
certain thing that we call “Brand”.

About the Logo

Colored Monochromatic

The logo has a double meaning. It has elements from both traditi-
onal and modern concepts. The Red and white color represents the
colors of the Turkish Flag.

Triangular elements that are placed in the center of the black bor-
der are making up a “M” letter and the secondary meaning of this is
a “tulip” which is one of the traditional symbols of Turkey.

Deuteranomaly Protanopia Tritanopia

Branding 49

Logo in App Store and as an Icon

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Posters
Posters 51
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User Interface
User Interface 73
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User Interface 77
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Home Page
User Interface 79

Guide Page
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Search Page
User Interface 81

Profile Page
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Conclusion
This application, which is mentioned in the scope of this report and which contains sele-
cted museums according to museum statistics taken from Ministry of Culture data, aims
to digitize Museum experience and to be a guidance application for its visitors.

In order to design a universal language in the process of the interface design of the app-
lication, the language of Google Material Design has been utilized and as a result “Odys-
sey Design System” which takes its name from the project has been formed by using this
system, according to the content.

As a result, the examples of the similar projects in the World and Turkey were compared.

In addition to the end of the prototype was shown to users who are the target audience
of the project. In general, the feedbacks were positive. The project is eliminates the lack
of the digital museum experience and guidances. This was the result of the Project Odys-
sey aimed to achieve.
References 83

References

- Müze İstatistikleri: http://www.kulturvarliklari.gov.tr/TR-43336/muze-ista-

tistikleri.html

​- The Museum Experience, John Howard Falk, Lynn Diane Dierking, 1994

- Visitors and Interpretation,Page: 152, Introduction to Museum Work by G.

Ellis Burcaw, 1997

- MET Museum:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/metropolitan-mu-
seum-of-art-nyc/id977211908

- British Museum Guide: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/british-mu-

seum-guide/id551275212?mt=8 6Müze Asist: https://itunes.apple.com/tr/
app/müze-asist/id959404171?l=tr&mt=8

- Saatchi Art: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/saatchi-art/

id940252790?mt=8

- Google Arts&Culture: https://itunes.apple.com/tr/app/google-arts-culture/

id1050970557?mt=8

- İpek bilgisayar Geliştirici Sayfası: https://itunes.apple.com/tr/developer/

ipekbilgisayar/id383560926?l=tr

- Understanding Museum Audiences, pg:100, Museum Strategy and Marke-

ting, Neil Kotler & Philip Kotler, 1998

- Statistic: https://digitalreport.wearesocial.com

- http://dosimm.gov.tr/assets/documents/2018.pdf

- Design Sprint:​https://www.gv.com/sprint/

- Design Thinking: https://www.ideou.com/pages/design-thinking

- Introduction - Material Design: https://material.io/design/introduction/#p-

rinciples
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- Introduction: The Interactive Experience Model, pg: 2, The Museum Ex-

perience By John Howard Falk, Lynn Diane Dierking

- Introduction: The Interactive Experience Model, pg: 3, The Museum Expe-

rience By John Howard Falk, Lynn Diane Dierking

- Introduction: The Interactive Experience Model, pg: 3, The Museum Expe-

rience By John Howard Falk, Lynn Diane Dierking

- Introduction: The Interactive Experience Model, pg: 4, The Museum Expe-

rience By John Howard Falk, Lynn Diane Dierking

- Müze İstatistikler, 2018: http://dosimm.gov.tr/assets/documents/2018.pdf

- Topkapı Sarayı Müze Müdürlüğü: http://www.kulturvarliklari.gov.tr/TR-

44098/istanbul-topkapi-sarayi-muze-mudurlugu.html 24 İstanbul Ayasofya
Müze Müdürlüğü: http://www.kulturvarliklari.gov.tr/TR-44094/istanbul-a-
yasofya-muze-mudurlugu.html

- İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri Müdürlüğü :http://www.kulturvarliklari.gov.tr/

TR-44095/istanbul-arkeoloji-muzeleri-mudurlugu.html

- Ankara Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müze Müdürlüğü: http://www.kulturvarlikla-

ri.gov.tr/TR-44060/ankara-anadolu-medeniyetleri-muze-mudurlugu.html

- Denizli Müze Müdürlüğü: http://www.kulturvarliklari.gov.tr/TR-44081/de-

nizli-muze-mudurlugu.html 28 Müze İstatistikler, 2018: http://dosimm.gov.tr/
assets/documents/2018.pdf

- Örenyeri İstatistikleri: http://www.kulturvarliklari.gov.tr/TR-43336/mu-

ze-istatistikleri.html

- Müze İstatistikleri,2017: http://www.kulturvarliklari.gov.tr/TR-43336/mu-

ze-istatistikleri.html

- Müze İstatistikler, 2018: http://dosimm.gov.tr/assets/documents/2018.pdf

- Müzekart İstatistikleri, 2017: http://basin.kulturturizm.gov.tr/TR-200444/

muze-ve-oren-yeri-ziyaretci-sayisi-yuzde-17-artti.html
References 85

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.
cultural

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.bm.london.vusiem

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.nhm.london.vusiem

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.lvr.paris.vusiem

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.dor.paris.vusiem

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.ng.lon

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.orangerie.paris.
vusiem

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.rodin.paris.vusiem

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.perg.berlin.vusiem

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.ang.berlin.vusiem

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.neues.berlin.
vusiem

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kodarbilisim.muzeasist

- Tripadvisor.com

- Trips.google.com

- Lonelyplanet.com

- Culturetrip.com

- Viator.com

- Alamy.com

- Khanacademy.com
86