Framing the Future: the Museum Experience and Digital Technology : A qualitative study on digital technology strategies employed by art museums in Sweden.

Abstract: Museums play a vital role in society as institutions that bear the cultural and historical heritage of the public. In the last decade, visitors' digital habits have steadily been increasing as well as the digital technologies available for museums to use in their exhibitions. Some museums have the desire to accommodate the changes in the visitors' behaviours and embrace new technologies, but they often do not know how to do this sustainably. Previous research indicates that there is a need for guidelines and standards in building digital strategies for museums, this research investigates this issue within Swedish art museums. The purpose of this study is to give a background on digital technology strategies employed by art museums in Sweden. Exploring how the relationship between current strategies and previous research on visitor experience, could benefit the management of art museums and their visitors. A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was carried out with seven art museums across Sweden about their use of digital technologies and their strategies. The data was then thematically analysed, resulting in five common themes: (1) Prolonged digital development, (2) Digital technology should be purposefully and logically used, (3) Adapting to digital habits as an institution for public access, (4) Museums have limited knowledge of the potential benefits of digital technologies and (5) Museums are trying to meet the visitors' needs and expectations. The research findings show that museums are struggling with the adoption of digital technologies, despite wanting to meet the expectations of visitors, having budget issues, lack of in-house expertise and having difficulties with the complexity of technology. The  data also suggests that Swedish museums need guidance for developing their digital strategies, though the extent of that differs from museum to museum. Museums need to be informed of the possibilities of digital technologies in enhancing visitor experience. Moreover, how digital technology can be used in their specific organisation. Further research can build upon the findings of this study to create guidelines for museums and explore how the research questions can be applied to other countries.