Social media’s influence on interior design: A visual analysis of experiential museums

Abstract

Modern technology has presented a multitude of opportunities in design, yet previous research surrounding the impact of technology in the built environment is limited, including in the area of experiential design and instagrammable spaces. The purpose of this study is to further understand instagrammable interior design through an exploration of experiential museums to provide a foundation for further research on the intersection of social media and the built environment. The study utilized a visual analysis of publicly shared Instagram images as the main source of data collection, as well as a supplemental curator interview to further understand the creative process to create these types of immersive worlds. The social media analysis began with developing selection criteria for five experiential museums from which the visual analysis images are sampled. Once the museums were determined, photo selection requirements were put in place to gather images for analysis from each of the five museums, resulting in the collection of 500 total images (100 per museum). These photos were then analyzed based on whether they included specific design-elements, with general categories including lighting, color, texture, graphics, props and form. Finally, the museum zone featured in each picture were tracked and visualized in a floor plan to depict which areas/exhibits are most shared, showing a ranking of most shared to least shared exhibits. The most popular zones in each museum were further analyzed to explore any correlations which may provide insight to the area of instagrammable interior design. The visual analysis results vary by museum, but when considering overall data, the most popular design element category throughout the analysis was color, with almost 500 instances of color seen applied to subcategories furniture, wall/floor surfaces and fixtures/props across all five museums. The most popular subcategory overall in the study was form of fixtures/props, though form as a general category was a close third-ranked in popularity, directly after second-ranked texture. The least shared category overall was graphics, a category which encompasses both super graphics and accent signage. The design element rankings were then considered while reflecting on the most popular spaces in each museum to understand what makes those specific zones most successful. From these results, each design element category can be developed into application strategies for interior design use. For example, a data correlation between color and props suggests the two are connected as a design strategy and could be used together to emphasize interactive aspects of experiential museums. Another takeaway from the data results highlights the low popularity of graphics in the analysis, suggesting graphics should be used sparingly to avoid overwhelming the user in a highly sensory space. The learnings from this research will be useful not only for designers of future experiential museums, but for all types of immersive spaces, including retail design, entertainment design, and hospitality design applications.