This study aims to evaluate the experiential value of digital transformation (DX)
content in Chinese national first-class history museums and to propose directions
for improving visitor-centered museum experiences. As digital technologies such as
...
This study aims to evaluate the experiential value of digital transformation (DX)
content in Chinese national first-class history museums and to propose directions
for improving visitor-centered museum experiences. As digital technologies such as
virtual reality, augmented reality, interactive media, immersive projection, artificial
intelligence-based interpretation, and three-dimensional restoration have been
increasingly introduced into museum exhibitions, history museums are no longer limited to the preservation and display of artifacts. They are becoming experiential
cultural spaces in which visitors actively understand, interpret, and reconstruct
historical meaning through digital media. However, existing studies on museum DX
content have tended to focus on technological implementation, usability, or
satisfaction with individual exhibition cases. There has been insufficient empirical
discussion on which experiential value factors should be prioritized in order to
improve DX content in history museums. In this context, this study analyzes DX
content not as a simple application of digital technology, but as an experiential
medium that shapes visitors’ immersion, understanding, learning, interaction, and
emotional response.
The research scope was limited to DX content experienced in Chinese national
first-class history museums. Based on a review of previous studies and
representative DX content cases, this study derived three upper-level experiential
value factors: sensory-emotional experience, cognitive experience, and
behavioral-relational experience. These were further divided into six sub-factors:
immersion, emotional empathy, information comprehensibility, learning support,
interactivity, and sharing/expandability. To evaluate these factors from multiple
perspectives, this study applied an integrated Kano-AHP-IPA analysis. The Kano
model was used to identify how visitors perceive each experiential value factor as
a quality attribute. AHP analysis was conducted to derive the relative importance of
the factors from the expert perspective. IPA analysis was used to compare visitors’
perceived importance and satisfaction and to identify areas requiring improvement.
The empirical analysis was conducted using valid responses from 312 visitors
who had experienced DX content in Chinese national first-class history museums and 21 experts in museum studies, exhibition planning, digital content, user
experience, service design, and cultural heritage content. The results of the Kano
analysis showed that immersion, emotional empathy, and interactivity were
classified as attractive quality attributes, indicating that these factors can enhance
visitor satisfaction when sufficiently provided. In contrast, information
comprehensibility and learning support were classified as one-dimensional quality
attributes, suggesting that higher levels of fulfillment lead directly to higher
satisfaction, while insufficient fulfillment may increase dissatisfaction.
Sharing/expandability was classified as an indifferent quality attribute, indicating
that it has relatively low direct influence on overall satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
The AHP analysis revealed that cognitive experience had the highest relative
importance among the upper-level factors, followed by sensory-emotional
experience and behavioral-relational experience. Among the six sub-factors,
information comprehensibility showed the highest integrated weight, followed by
immersion, learning support, emotional empathy, interactivity, and
sharing/expandability. These results indicate that experts regard the clear
understanding of historical information and the support of learning experiences as
central criteria in evaluating DX content in history museums.
The IPA analysis showed that information comprehensibility, learning support,
and interactivity were located in the concentration improvement area, where
importance was high but satisfaction was relatively low. This means that visitors
consider these factors important, but current DX content does not sufficiently meet
their expectations. Immersion was located in the keep-up-the-good-work area,
indicating that it is currently perceived as a strength that should be maintained and further refined. Emotional empathy was located in the possible overinvestment
area, while sharing/expandability was located in the low-priority area.
The integrated Kano-AHP-IPA results indicate that information comprehensibility
is the top-priority improvement factor. It was classified as a one-dimensional
quality attribute, ranked first in the AHP analysis, and placed in the concentration
improvement area in the IPA analysis. Learning support was also identified as a
priority improvement factor. These findings suggest that the improvement of DX
content in Chinese national first-class history museums should begin with the
clarification of information structure, the enhancement of interpretive design, and
the development of learning-oriented experience flows. Interactivity was identified
as a visitor-demand-driven improvement factor, as it was attractive in the Kano
analysis and placed in the concentration improvement area in the IPA analysis,
despite its relatively lower expert priority. Therefore, interactivity should be
improved not merely by adding technological functions, but by designing
participatory interactions that connect visitors’ choices and actions to historical
understanding and immersion.
This study has academic significance in that it expands the discussion of
museum DX content from a technology-centered perspective to an experiential
value-centered evaluation framework. Methodologically, it contributes by integrating
Kano, AHP, and IPA analyses to examine quality attributes, expert importance, and
visitor improvement demands simultaneously. Practically, the findings suggest that
history museum DX content should be designed not only to provide visual impact
or technological novelty, but also to strengthen information structure, learning
journeys, participatory interaction, and immersive media-space integration. Future studies may compare different types of DX content, examine differences among
individual museums, and combine survey analysis with interviews, observation,
user journey mapping, eye tracking, or behavioral log analysis to understand
visitors’ experience formation more deeply