Usability, Design and Content Issues of Mobile Apps for Cultural Heritage Promotion: The Malta Culture Guide Experience

Mobile apps for cultural heritage promotion face significant challenges in balancing content richness, usability, and long-term user engagement. A study on the Malta Culture Guide app, developed for the UNESCO-listed Megalithic Temples of Malta, reveals that effective design strategies can overcome these hurdles. The research highlights the importance of integrating textual, visual, and audio elements to convey Malta's diverse heritage—ranging from megalithic temples to Baroque palaces—while ensuring intuitive navigation and accessibility. It also emphasizes evaluating user commitment and app performance over time. The findings provide actionable insights for developers in the cultural sector, offering a framework for creating engaging and sustainable mobile applications that enhance public engagement with heritage sites.

Boiano, S., Bowen, J., & Gaia, G. (2012). Usability, Design and Content Issues of Mobile Apps for Cultural Heritage Promotion: The Malta Culture Guide Experience. Electronic Workshops in Computing. https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/eva2012.12