Developing Audio Tours at the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum
| Sponsor: | Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum |  |
| Sponsor Liaison: | Abdullah Seba | |
| Student Team: | Jacob Donovan, Duyen Le, Lucas Marble, Nikita Zuev | |
| Abstract: | This project aimed to develop an audio guide for the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum to enhance exhibit interpretation and enrich the visitor experience. We visited museums across London and the United Kingdom and interviewed staff to understand the best practices regarding audio guide development and technologies. Additionally, we spoke with volunteers at the Pumphouse Museum to gather insights from their experiences, which helped shape our script development. As a result, we created 19 audio guides for a general audience and 20 for a younger audience. We recommend expanding the audio guide by migrating it to Bloomberg Connects, developing more interactive elements for children, and creating enthusiast audio guides for visitors. | |
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Executive Summary
Introduction/Background
One of the primary goals of museums is to promote learning and offer unique ways to interact with history. Over time, they have evolved from static displays to text panels and, more recently, to interactive mediums that enhance visitor engagement. The Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum in Waltham Forest, London, is dedicated to preserving the industrial heritage of the area, particularly the history of the Low Hall Pumping Station and its significance to local development. As part of its commitment to enhancing the visitor experience, the museum is adopting new approaches, including the development of audio guides.
This project developed an audio guide to enhance exhibit interpretation at the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum. We achieved this goal by:
- Evaluating current and best practices in the use and development of audio guides for museum interpretation.
- Determining staff and volunteer opinions about the design criteria for the audio guides, including technology options, exhibit focus, and story content.
- Designing, developing, and refining a series of prototype audio tours for selected elements of the museum.
The Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum occupies a former Victorian pumping station built in 1885 and now serves as a community-run space showcasing the area’s transport and industrial history. Its collection spans a wide range of artifacts, including a pair of original Marshall-steam engines, firefighting equipment, two retired tube carriages from the Victoria line, and a working model railway. However, like many local museums, interpretation has historically relied on static text panels, which can limit accessibility and engagement, particularly for families and younger visitors. In response, the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum is looking to introduce more dynamic and inclusive forms of interpretation, with audio guides offering a promising way to deliver engaging, story-led experiences that connect more deeply with a wide range of audiences.
Methodology
We employed a mixed-methods research design that included literature reviews, field observations, semi-structured interviews, and iterative prototype testing.
As part of our field observations, we visited 12 museums across London and the United Kingdom to evaluate their use of audio guides. At each site, we carried out self-guided evaluations using structured checklists and field notes to assess technology, content structure, user interface design, and accessibility. The checklist included criteria such as script tone, narration style, delivery methods, platform responsiveness, and feedback collection tools. Museums represented a range of types, including history, transport, science, and arts, and showcased diverse digital strategies and platforms. To complement these observations, we conducted five semi-structured interviews with seven museum professionals to gain insights into the development, implementation, and refinement of audio guides. These combined methods allowed us to identify best practices and key design considerations for shaping an effective and accessible audio experience tailored to the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum.
Building on our preliminary research, we engaged directly with Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum members to ensure that the audio guides were both contextually appropriate and tailored to the museum’s specific needs. To inform the design process, we conducted in-depth interviews with six museum volunteers and one trustee. These semi-structured conversations explored their perspectives on the most important exhibits to highlight and insights into any experiences that were related to the museum. The interviews also provided an opportunity to build awareness and enthusiasm for the project within the museum community. Feedback emphasized the importance of concise, story-driven content and maintaining the unique character of the museum, which informed our design priorities throughout development.
Using this input, we designed and developed two distinct audio guides: one tailored to a general audience and one for a younger audience. Both guides were scripted with attention to tone, pacing, and clarity, and were narrated by Pumphouse volunteers to maintain a sense of familiarity and authenticity. To enhance the visitor experience, general audience scripts focused more on storytelling, and the young audience recordings featured more ambient sounds, such as train noises. The audio guides were made accessible through strategically placed QR codes around the museum, which directed visitors to a newly developed webpage hosting the museum’s audio content. To evaluate the guides, we collected feedback through printed and digital visitor surveys. This feedback informed revisions to the initial prototypes and contributed to a set of recommendations for sustaining and expanding the audio guide system in the future.
Results and Analytics
The audio guide we created covered four exhibits with 19 different audio clips. Broken down, there are seven stops in the Pump Room, eight in the Fire Collection, two in the Model Railway, and two in the Tube Carriages. The children’s audio guide has 20 audio clips, distributed equally, except for one extra stop in the Model Railway. In total, including a welcome script, there are 40 audio clips for visitors to explore across the Pumphouse.
Figure 1: Example QR in tube carriage exhibit
We developed scripts in consultation with museum volunteers and trustees, prioritizing content that emphasized storytelling, emotional connections, and clarity. Scripts were recorded by volunteers and edited for consistency and quality. Sound effects such as steam whistles and fire sirens were incorporated to enhance immersion.
The decision to develop the guide as a mobile-optimized website using Wix Studio allowed for flexibility in design, rapid deployment, and ease of maintenance. This approach avoided the extended onboarding time required for platforms such as Bloomberg Connects, which, though highly scalable and analytics-rich, required 12–13 weeks for setup, exceeding our project timeline. Wix also allowed us to easily integrate maps, transcripts, and real-time analytics.
The final website was accessible via color-coded QR codes placed beside exhibits and featured:
Figure 2: Example QR code in the main pumping room
Initial testing took place during live public hours. A total of 34 feedback forms were gathered through paper surveys and online Google Forms. In-person conversations were conducted with each respondent to learn more about their experience. We also collected metadata such as average session duration, bounce rates, and visitor navigation using the Wix analytics tools.
There were several key findings, including 70.6% strongly agreed and 29.4% agreed they enjoyed listening to the audio guide (Figure 3). In terms of the length of the recordings, 84% found the audio guide clips lasted an appropriate amount of time for each exhibit (Figure 4).
Figure 3: Visitors responses to “I enjoyed listening to the audio guide
Figure 4: Visitor responses to “The length of the recordings was appropriate for each stop”
Finally, 44.1% strongly agreed, 29.4% agreed, 23.5% replied neither, and 2.9% disagreed when asked if they felt more connected to the exhibits after listening to the audio guides (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Visitor responses to “The audio guide helped me connect to the exhibits more”
The conversations with visitors revealed further insights. Many visitors requested ambient sounds for realism during the tour. Families enjoyed the simplicity of scanning and listening together. Volunteers reported visitors spending more time at the exhibits. Visitors also appreciated that the guide required no headphones, supporting inclusive group learning. The use of storytelling was favored over fact-heavy guides.
Recommendations and Conclusion
Based on our findings, survey responses, and conversations with museum volunteers, we learned more about the specific needs of The Pumphouse and its visitors. The museum has a unique community feeling and a deep connection to its visitors. These visitors are predominantly young families looking for an engaging experience. Our recommendations are based on this community engagement philosophy, and we aim to improve the connection between visitors and the museum.
- Adopt Bloomberg Connects
From interviewing museum experts and Pumphouse staff, we found that Bloomberg Connects was the best possible solution for both the museum and its visitors. When possible, the Pumphouse should transition to Bloomberg for enhanced scalability, multilingual support, and detailed analytics. Bloomberg has professional staff with the knowledge and skills needed to support the continued refinement of audio guides when our team leaves the Pumphouse. Bloomberg also offers free promotional items such as postcards, QR codes, and recording equipment
2. Create Interactive Activities
Add educational games such as scavenger hunts, exhibit-based quizzes, or storytelling tasks to increase engagement, especially for children. These games or hunts could be based on the children’s audio guide developed by our team. Having some sort of reward would also encourage families to follow the scavenger hunt to the end and explore everything the museum has to offer.
3. Develop an Enthusiast Audio Guide
In speaking with visitors to the Pumphouse museum, some expressed interest in hearing more about the exhibits, especially learning more about the engineering of the various machines. The current audio guide only briefly teaches guests about the workings of the Pumphouse. The museum should work to design a more in-depth guide to be accessed either on the Wix website or eventually on Bloomberg Connects. We highly recommend adding video explanations too, because some of the content can be challenging to learn with just an audio guide. The Pumphouse has a rich storage of historical pictures and videos in the shared files and should look to employ these on the website.