For most of their historyry, museums and cultural centers have defined themselves through their collections – display in the building, collection in basements, display on the walls. Digital has been very supportive: pamphlet, index or static reproduction of collections. That model no longer works.
Today, with an increasing share of the audience, the first encounter with a museum takes place online, often on the phone, often using social media and often outside the premises of an institution. The painting may appear in a short form video. The installation may appear in a cropped image in the feed. The archive may circulate as a meme. Discovery is increasingly algorithmic.
Data from National Endowment for the Arts shows that while museum attendance has increased significantly since the pandemic, online cultural engagement remains above pre-2020 levels. At the same time, institutions face constant financial pressure, changing expectations about accessibility and representation and intense competition for attention. In this area, digital presence is the first point of contact.
The point is not just that museums need better websites. It’s that the digital experience is increasingly determining whether the relationship with the institution begins at all.
If museums fail to design these encounters with purpose, they risk being invisible—or worse, useless—to viewers who may never get past their destination. Digitalization, the practice of designing online spaces as meaningful cultural spaces, is now the basis of institutional strategy, not the extension of visitor services.
The challenge for museum leaders is how to translate authority, depth and care into digital spaces without softening what sets them apart. The three most important shifts.
Treat digital as a gateway to experience, not a layer of information
The first generation of museum websites are very much a reflection of the past‑of‑real estate information, real estate listings, gallery photos and opening hours. While these structures are still important, leading institutions treat the digital as a gateway to experience: a place where meaning is created, not just accessed.
The difference is in the narrative and context. Every museum has a digital collection; very few make it an experience that reflects the intention of saving. The Walker Art Center stands out for the richness of its blog, Gradient. Similarly, the Art Institute of Chicago produces digital publications that allow audiences to form meaningful relationships with its collection and its history. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)—has one of the locations large digital audience among museums around the world—reframes their works through essays, interviews and series of articles, inviting deeper relationships, either through physical visits or through ongoing digital engagement.
New York’s Neue Galerie takes a different but similar approach. Its location captures the tactile, sensory experience of the museum itself. Visitors take a video tour through the front door to historic sites such as jewelry, experiencing a ton of touristy emotions before arriving.
In each case, the digital provides a collection of collections—an extension of them—and an invitation to a full knowledge of programs and activities in the virtual environment.
It’s designed for continuous, itinerant travel—not one-off visits
Museums tend to treat the visit as a separate event. Tickets are purchased, shows are experienced and communication is completed. Making a modern digital environment requires a shift to building relationships rather than moments: before, during and after the visit.
First encounters often occur away from institutionally owned channels—through social media snippets, editorial content or recommendations. These low-level entry points reduce cultural and psychological barriers that have historically limited access. 250 of themth memorial, the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, acknowledges the power of social media, actively inviting digital creators to redefine their works on public channels through a campaign led by an activist. The strategy acknowledges a simple fact: translation now takes place in the community, in participating areas.
Opened‑The site’s digital guides, apps or responsive web information can be interpreted layer by layer with a physical visit. They express multiple voices, connect activities and allow visitors to create and share their own methods.
After that, digital platforms expand the conversation. Carnegie Hall’s learning platforms for K-12 audiences, for example, scaffold interactions long after the play ends, reinforcing the mission while cultivating future audiences. For institutions that are responsible for them stress around compliance and retentionproviding this continuity is an important objective.
Connect with audiences wherever they are—especially on mobile
Creating a digital environment also requires dealing with unreality. In many institutions, more than half of web traffic now comes from mobile devices. Discovery happens through social feeds and messaging apps, not desktop home pages. Especially the younger audience—more than 70 percent of US adults aged 18 to 29 experience cultural content through social media or online video—this is not secondary access but primary engagement. In 2026, attention is fragmented, scrolling driven and highly competitive.
However, mobile design in the cultural sector is often delayed, reduced to standard, flat templates. If the phone is the first—and sometimes only—museum audience will have, this represents a huge missed opportunity.
Treating mobile as a true cultural “space” means clearly designing small screens with storytelling, touch, thumb‑driven interactions and clear reasons to return. It means realizing that a 20-second video clip or a well-designed mobile feature can be the start of a lasting relationship, not a diluted substitute for a gallery visit.
A new contract with the audience
Making a digital environment is not about leaving the physical center or chasing new things. It recognizes that audiences live hybrid lives, moving slowly between physical and digital spaces and expecting compatibility across them all. At a time when cultural institutions are being asked to justify their relevance, expand reach and demonstrate impact, digital spaces are where that relationship begins.
When museums design digital experiences as invitations instead of brochures or pamphlets, they renegotiate their relationship with audiences. The center is changing from a place of occasional visits to a place of culture that people return to over time.
Experience design increasingly begins online—not because the physical no longer matters, but because the quality of the physical encounter now depends on how well digital has prepared the world.
