Museum card: 5 years later

The beginning of May 2015 was exciting, as the "Museum Card" project was launched. On the same day, 180 points of use and sale of cards were opened, as well as an online store and customer pages.

Everything was completed on the last compromise. At the beginning of February, after a year and a half of negotiations, we signed a contract with the Finnish Museum Association to supply the system. The start date was set for May 1, but when it became known that the museums were closed on May Day, the opening was moved to Tuesday, May 5.

According to the system vendor, the museum card had two essential points: the sale of the card in the online store and the registration of the visit. So if you take care of these things, everything will fall into place.

When making the technological choice to record visits, we should remember that the museum environment, from local to state museums, is very different, and so are their telecommunications networks. Furthermore, since museums do not have a single monetary system, the system must be independent.

The system also had to be easy to use for customer service, quick and secure logging of visits, and a customizable and developable user interface. Because there are many museums, the price also matters a lot. On Devolon's recommendation, the museum association opted for a system based on RFID and Android technology. Plastic cards identified customers with an RFID chip and a Google Nexus tablet with an RFID reader for museums.

Of course, we were happy with how museums sold the cards, and people took the cards. Then, in the spring, the Association of Museums organized a provincial tour in which museums from different provinces discussed the card. Still, since the computer was not ready then, there was no opportunity to get acquainted with the software.

There was nothing to worry about. We did not sleep the first few days, always near the phones, but there was practically no feedback from the museums. After that, we thought everything would be fine.

However, some wonder why the old-fashioned plastic card system was created. The simple truth was that a mobile app was not an option since back in 2015, the reach of smartphones was not what it is today, and card buyers could not be required to own them anyway.

The reception of visitors was two-way. The regular visitors to the museums quickly grabbed the card. Still, it seemed to take a long time for the general public to understand the simple idea of the card itself. One older lady gave feedback that it took her months to realize that she could visit every museum as often as she wanted.

The card achieved high scores on the second Christmas. At that time, the museum card was released to the market as a gift card, and the news of such a new product was widely circulated. As a result, thousands of new cards were registered over the Christmas holidays.

New museums were constantly joining the project. The original 180 museums have now grown to over 300. Free museums have also been included as their visibility has increased significantly with the help of the card.

Seeing how this idea grew from designing a table into a yellow card popping up in people's wallets and across all social networks got people excited about a new product. People now say they plan their domestic trips based on information about museums, and new exhibitions constantly become a topic of discussion.

At the beginning of the summer of 2020, after museums reopened due to the pandemic, the Museokortti mobile application was finally launched. This app increased museum visits as users could easily find the nearest museums and their opening hours. As a result, the app quickly became one of the most downloaded in the country.

With the Association of Finnish Museums, we went to experts from other countries to discuss the advantages of the card. The system is, of course, an export product, but it is not easy - you must manage many things simultaneously. You must have the desire, courage, know-how, and resources.

It was almost unbelievable that the Finnish museum industry was suddenly ready for such a big change. For example, the Dutch museum card served as a model for cards that were gradually nationalized thanks to the successful experience of the collective museum card in Amsterdam.

Many people think of the museum industry as rigid and conservative. Still, the Museum Card proves otherwise, at least in Finland.