Digital Exhibition Design: Boundary Crossing, Intermediary Design Deliverables, and Processes of Consent

We present an exploratory case study of the nature and role of Intermediary Design Deliverables (IDDs) in digital exhibition design. Specifically, how they mediate boundary crossing across museum-designer teams; and facilitate the evolution of a shared exhibition-idea by mediating future and embodying past processes of consent. We bring together literatures on intermediary objects, boundary objects and design representations to conceptualise IDDs as representations of an evolving shared exhibition-idea and, thereby, as progressive objectifications of the digital exhibition. Through the case study, we demonstrate how deliverables capture progress in the exploration of the design space by embodying the consents that propel the exploration. The role of the museum team in these processes of consent (and thus in the production of the deliverable) is emphasised, suggesting a shift of focus for museum teams from appraising digital products to contributing to the digital exhibition design process.