When visitors arrive at a museum outside regular hours, they often miss valuable context and information. Historical structures sit silent, their stories untold. Important city landmarks go undiscovered, just blocks from where tourists stand.
High Point Museum found a solution to this common challenge. Through a thoughtfully designed mobile app built with STQRY Apps, they now connect with visitors around the clock, guiding them through both their historical park and the wider city without requiring additional staff.
About High Point Museum
The High Point Museum is a trusted community center where people can learn more about the city, come together, and strengthen public life. The organization cares for the museum, the historical park with the Hoggatt House and blacksmith shop, and other historical structures in the city.
The Collections Unit cares for the over 37,000 objects, photographs, and archive material entrusted to the High Point Museum. This material helps the museum to interpret the history of the greater High Point region.
The Motivation for Creating a Mobile App
Limited access presented a challenge. Tamara Vaughan, Communications Coordinator for High Point Museum, wanted to educate visitors about the park's four historical structures that only open on Saturdays. Without docents available most days, visitors missed important historical context.
The museum had bigger ambitions as well. Beyond park education, they hoped to guide people to historical sites throughout the city, creating connections between the museum and community landmarks.
After researching options, the solution became clear. The team decided to build a walking tour app featuring interactive maps, historical information, and up-to-date details about museum programs and schedules.
Building a Mobile Guide App with STQRY
High Point Museum selected STQRY for their mobile guide based on three key factors: proven success with museums, no-code development capabilities, and affordable pricing plans that fit their budget. These qualities make it easier to build an app than you might think.
She set to work adding content from their extensive collections to stops along the mobile tours.
"I've done some basic website design in the past, but didn't have a background in coding or apps," explains Tamara. "I was able to pick up STQRY really easily and add our content."
The High Point team wasn't alone when it came to creating the app. Every STQRY customer has a dedicated customer success manager to enhance their app content strategy, walk them through the process, and troubleshoot any issues.
"Our customer success manager was always there to answer questions," Tamara shares. "She offered lots of ideas and guidance to make our app better."
Benefits and Results
The completed High Point Museum app delivers ongoing value. High Point Museum now enjoys numerous advantages from their STQRY implementation while maintaining it easily and affordably.
Always Available Guidance
High Point Museum achieved its goal of offering wayfinding and content around the clock. Now, visitors can guide themselves around the park when docents aren't available.
Helping Families Learn and Explore
The app's impact extends throughout the city. By highlighting historical sites beyond museum grounds, visitors discover landmarks they might otherwise miss.
"I love how STQRY gets people learning about our city outside of our museum," Tamara enthuses. "The Jazz musician John Coltrane grew up here, and people get to go to his house, drive by, and see where he went to school. We can help people get out and experience all of these different historical points."
Content Insights
Data informs future decisions. Through STQRY's integration with Google Analytics, Tamara tracks engagement within the app and has discovered that walking tours attract the most interest. This knowledge shapes the museum's content creation strategy.
Accessibility and Certified Autism Center Designation
The city of High Point recently became the first Certified Autism Destination on the East Coast. The museum is now a Certified Autism Center. There are calming, quiet spaces both inside and outside the museum.
Digital tours of the historical park have also helped the museum earn this designation because of the go-at-your-own-pace nature and multimedia content.
Easy Updates for New Exhibits and Programs
The app evolves continuously. Staff update content through STQRY's centralized management system without requiring technical assistance or expensive developer contracts.
"We have a big exhibit opening in a few weeks," notes Tamara. "We can customize the app with new exhibit information, update our seasonal programming, and make sure our schedules are always correct."
Key Takeaways
High Point Museum's experience offers valuable lessons for other cultural institutions:
- Use mobile technology to extend your reach beyond staffed hours
- Create off-site content that fulfills your mission in new ways
- Choose user-friendly app-building software for sustainable management
- Update content regularly to keep visitors engaged with current offerings
Their recommendation speaks volumes. "I would recommend STQRY to museums that are connected to a city or specific place," Tamara concludes. "It just makes so much sense because you can take your museum out of the building and provide information, buildings, historic figures, and guide people to those places."
Create Your Own Museum Tour App
Technology has made mobile tours accessible to organizations of all sizes. Creating an app for your museum or cultural site is simpler than you might think, and STQRY's team provides support throughout the process.
Ready to extend your institution's reach? Check out STQRY today and discover how a custom mobile tour can connect visitors with your collections and stories in powerful new ways.