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National Museums Liverpool: the Giggle Map

Who are they?

Opening in 2011, the Museum of Liverpool is the newest addition to the National Museums Liverpool group of galleries and museums. Located on the iconic waterfront, the museum is dedicated to the history and people of Liverpool.

In early 2023, the museum contacted us about an exhibition they were developing on the late, great, legend of Liverpudlian comedy: Sir Ken Dodd.

Happiness!, (which opened on the 9th September 2023 and ran until 7th July 2024) explores Sir Ken’s extraordinary life and his contributions to the world of comedy.

What was the challenge?

Sir Ken Dodd dreamt of playing every comedy venue in the UK and managed to perform in more than 300 in his decades-long career.
Alongside the objects and stories in the exhibition, the team at the museum planned to install an interactive display that mapped points of significance relating to Sir Ken’s career.
The map had to be multimedia, big and impactful, and be intuitive to use for the exhibition’s diverse audience. It also needed to be easy to update and manage for the project team, and fit the iconic aesthetic of Sir Ken and the rest of the exhibition.
The museum was also extremely keen to make sure that the map would last for a long time after the end of the exhibition, ensuring the exhibition’s legacy with digital sustainability built in.

What was the result?

The Giggle Map! At the time of writing, the map contains more than 200 records and the museum team is planning to add more as the exhibition progresses.

The kiosk screen is one of several interactive elements in a fantastic exhibition that has something to offer everyone and is proving to be a success with audiences spanning several generations.

Why Humap?

A tried and tested interactive map solution that any visitor can use and any member of the project team could edit/control was needed. A bespoke map would have been risky and expensive to build, user-test, and maintain – so an established solution in the heritage mapping space was the best way to go.

Some custom development was needed, but Humap came out-of-the-box with the vast majority of features and functionality that the team needed to make the Giggle Map a reality.

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