Introduction
These standards are to be reviewed and updated on an annual basis by the Digital Experience Producer in collaboration with other relevant teams.
Current review is as of 2026.
The purpose
Auckland Museum's technology & digital standards provide guidance for the Museum’s internal teams and external digital partners. They define our approach to digital design, development, and deployment, ensuring consistency, quality, and long-term sustainability across all Museum digital experiences. Following these standards helps partners align with our expectations, streamline collaboration, and deliver seamless, future-proof solutions.
Who they are for
These standards are for anyone involved in creating digital experiences for Auckland Museum, including:
Internal teams – AV, Technology, Design, Exhibitions, Audience Impact & Research, Curators, and other Museum staff.
External partners – Vendors and contractors working with the Digital Experience team.
How to use them
Use these standards as a starting point when planning or developing a new digital experience. If a project needs to diverge from the standards, the assigned digital lead will guide the process and involve relevant specialists.
Types of Digital Experiences
There are two main categories:
Content-driven media interactives – Built with the Museum’s Digital Product Suite. These must closely follow the standards.
One-off digital experiences – Custom solutions may require flexibility, but the standards should still be reviewed and applied wherever possible.
Working with Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira provides the technical infrastructure, services, and support required to enable our workforce, operate our building and manage our digital experiences. The lean scale of our staffing means approximately 80% of our capacity is dedicated to BAU. We limit our capacity to tackle extensive exhibition creative in-house. We have dedicated resources for strategic and technical oversight for third party work at Auckland Museum. Our scale enables strategic decisions and approvals to be streamlined to the required stakeholders.
The following list outlines the teams with different skill sets and a strong collaborative synergy that feed into the making of an on the floor experience or exhibition at Auckland Museum:
Technology team: Manages all technology infrastructure, including enterprise devices, applications, networks, cybersecurity, and other systems.
Audio Visual team: Enables the production of high-quality events and galleries, ensuring all digital activations at Auckland Museum are working and maintained.
Digital/Design team: Works across 3D, spatial and 2D design for exhibitions, events, web and marketing materials as well as promotes and enables the integration of functional and creative digital technologies in both online and onsite experiences.
Interpretive planning team: Develops and ensures exhibition content is relevant, engaging and accessible to audiences by identifying key messages and appropriate media and techniques for conveying them within a museum context.
Production team: Manages the fabrication and build of exhibitions and galleries across the museum.
Exhibition project managers: Manages all necessary workstreams for the delivery of an exhibition.
The central role of the Digital Experience (DX) Producer
DX producers typically serve as the digital lead (likely in collaboration with the Exhibition Project Manager) for a project incorporating significant digital technology. They support internal and external experience design teams to evaluate and approve the most relevant technologies to deliver experiences. They facilitate the positive tension between the project’s ambition and the museum’s internal capacity to support, integrate, deliver, and maintain it. While they do not provide direct design input, they can offer references, suggestions, and expertise that can influence the final design, advocating an integrative approach, blending digital, physical, and graphical design components.
Crucially, the DX Producers provide a streamlined and direct point of contact for external digital creative partners and are responsible for securing approval of the project team for any third party’s intention, including creative or functional technology before moving into development.
In alignment with the Exhibitions Project Manager, the DX Producers may also bring in additional Auckland Museum teams to provide specialist insights as required.
Relationship expectations with external parties
We expect a collaborative and transparent relationship, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities to ensure alignment with Auckland Museum’s goals, standards, and resources. While the partner provides creative expertise, the Auckland Museum project team retains strategic oversight to ensure the digital experience integrates seamlessly into its broader ecosystem.
Third-Party Collaborations: If a partner plans to work with additional digital vendors, those vendors must be introduced to and pre-approved by the Auckland Museum project team before any commitments are made.
Technology and Hardware Decisions: All discussions related to technology and hardware must involve the Auckland Museum project team, and decisions must be approved to ensure alignment with Auckland Museum’s standards, scalability, and compatibility with existing systems. This approach also prevents vendor lock-in.