Why plan maintenance before opening
Interactive exhibits get heavy use. Screens are touched thousands of times, computers run for long hours, and cables and connectors are nudged by cleaning and crowds. Some failure is simply expected. Without a plan, a broken exhibit tends to sit dark for weeks because nobody is sure whose job it is to fix it, and a dark screen in a gallery sends a poor message to visitors.
A maintenance plan answers three questions before opening day: who looks after what, how often, and what do they need to know. It is best written while the build team is still available to contribute.
Types of maintenance
It helps to separate the work into kinds, because different people usually handle them.
- Routine checks. Quick daily or weekly looks to confirm the exhibit is on, responding and clean.
- Preventive work. Scheduled tasks that reduce the chance of failure, such as dusting vents, checking connections or applying software updates in a controlled way.
- Corrective repairs. Fixing faults after they occur, from restarting a frozen program to replacing a failed display.
- Content updates. Changing text, images or audio, correcting errors or refreshing material for a new season.
- Review and improvement. Occasional assessment of whether the exhibit still serves its goals, informed by observation and analytics.
Who fixes what
Create a simple responsibility table that names a role, not just a person, for each kind of task. A hypothetical arrangement in a mid-sized museum might look like this:
| Task | Typically handled by |
|---|---|
| Opening checks, wiping surfaces | Gallery or visitor services staff |
| Restarting a frozen exhibit | Gallery staff using a written guide |
| Fault diagnosis and part swaps | In-house technician or IT staff |
| Software bugs or redesign | The original developer or a support contract |
| Text and image changes | Curatorial or education staff via a content tool |
The right split depends on the organization’s size and skills. What matters is that every row has an owner and a fallback. Gallery staff should know exactly where their responsibility ends and who to call next.
Set a rhythm
A regular schedule keeps small issues from becoming large ones. A sample structure, to be adapted to your site:
- Daily: switch on or confirm the exhibit is running, check the screen and sound, test one interaction, and wipe touched surfaces following the touch hygiene guidance.
- Weekly: look for loose parts, check that touch calibration still feels accurate, and review any fault log.
- Monthly or seasonal: clean ventilation areas, inspect cables and mounts, check storage space, and confirm that backups exist.
- Yearly: review software updates and security, test replacement procedures with spare parts, check warranties and supplier contracts, and review whether the exhibit still meets its goals.
Keep checklists short. A five-item daily list gets done; a two-page list gets ignored.
Make faults easy to report and track
Provide a single place where staff record problems: a logbook, a shared sheet or a simple ticket system. Each entry should note the date, the symptom, what was tried and the outcome. Over time this reveals patterns, such as one unit failing more often than others, that guide spending. Remote monitoring and automated restarts can reduce routine callouts, and the same log can capture what those tools report.
Spares, parts and suppliers
Decide in advance what spares to hold. Items that wear or are hard to replace quickly, such as a touch overlay, power supply or cable, are often worth having on the shelf. Record where spares are stored and who can access them. For custom software, check what support the developer offers after launch, for how long and under what terms, and put this in writing. These considerations overlap with the supplier choices described in the discussion of exhibit procurement.
Also think about what happens when parts are discontinued, which connects to the wider topic of technology obsolescence.
What to document before opening
Before the exhibit opens, make sure the plan includes:
- Startup and shutdown steps with photos.
- A fault guide listing likely problems and first responses.
- Contact details for technical support, with roles and escalation order.
- A parts and spares list, with storage location.
- Access information for any accounts or settings, held securely.
- The schedule of checks and who signs them off.
- Cleaning instructions that protect the equipment, since the wrong product can damage coatings.
- A procedure for taking the exhibit out of service, including a visitor-facing sign so people are not left with a dead screen and no explanation.
These items belong in the broader handover package, which should be stored where staff can find it.
Training and ownership
A plan only works if people know it. Include staff training in the project schedule, covering both what to do and what not to do, such as not changing system settings. New staff and volunteers need the same briefing, so keep a short written version. Appoint an owner for the plan itself who updates it when equipment or staffing changes.
Budget for it
Maintenance has costs: staff time, parts, support contracts and occasional replacement. These should appear in the exhibit budget as a recurring line, not be absorbed unnoticed by an overstretched operations team. Exhibits that are underfunded after launch tend to decline visibly, which affects visitor experience and the museum’s reputation. A modest, realistic plan that is actually followed is generally better than an ambitious one that is not.