April 2012 Volume 15 Number 2 - Educational Technology & Society

Most of the literature, related to digital games, focuses on issues like the use of (existing) technical solutions, their
usability, game experience (mainly in commercial games) or the game’s teaching potential. Additionally, as we
mentioned earlier, most of the digital game designs are aimed at mass audiences. These challenges call for
quantitative studies.
The neglected part of the research has been, according to our knowledge, the design processes of successful digital
games for small audiences that deliver meaningful on-site information that supports situated learning. Therefore, the
purpose of our study has been to explore and design a digital game that is intentionally rooted in a specific context.
We maintain that the real world facilitates the learners’ immersion into a specific subject during their museum visit.
This task requires mainly a qualitative research approach.
On-site background
LieksaMyst was designed for the open-air section of the second largest open-air museum in Finland (Figure 1). The
museum contains more than 70 buildings and structures arranged in an area covering almost two hectares and it is
home to over 100,000 objects that were used in different historic time periods. These days Finland is viewed as a
technological country, which boasts high levels of education and solid wealth creation post World War II. This
relatively quick economic growth, as perceived by foreigners and experienced by nationals, is understandable when
one visits the museum.
Table 3. Pielinen Museum statistics
2007 2008 2009
Visitors during the year 8,968 8,692 8,262
Permanent staff 1 3 2
Temporal staff 30 25 31
In addition to the large outdoor section, the museum has a smaller indoor exhibition. The open-air exhibition is open
mainly in the summer time (May 15 th to September 15 th ) and closed for the rest of the year due to cold weather. In
the summer months one hour long guided tours are offered as well as extra activities like a Children’s Day. Table 3
summarizes the museum’s visitor and staff statistics for the duration of the LieksaMyst design process.
Figure 1 . Layout and photos of the Pielinen Museum offering an impression of the museum’s size
Research design
The case study was performed using a social constructivism paradigm. We needed to understand the different views
and backgrounds of the museum’s visitors (Saunders, Thornhill, & Lewis, 2009). We were aware that individual
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