How do audio guides work? A simple guide with examples

What are the advantages of an audio guide? With an audio guide, visitors to a museum can acoustically immerse themselves in an exhibition and discover, learn and experience it in a completely new way. You can listen to entire tours or individual chapters.

Museum visitors are often already busy with their eyes: They collect visual impressions and have to read a lot of text at the same time. To improve the museum experience, an audio tour is a good option.

Why is an audio guide system worthwhile? It allows visitors to focus on the objects and the room while listening to exciting background information. Studies show that visitors can remember things better thanks to audio guides.

From improving learning success to increasing overall visitor satisfaction: audio guides offer a range of benefits. By providing a more interactive experience, audio guides can help visitors engage more deeply with the exhibits and develop a greater appreciation for the museum. In addition, audio guides can make museums more accessible for visitors with limitations and disabilities and appeal to a wider audience.

A good audio guide system must be user-friendly for both the museum and its visitors. But what does that mean in practice? With Wonnder (formerly Audio-Cult), we’ve implemented over 60 projects and gathered key insights.
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For visitors
❌ the guide should not distract from the content.
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✅ Visitors scan a QR code to access a complete tour or individual chapters. This means the interface must be intuitive and simple. Your visitors can use their own devices— no downloads or rental devices required.

For the museum
❌ Creating and editing toursmust not be complicated.
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✅It must be possible to create and customize tours easily and independently. If an object is moved or an exhibition changes, the audio guide can be updated using a simple tool —without agencies, without a significant time investment, and without high costs.

A successful audio guide should also feature text and image cues with an intuitive design. Visitors can orient themselves using maps or visual cues and see which stop they are at. For blind individuals, an accessible solution with screen reader functionality should be provided.

A good museum guide should be both entertaining and informative, without presenting information in an overly didactic or purely formal way. Visual experiences are enhanced by good storytelling and acoustic information.

❌ An audio guide is not a scientific treatise
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✅ An audio tour must be prepared in a way that is understandable for laypeople. The texts are not identical to label, wall or catalog texts. Instead, the focus is on an optimal listening experience - the more vivid the language, the better the (mental) images and memory.

Various aspects play a role in a good audio guide: the focus is on the attention span and emotions of users and listeners. A clear structure, captivating content and an appealing voice help to create an intuitive introduction and hold attention. Emotional elements such as personal stories or suitable music and soundscapes can create a deeper connection to the content.

What are some good examples of audio guides? We’re sharing four selected real-world examples.
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✅de Young Museum – Kehinde Wiley: An Archeology of Silence
‍A breathtaking audio guide was producedforthe Kehinde Wiley exhibition at the de Young Museum (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco). Abram Jackson (Director of Interpretation) and Frances Homan Jue (external writer/producer) developed a unique audio experience featuring the artist’s voice as well as local activists.

✅Centre de la photographie – Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah: Behold the Ocean
In collaboration with artist Akousa Viktoria Adu-Sanyah, we developed a narrative audio experience for her solo exhibition at the Centre de la photographie in Geneva. The storytelling offers fascinating background information on Adu-Sanyah’s artistic process as well as an intimate look behind the scenes.

✅Helvetia Art Foyer – I like! – 80 Years of the Helvetia Art Collection
What appeals to whom and why? What connects us to art, the artwork, or the artist? What emotions, memories, and associations does a work of art evoke? Nathalie Loch organized the anniversary exhibition for the Helvetia Art Foyer and used the Audio-Cult Audioguide Creator. Instead of a traditional overview exhibition in the sense of a chronological retrospective featuring the most art-historically significant works, the exhibition presents personal favorite works selected by individuals from the worlds of art, culture, politics, and business.

✅Migros Museum of Contemporary Art – Material Memories
The exhibition explores the significance of materials in art, discussing central themes in the field. The museum guide covering the museum’s collection was written and narrated by art educator Cynthia Gavranic. Additionally, another tour discusses why the museum exists in the first place and what contemporary art means. The Migros Museum relies on Wonnder’s web-based audio guide platform for this.

✅Museum für Gestaltung – Oliviero Toscani: Photography and Provocation
In a personal and captivating way, director and curator Christian Brändle explains why Oliviero Toscani’s work is so relevant and influential. The tour is a prime example of how eloquent communication can be both understandable and accessible. The Museum für Gestaltung uses Wonnder’s audio guide system to tell the stories behind the exhibition.

Whether from an artistic perspective, the role of the educator, or a curatorial viewpoint: a good audio guide offers an authentic and intuitive introduction for the audience. Today, it no longer has to be an expensive museum app. A simple and cost-effective, web-based audio guide offers the latest technology.