In-person and Online: Obama Foundation - Beyond the Browser: Building Reliable Software for Museum Kiosks and Public Installations #692

Title: Beyond the Browser: Building Reliable Software for Museum Kiosks and Public Installations

Description: Diana Steakley-Freeman is the Lead Software Architect for the platform powering the interactive experiences at the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side. While museum software may appear simple to visitors — tap a screen, an exhibit responds — the systems behind those interactions are anything but. Every kiosk, touchscreen, and media experience depends on distributed software running across cloud infrastructure, on-premises hardware, and a fleet of connected devices.

In this session, Diana will explore what it takes to build software for physical spaces, where reliability, security, and usability are inseparable. Drawing from the development of the Obama Presidential Center’s exhibit platform, she’ll discuss the architectural patterns that make resilient visitor experiences possible—from automatic reconnection, offline operation, and graceful degradation to monitoring, deployment, and device orchestration across an entire museum.

She’ll also examine why accessibility must be treated as a foundational architectural concern rather than a feature added later, and how designing for diverse audiences changes both technical and product decisions. Whether you’re building enterprise software, IoT platforms, or interactive public experiences, you’ll leave with practical lessons on creating systems that remain robust, secure, and intuitive in environments where every interaction happens in the real world.

This event will be in person, but you can also tune in via livestream. Doors open at 6pm. The livestream and announcements will start around 6:30pm CDT.

In-person: i.c.stars, 750 N Orleans, Suite 500 (5th floor), Chicago IL.

For more information on our in-person events, please see our COVID Policy.

RSVP In-person attendees should RSVP beforehand. As occupancy limits permit, walk-ins will be allowed to enter.

There will be food! We will be serving Costa Rican empanadas, chicken casado and rice from Irazu!