A former president of the UK Museums Association said he believes the Scottish Design Galleries in the V&A should have been bigger.
Dr David Fleming was director of National Museums Liverpool for 17 years before he retired at the start of the year.
He is now a professor of public history at Liverpool Hope University.
Dr Fleming has played a key role in the ongoing regeneration of Liverpool since 2001.
He oversaw the £45 million Into The Future project, which included the refurbishment of both the Walker Art Gallery and World Museum, the opening of the International Slavery Museum in 2007, and the creation of the Museum of Liverpool in 2011.
Dr Fleming said that while he believes the museum will bring visitors to Dundee, the city will need other attractions to complement it.
He said: “I was looking for two things – was it just for posh people and is there a real Scottish element?
“There is a Scottish Design Gallery but I was disappointed at the scale of it.
“The free gallery is much smaller than the paid for gallery, which has very little to do with Scottish Design.”
During his time as director of National Museums Liverpool, visitor numbers rose from 700,000 a year to more than 3 million.
But he said if Dundee wants to replicate that success it will need to improve transport links to the city
“If Dundee is looking to redevelop itself as a tourist destination it has to develop more – nice hotels and better transport links,” he said.
“The way to change the reputations is through a whole range of things – it’s no use having great culture if you’ve not got nice hotels. You’ve got to do the whole thing.”
He added the 3D Festival had been a huge success for the V&A.
“I don’t know who paid for all this but the bands are great,” he added.
