Project Summary

During this studio, we partnered with the discovery museum to design an exhibit for an area they are hoping to develop further. To focus our efforts, we chose a theme centered around space, considering its vast potential for fostering learning opportunities and igniting the imagination. Knowing this, we set our learning goals to be independence, curiosity, and space knowledge. In order to achieve these learning goals, we thought about the implementation of scale, sensory experience, and freedom.

Learning Goals

Space,

Independence,

Curiosity,

Design Elements

Wow effect,

Multi-sensory,

Open-ended

Play Types

Pretend play,

Parallel play

+

+

Current Exhibit Analysis

• Description
• Although the space we are hoping to place our exhibit in is currently empty, there is a kitchen themed exhibit leading into the space.
• The Museum's goals for this exhibit
• Allow children to play freely
• Interact with things that we see/use on a day to day basis
• Using imagination
• Play type
• Collaborative
• Open ended
• Engagement methods
• Lots of small pieces (plastic foods)
• Buttons and doors that open and closed

• Layers of complexity
• It is very simple as it is Intended for very young children
• Main design features 
• Wooden kitchen equipment - stoves, oven, fridge
• Play foods 
• Benches/booths for sitting and "eating"
• Cash register
• What works, what didn't work
• The kitchen was popular with all of the freedoms given
• Kids loved playing with the food because they could do lots of different things
• Kids can collaborate
• Kids did not like the train exhibit because there was not much to do 

Precedents

Beyond Spaceship Earth

(Children's Museum of Indianapolis)

Destination Space

(Mckenna Children's Museum)

Kidstown

(Orlando Science Center)

Initial Prototype

Main goals:

• Noticing engagement patterns (What are the children drawn to)
• Gauging interpretability (How well were the kids able to understand the theme and in turn learn what we intended)

User Testing at The Discovery Museum

• We documented our testing through notes, and interviews:
• We hoped to measure engagement and gauge interest on the theme of space
• Limitations of testing:
• Because the area our exhibit was in, was behind an exhibit intended for very young kids, our exhibit was mostly only exposed to very young kids
• Because of the low fidelity of the installation, visitors seemed unsure if they were allowed to explore the exhibit
• Outcomes:
• .The kids loved the keyboard
• The shiny wallpaper caught the eyes of children
• The table was to high
• etc...
• Next steps
• Make the exhibit more obviously rocket shaped, increase fidelity, and focus on immersion.

Iteration #2

Main goals:

• Evaluating the effect of an enclosed space on engagement
• Strength testing
• General feedback

User testing at NuVu

• We documented our testing through videos, pictures, notes, and interviews:
• We hoped to test our hypothesis that a more enclosed structure led to further engagement and inspiration.
• Limitations of testing:
• There were only 3 kids who were available to test
• Some pieces were not securely held in place
• Outcomes:
• The kids liked messing with the gadgets and learning through tactile sensations.
• The kids were particularly interested in being able to pick the stars and planets off the wall and ceiling
• Our hypothesis was correct, the cocoon led to further immersion
• One kid mentioned he got bored after he exhausted all of the things he could one could do with the exhibit
• Next steps
• Implement a feature which moves as a reaction children interaction as to increase intractability

Final Design:

Velcro fabric sheet

Foam stars

Thanks for listening!

Questions?