Week 6: Museum Studies
Exploring Opportunities
Overview
This week we continued revising our Research Plan, completed further observations in the Electricity Museum and several interviews, began assessing options for creating an experience map, and addressed a variety of budgeting and organizational issues and opportunities. We also completed preparation for the Brainstorming Workshop with our client, which will be held next Monday at M-ITI, and visited several museums to experience and analyze interactivity opportunities. These included most notably the Madeira Story Center located in Funchal and the Oceanário de Lisboa.
Brainstorming Workshop Preparation
Bria and Stephanie took lead on preparing the brainstorming workshop. They researched and explored opportunities for different activities, how they should be run, and how best to organize them. In our team meetings this week, we came together to discuss the brainstorming workshop agenda and give each other feedback. We also conducted a trial run of one of the activities to assess whether there are any issues. In response to the trial run, we decided to slightly reduce the time devoted to idea generation in the activity, and we produced excellent an excellent example that Bria and Stephanie will use during the meeting next week to introduce the activity.
Madeira Story Center
We visited the Madeira Story Center, a museum dedicated to telling the history of Madeira in stories. The museum is highly interactive, and, while small, felt big and full of exciting information. Together, we moved through the museum and analyzed the many aspects of the space and exhibits for new perspectives on opportunities for the Electricity Museum.
The observations we made included:
- Bright colors, sound, and dramatic lighting contributed powerfully to a sense of immersion
- Exhibits were set with barriers at continuously varying angles which guided us through the space
- Four languages were used on all displays (Portuguese, English, French, & German), and in most displays they were color-coded
- Our senses were engaged through combinations of exciting visuals, sounds, and varied touch interaction
- Exhibits were varied and intermingled, with immersive spaces next to dramatic sound displays next to instruments we can touch and move
Oceanário de Lisboa
On Friday, we embarked on a research trip to Lisbon, Portugal. On the first day of the trip, we spent several hours exploring and analyzing the Oceanário de Lisboa, an interactive aquarium espousing messages of conservation.
Among our many observations were these:
- As with the Madeira Story Center, color, sound, and lighting created an immersive ambiance
- Smaller displays that only allowed a small number of people to get close enough to engage directly with the intended material were paired with pictures and details in multiple languages set high above the exhibit so that people standing behind them could still engage
- The central exhibit, a large tank with an endless variety of saltwater sea creatures, could be viewed from dozens of locations, some large and open and others small, private nooks, allowing for a variety of interactions
- When different exhibits interact with each other, it’s essential to make this clear both with labels and hints in the physical space (a lack of clarity in a children’s room made the complexity of this risk apparent)
- A close-quarters room (the Amphibian room) with small exhibits that had to be searched for relevance took a lot of energy and felt insufficiently rewarding
- Alternating space, shape, color, sound, and interaction type while maintaining an overarching ambiance create a continuously engaging experience while reducing the risk of fatigue
This week, we will be exploring additional museums and experiences in Lisbon, conducting the Brainstorming Workshop with our client, analyzing these many experiences, and continuing our observation, interview, and museum research. Stay tuned!
