Overview
The Problem
The Museum at Michigan State University has faced trouble when it comes to creating interest and connection with visitors. We focused the lack of engagement between both the visitor and museum.
My Role
Lead UX/UI Designer in a team of 4 designers and 2 researchers
The Goal
Create an experience that guides viewers through the museum in a way that is exciting, engaging, and simple.
Scope
9 months
The Process
Ideate
Prototype
Research
Discover
Defining the Space:
Starting off, we decided to explore the Museum space and exhibits. We interacted with Museum staff members and became familiar with their experiences. We began to identify who a typical visitor at the museum was and any pain points they might experience during their experiences.
Ideate
Exploring Possible Solutions:
After defining the issues we hoped to solve, our team worked to find creative solutions that focused on creating a fun experience through the Apple product line. We explored different tools such as the usage of QR Codes, trackers, and Augmented Reality.
Prototype
Taking Our Progress Further:
Settling on Augmented Reality, we focused our energy moving forward on creating a prototype that would work as a scavenger hunt-like guide through the museum, deciding to focus on different age groups to define the user’s experience.
Research
Testing What We’ve Made:
With a working prototype created, we sought out real museum visitors to test our experiences. Moving forward with this data, we plan to better analyze the effectiveness of the app we had developed.
Project Learnings
What I Know Moving Forward:
- Designing for the user looks different from project to project. Working in a COVID environment, one of our biggest struggles was creating something that would accurately reach its goal in enhancing the user’s experience, as the museum was closed for the duration of our project’s run. Knowing this, we came to the realization that we had to create a prototype based the information we could gather. From there, we would have to test our knowledge in a real-life setting as it became safe again.
- The first prototype is not always a winner. Putting your heart into a certain design creates a connection between you and your work that makes it a heartbreaking moment when it’s scratched from the idea board. Although it may be hard to let go of at first, finding a solution that best fits the client’s needs come first and sometimes starting over again is the best way to do that.