Beyond Museum Walls
The development of a physical concept design that assesses the impact of a children's museum exhibition on the visitor experience for children aged six to twelve at the future makers! exhibition in nieuwe instituut
L. Tempelaar (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
Mathieu Gielen – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Codesigning Social Change)
A.P.O.S. Vermeeren – Mentor (TU Delft - Form and Experience)
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Abstract
This graduation project started with a request by Nieuwe Instituut to gain insights into their exhibition Future Makers! with the specific need to understand the impact it has on their visitors. The request is translated to the following design assignment.
“Develop a physical concept design that assesses the impact of a children's museum exhibition on the visitor experience for children aged six to twelve at the Future Makers! exhibition in the Nieuwe Instituut.”
This report explores the complex subject of assessing impact in museum environments and addresses the difficulties of defining and measuring impact on the visitor experience. To navigate the broad scope of museum impact assessment, the project separately explored the subject's museum visitor experience and impact assessment. By integrating theoretical frameworks with practical insights drawn from the Future Makers! exhibition, a set of guiding principles was established to act as a solid foundation.
After extensive background and user research, all information needed to ideate for is converged into four different layers of design elements: functional, conceptual, interaction and aesthetic. These layers informed the design challenge.
“Integrate the functional, conceptual, interaction and aesthetic design elements into a coherent, physical concept design. The design should resonate with children aged six to twelve and needs to assess their impact on broadening perspectives and knowledge; increase in knowledge and understanding and changes in values and beliefs?”
The ideation phase delved into each design layer, representing different design objectives and using tailored questions to spark curiosity. Multiple low-fidelity user testing and brainstorming sessions were conducted to refine ideas. This iterative process ensured the design aligned with the needs of the target group and best-fitted solutions were found.
The final phase of this project combined all ideated solutions into one coherent physical concept design, consisting of both a physical and digital prototype. The physical prototype aimed to find out if the user experiences a resonating experience, while the digital prototype aimed to assess the impact on the visitor experience through a pre- and post-survey design.
Testing the prototype during the Wonderbouweken revealed promising results. The design successfully captured visitor attention; twelve out of fifteen participants engaged with the physical and digital prototype, indicating the design caused a resonating experience. Whether or not the digital prototype can successfully assess impact can not be concluded yet.
The report ends with a last round of ideation to remove inefficiencies found during user testing and provide the museum with the final physical concept design: “The Fortune Teller Exhibit” and a step-by-step representation of the intended user journey.