This case study outlines a co-design process which took place over several months and focused specifically on the wayfinding challenges of Museon. It details the collaboration between the cultural heritage professionals and meSch designers in devising and testing a technological solution.
During April 2013, discussions between designers from Waag Society and
cultural heritage professionals from Museon led to the identification
of defined challenges, namely wayfinding and connecting the exhibits with one another. The idea of an augmented compass
as a tool for wayfinding emerged from this discussion, and all the participants agreed that it should be turned into
a physical prototype for further creative exploration.
Testing the concept solution of a compass through Low Fidelity Prototyping raised
further questions during the next co-design session. Groups made of designers and cultural heritage professionals went through the museum, Bodystorming with the compass and Brainstorming
about its possible functionalities in the physical context of the exhibits.
The cultural heritage professionals came up with an array of ideas that were further investigated by the whole group
through Narrative Scenarios
. In the scenario evaluation discussion, the compass was valued for tackling the wayfinding challenges, providing a way
to adapt to the visitor’s preferences and to store the visit’s footprint.
When it came to developing a functional compass prototype, the existing constraints made the design shift toward a form factor of a loupe. The Loupe prototype was built as a magnifying glass visually augmenting objects or locations in the exhibition space, and provided clues to visitors for moving to the next point of a recommended trajectory.
For more accounts of this case study please see this blog post.
Cultural Heritage Professionals’ Testimonials:
“ I think it was good for us to see so this is what’s possible because we wouldn’t have found that out for ourselves.”
“It’s been really interesting to work with narratives and stories because it makes me consider what type of content I could work with and the different ways to work.”
