Everything We Currently Know About Making
Visitor-Friendly Mechanical Interactive Exhibits
Ben Gammon
INTRODUCTION
This paper summarizes what we have discovered about how visitors use mechanical interactive exhibits: the problems they encounter, what works and what does not. This data comes from testing almost 100 Science Museum, London, prototype exhibits from exhibitions such as: Things, The Garden, The Secret Life of the Home, Human Factors, Health Matters, Challenge of Materials, Science of Sport, Launch Pad, various Science Box exhibitions, as well as the formative evaluation currently underway for the new Wellcome Wing and evaluation at other museums around the world.
"Mechanical interactive" refers
to any interactive that does not use a computer screen. These range from
purely mechanical exhibits, through those using electrical components,
to those that are computer driven but do not include a screen. However,
many of the lessons outlined below can also be applied to screen-based
exhibits.
The sort of formative evaluation carried
out in the Science Museum over the past few years focuses on the three
key questions of exhibit design--ergonomics, communication and motivation.
- Can visitors operate the exhibit?
- Do visitors interpret the exhibit in
the way that the exhibit developers want them to? Do they understand
the messages it is trying to communicate?
- Is their attention caught and held for
long enough to communicate the messages? Do they enjoy using the exhibit?
Are they motivated to think about and learn from the exhibit? Do they
finish the interaction feeling more confident?
Much hinges upon visitors' prior knowledge
and understanding of the specific content of each exhibit and how well
the exhibit developer has taken account of this. Problems that arise due
to visitors' misconceptions or lack of awareness about the content can
only be dealt with through careful front-end and formative evaluation.
Various general lessons can be drawn about how to design interface controls and similar issues. I have arranged these under the following headings:
Visitors' Understanding of the Exhibit
Design of Interface Controls
Positioning of Exhibits
Visitors' Interpretation of the Exhibit Content
Labels and Instructions
How Visitors Behave
Planning Exhbiit Content
Visitors do Weird Things in Museums
VISITORS' UNDERSTANDING OF THE EXHIBIT
Lesson 1: Good cmmunication between exhibits and visitors is key.
Feedback (i.e. the response of the exhibit to the actions of the visitor) is the single most important feature of interactive design. Without effective feedback from the exhibit visitors have little chance of working out what to do, knowing if they have done it, knowing whether they have done something wrong, knowing what to do next, or finding out what the exhibit is trying to show them.
Feedback can be visual, audio, tactile or a combination of these.
Without appropriate feedback visitors are unlikely to get beyond an initial trial and error approach and may not remain at the exhibit for more than a few seconds. An exhibit that does not quickly and effectively respond is usually one that visitors turn away from saying "its broken!"
A common mistake is the failure to provide "negative feedback" i.e. telling the user that they have chosen the wrong answer or have failed to carry out the correct action. 'No response' is not 'a response' - it is a lack of information that causes confusion and frustration. The controls of an exhibit must always provide some form of perceptible response to visitors' actions.
Feedback failure can occur because it is: not provided in the first place; not seen by the user; not understood by the user; or hidden among other, irrelevant, output from the exhibit.
Feedback should be clear and unambiguous - it must be obvious to the user. Subtle feedback - e.g. slight flickering of dials, faint noises - are likely to be missed. This means that any visual response must be in-line-of-sight for the user as they are standing, looking at the controls. Audio feedback needs to be clearly audible and locatable.
Problems will arise when multiple bits of feedback appear simultaneously. Visitors will only notice one of these and not recognize the change occurring at another part of the exhibit.
Designers must know what direction visitors will be looking while they operate the controls. It is no good having a message appear if it is not immediately visible. They won't see it, so it might as well not exist.
Confusing responses can have nothing to do with the important effect visitors should observe (i.e. false feedback). If visitors are required to compare two variables, it is essential that all other variables are held constant so that the difference is unambiguous. If visitors are to compare printed cloth to dyed cloth, texture, size, weave, and color must be the same in each example.
There should be a clear visual link between the controls and their effect. People always look for the simplest pathway of cause and effect.
Lesson 2: The first few seconds of interaction with an exhibit are crucial.
An exhibit must respond to the visitor's input within the first few seconds. This initial 'hand-shake' is vital to a successful interaction between visitor and exhibit.
A good rule of thumb is that an exhibit must respond in some way within 1-2 seconds even if it is only a message saying "Wait a moment." Anything less and visitors may assume the exhibit is broken and/or start using it inappropriately. Exhibits which ask visitors to press a button and wait a few seconds DON'T WORK.
Other suggestions are:
- make sure handles work both clockwise and anticlockwise ( people will turn them the wrong way);
- remove things that look like controls but are not (e.g. rivet heads) and therefore do not respond to touch;
- make sure that the exhibits response of the exhibit is immediately visible to the visitor as they stand at the exhibit; beware of things which may distract attention from the exhibit response.
DESIGN OF INTERFACE CONTROLS
Lesson 3: Visitors need to understand what each control does and which control causes which effect.
Visitors often assume that they are causing the exhibit to respond even when they are not.
Exhibits with multiple controls cause problems. If there are multiple controls on an exhibit visitors often cannot tell which control is operative. This leads to enormous confusion and frustration as the visitor cannot make sense of what the exhibit is doing. This is a major problem in many mechanical exhibits.
Make the link between operating parts and controls clearly visible. Visitors then can build up a mental model of how the exhibit works. Exposing the links between the controls and the moving parts makes it easier for the visitor to see what each control does and reduces the likelihood of them attributing the wrong cause to the effect observed.
If multiple controls are required make controls for different functions should look different.
Allow direct mapping of the movement of controls onto the movement of the mechanism (e.g. move joystick away from body to generate forward motion; move joystick toward body for reverse).
Use familiar controls and layout for the exhibit even if this is not the most aesthetically pleasing. The prior knowledge that visitors will bring to the exhibit will dramatically reduce the instructions required. But do remember visitors do weird things in museums and do not always use controls in the expected manner.
Buttons are for pressing, handles and knobs for turning, levers for pulling and pushing. Buttons should look like buttons and move only in one direction. Levers should look and feel like levers and so on.
Real equipment this is rarely designed for use by untrained people; do not be obsessively literal in your representation of it. Many exhibits fail because exhibit developers have taken real equipment and simply put it in a gallery expecting visitors to be able to use it.
Lesson 4: Visitors often assume that buttons should be pressed and then quickly released (i.e. are toggle switches).
Visitors often assume that they need to press buttons only once, quickly, and then let go. Exhibit interfaces where buttons need to be pressed and held down cause serious problems.
Hold-down buttons need to generate an obvious response within a second so that visitors know that the exhibit is working and realise that the response has ceased because they have stopped pressing the button.
Toggle-switch buttons should stay down after the first press and come up on the second. Auditory and tactile feedback may also indicate that the mechanism has engaged or been disengaged (e.g. a click). This indicates to the visitor that they have switched the mechanism on or off and do not need to hold the button down.
Lesson 5: Beware of things which look like interface controls.
Clearly differentiate the exhibit structure from the controls. Beware of features that look like controls but do not operate anything. Many visitors will assume these are controls and try to use them. This causes obvious confusion. Dud buttons - put on for show - cause similar problems, as do lights that look like push-buttons.
Lesson 6: Handles need to work in both directions.
Handles should operate when turned either clockwise or anti-clockwise. Visitors will often choose the wrong direction and then not understand why nothing is happening.
If a handle must work only in one direction, a prominent arrow should be placed just above the handle, in the visitors' line-of-sight, indicating the turning direction.
Lesson 7: Reset mechanisms can cause confusion.
Reset mechanisms - which return a mechanical exhibit to its resting state - need to be used with caution. The optimum time between the end of the activity and the reset needs to be carefully determined. Ideally a reset mechanism should activate only when the exhibit has been left untouched for a significant period of time, e.g. 3 - 4 minutes.
Upon seeing an exhibit reset itself, visitors often assume that they have selected a wrong answer, done something wrong or somehow else caused the exhibit to act in this way. Visitors assume that they have caused the exhibit to do something.
Lesson 8: Visitors will try their very best to do things in the wrong order.
Exhibits that require visitors to do a series of action in a particular sequence will always cause problems.
With mechanical exhibits there is no way to prevent visitors from trying to use a control when it is not active, or when it is not appropriate to use this control. When the control does not respond visitors usually assume that they have not applied enough force or that the exhibit is not working.
- Controls should be clearly and distinctly numbered.
- There should be a logical arrangement of the controls in the order of use, i.e. clockwise/anticlockwise, rows, columns.
- Avoid having visitors use the same control more than once in the sequence. If this is necessary, try a circular clockwise/anticlockwise arrangement so that the visitor automatically returns to this control.
- If visitors need to move from one part of the exhibit to another to use components in a particular order, clearly indicate where they are supposed to start and where they are supposed to finish.
- Active buttons should illuminate or flash to indicate that they are ready to use. Confusion will arise if the lights fail. Visitors must see the buttons while they are operating the exhibit.
- The fewer the controls the better; minimization makes the exhibit look easier to use.
- When multiple controls are required be sure different functions look different. Make switches look different from levers.
- Feedback should be provided after the completion of each step in a sequence; otherwise visitors will not know whether they have completed one step and when to move on to the next stage. The start and finish points of the sequence should be clearly defined.
- If visitors must use controls in a set sequence, interlock mechanisms (lock-ins or lock-outs) will prevent visitors from using controls at the wrong time. However, visitors may try these controls anyway and then assume that they are broken rather than locked/inactive.
POSITIONING OF EXHIBITS
Lesson 9: Visitors don't look up.
Items on the ceiling must viewed from a long distance so visitors don't have to raise their heads more than a few degrees to see them. Move and/or sound call attention to them.
Lesson 10: In communications exhibits in which people must interact with others at remote locations it is vital that both users can see each other.
Interactives which involve visitors communicating with other people at a distance need to be designed so that both visitors can see whether anyone is at the other end of the exhibit. Otherwise they have no way of knowing what to say, when and little motivation to try to communicate anything.
Lesson 11: Don't hide exhibits in inaccessible parts of the gallery.
Visitors will not find exhibits that are in obscure places. Visitors are unlikely to find parts of exhibits that are scattered throughout exhibitions or across various galleries.
People, especially young children, are reluctant to put their heads or entire bodies into a small, enclosed space. If visitors need to enter an enclosed space, the entrance needs to be in-line-of-sight as the visitor approaches the exhibit. People are reluctant to enter dark enclosed spaces with no clear exits.
VISITORS' INTERPRETATION OF THE EXHIBIT
Lesson 12: Visitors do tend to take things very literally.
Although metaphors are a popular method of conveying complex abstract information, they should be used cautiously. Both children and adults tend to take an incredibly literal interpretation of everything they seen in exhibitions. The use of a metaphor needs to be carefully tested with visitors to ensure it conveys the required information in the context where it is being used.
Here are some examples that caused confusion:
Inside the cell: This exhibit was designed to show where genetic material is found within the cell. The exhibit consisted of a clear plastic model of the cell (about half a metre in diameter) with the outer and nuclear membranes labelled. Inside the nucleus there was a cassette player and tape which, when switched on, played a short piece of music. The analogy was that the cassette player represents the cell's chromosomes, the tape represents DNA and each song represents a gene. However, some visitors thought that the meaning of the exhibit had something to do with the actual words of the song. The lyrics of this song had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with cell biology, it just happened that one of the exhibition team fancied Jarvis Cocker.
An exhibit where you have to use an endoscope to look for toy animals inside a section of drain pipe was assumed by some children to be a warning to look after your pets and not allow them to get stuck in drains. In fact the exhibit was trying to illustrate how endoscopes can be used. The choice of things placed inside the pipe was, of course, entirely arbitrary.
In one section of an exhibition about nanotechnology, a stack of encyclopaedia was displayed next to a pin. The accompanying text told the visitor that it may soon be possible to store the same amount of information that is currently contained in a set of encyclopaedia on something the size of the head of a pin. Some visitors missed the point of this display and were overheard saying that the pin on display had the entire Encyclopaedia Britannia inscribed on its head. In fact the pin was one we found on the floor of the office while we were building the exhibition.
Visitors often interpret irrelevant details as being important clues. Hence they may assume that certain aspects of a photograph e.g. the colour of someone's hair is the clue they need to use to solve the problem. The answer to this problem is to carefully evaluate images and representations you intend to use during exhibit development.
Lesson 13: But then again exhibit developers can be obsessively literal as well.
Exhibits can sometimes be ruined by the developers being obsessively literal in their representations. Although it is great fun for visitor to operate real equipment this is rarely designed for use by untrained people, and especially not children. I have seen so many exhibits fail because exhibit developers have taken real equipment and just placed it out on gallery expecting visitors to be able to use it. Often this equipment has poor ergonomic design, looks terrible and is far too fragile for use in a museum or science centre environment.
It is often far more effective to show visitors a simplified version or mock-up that they can use and learn from than some incomprehensible piece of black-box technology which they will not be able to operate or understand.
Content in exhibits does not need to be slavishly accurate if that means it becomes incomprehensible to visitors. This is a fundamental principle of teaching - to provide novice learns with a useful, comprehensible model that approximately describes the world. This can then be gradually refined. When teaching children about atoms you don't start with quantum mechanics, you start by describing atoms as very tiny hard spheres, then as miniature solar systems with electrons orbiting a central nucleus and so on.
In other words it is often better to cheat a little and get an exhibit that visitors can use and understand than be obsessively accurate and end up with an exhibit that achieves nothing. One bad example I came across consisted of an exhibit where children had to match raw materials to the products that were made out of them. One section involved children matching oil and plastic. The oil used was a clear liquid of relatively low viscosity i.e. it looked like water. We recommended that this be changed to a black sticky liquid that would look like crude oil but we were told that the fraction of oil that was used to make that particular plastic is not black. Needless to say visitors cannot understand this exhibit because they think the liquid is water. (NB the raw materials are not labelled because quote "that would make the activity too easy".)
Lesson 14: Anything that requires visitors to respond quickly are assumed to be a test of their speed of reaction - even when it is not.
We have found that any exhibit that requires visitors to respond quickly are assumed by the visitors to be a test of their speed of reaction. This is a problem when the exhibit is not a test of their speed of response but is a test of their observational skills, ability to follow a rhythm, do a repetitive task or whatever. This proves to be a difficult misconception to dispel and requires a lot of emphasis.
LABELS AND INSTRUCTIONS
Lesson 15: If they possibly can visitors will not read labels.
OK visitors do read some labels but only if they are highly motivated. If they possibly can they will try and work things out for themselves. This means that they will often ignore lengthy instructions and instead do what the design of the exhibit appears to tell them to do. This usually means doing: what is easy to do; what is fun; what they have learnt to do previously with similar looking equipment.
The design of the exhibit should suggest to visitors what they should do. The instructions should merely be a back-up system. Anything more than about 20 words will be ignored. Nonetheless controls and objects do need to be labelled so that visitors can see what they are suppose to do or be.
On average visitor will spend about 3-5 minutes at a mechanical interactive, so you need to get your message across quickly. Exhibits that require 5 minutes of instructions and / or reams of explanatory text before anything can be achieved, are unlikely to hold the visitor's attention long enough for them to gain anything useful.
Lesson 16: Visitors act like Lemmings and copy other people's behaviour.
A much preferred method of finding out how to use an interactive exhibit, rather than reading the label, is to watch someone else it and then copy them.
This is fine if the previous person was using the exhibit correctly but this is often not the case. You can often see visitor after visitor using an exhibit incorrectly because they are copying what the previous person did.
This effect is not usually observed during formative evaluation since the visitor observed has not seen anyone else using the exhibit. Also under the conditions of formative evaluation visitors are much more likely to read any labels provided.
Lesson 17: Labelling must be clear and concise. There must also be a strong incentive to read it.
We've found that, if they possibly can, visitors will race past text or spoken instructions and go straight into the game (this is especially true of children). Of course this often means that they then cannot work out what to do. Therefore, if there is a particular set of instructions that visitors must read or hear then design the interface so they cannot do anything else until they have had a chance to read or listen. For example, if you have some spoken instructions don't allow visitors to move on to the next stage until the instructions have finished.
Its pretty unlikely that visitors will read reams of text before starting a game or selecting an answer. Its like getting a new board-game for Christmas - you don't want to spend hours reading the instruction book, you just want to get on and play the game. As a rule we've found visitors are much more likely to read text while they are engaged in a task or after they have answered a question, to find out how well they did or why they got the answer wrong.
Visitors tend to look at labels for instruction rather than for information. Therefore, one sneaky way of getting visitors to read informative text is to disguise it as instructions or bury it amongst the instructional text. Another trick is to present visitors with what appears to be an easy question which they get wrong. There is then a powerful incentive to read the text to find out why they got it wrong.
These problems are more acute for mechanical interactives compared to computer-based exhibits since it is more difficult to gradually reveal the text and to place the text in the centre of users' line-of-sight. It is mostly adults who read labels, often out loud to their children. Labels should be written that help the adult play the role of 'Explainer.' The best kind of labels are ones that direct visitors' attention to relevant parts of the exhibit through open-ended prompting questions. Adults can use these in their discussions with the children.
Diagrams illustrating how the exhibit is to be operated are extremely effective method of conveying instruction, particularly for visitors who cannot read English. A diagram or cartoon is more likely to be looked at than a block of text and pictures can quickly convey large amounts of information. Although they do look a bit naff visitors do like lift-up flap labels. This can be an effective way of getting visitors to read text.
Lesson 18: Labels must be placed as close as possible to the exhibit and MUST be in-line-of-sight as the visitor operates the controls.
The label should never be more than 0.5 metres from the exhibit and if possible physically attached to it. The label should also be in line-of-sight as visitors approach the exhibit and when they are operating the controls, not off to one side or set at right angles to the exhibit.
Beware placing other unrelated labels close to an exhibit. Chances are that visitors will read the wrong label and get confused.
If the text directs visitors' attention to some part of the exhibit then this should be visible. Sound obviously doesn't it but believe it or not …. So if you mention the gold foil, ray gun, naked person, or whatever, this must be visible, in line of sight and obvious to visitors. It is no use if visitors cannot see or recognise it. You may know it is there but visitors do not and so will not be able to understand the instructions.
And remember 8% of the male population and 0.1% of the female population are red/green colour-blind. This means that a significant proportion of our visitors cannot easily tell the difference between a red and a green light, or red and green text.
Lesson 19: Exhibit names can convey useful information.
Remember the importance of a clear and unambiguous title. The title is the one piece of text that is most likely to be read.
Ideally the title should provide visitors with a thumb-nail sketch of what the exhibit is about and what they will do. In practice the former is much more difficult to achieve than the latter.
A title is a means of helping visitors to perceive the exhibit in the same way as the exhibit developer. The title will also feature prominently in any of the visitors' discussions about the exhibit. But the title will not be what draws a visitor to an exhibit. Visitors are attracted by the sight and sound of the exhibit and / or by visitors using it. It is no use giving an exhibit a weird and wonderful title in the hope that it will get visitors to use it. More likely this will lead to wildly inappropriate expectations and eventually disappointment e.g. 'Magnetic River' is just a sheet of metal with another bit of metal on top of it.
Titles have a nasty habit of appearing in publications, resource packs, checklists and worksheets. Ideally a title should convey the theme of the interactive even if the visitor cannot see the exhibit while reading the title.
HOW VISITORS BEHAVE
Lesson 20: Young children experience particular problems.
One of the main problems we have encountered with exhibits aimed at young children is to encourage the accompanying adults to join in with the activity to an appropriate degree. Adults tend to either, step back and provide too little help, or completely take over the whole activity and not let the children do anything.
Exhibits aimed at very young visitors still need to be labelled so that accompanying adults know how to help their children. Text should be written bearing in mind that it is likely to be read out loud or quickly paraphrased by the accompanying adults for their children.
It is vital to evaluate the exhibit with the accompanying adults (as well as the children) to ensure that they understand the exhibit and can correctly interpret it for their children.
There is a profound difference between something being child-friendly and childish. Exhibits that are targeted at a young audience need to be child-friendly. They don't have to look like children's toys as children will try and use them whatever. Equally adults find childish exhibits off-putting. In other words, just because something looks childish does not mean that it is child-friendly. I've seen examples of an exhibit about sub-atomic physics that were designed to look like a children's story-book. This brilliantly fails to meet the needs of any audience.
Another common facile is to assume that simply placing an exhibit at a low level makes it child-friendly. This often has the opposite effect as accompanying adults cannot easily help the child use the exhibit. Without this help children often do not know what to do and / or have little inclination to use the exhibit.
Young children particularly enjoy exhibit that include representations of people: e.g. dioramas. This seems to be an effective way of getting children to build stories around the exhibit and ask questions about the people shown.
And some practical issues:
- Young children, are reluctant to put their heads or entire bodies into a small enclosed space.
- Children below the age of 10 have less manual dexterity and less patience than older children and adults.
- Young children have problems operating small controls. This is even the case with touch-screen computers. Children below the age of 7 have difficulty touching an area with just one finger. Often they touch the screen with their whole hand. Thus active areas on touch-screens specifically designed for young children must be large and well spaced.
- Eye-pieces should have a diameter of no less than 1.5 cm. Anything smaller and children, in particular find it difficult to keep their eye open as the eye-piece is brought close to the eye-ball. Make sure that the edges and corners of eye-pieces are smooth and rounded so that it looks as if it will be comfortable to place your face against.
- Gearing - remember for children to operate large, heavy machinery you will need to use a low gear ratio but this will result in the machinery moving very slowly.
Lesson 21: A 'race against the clock' is an excellent way of making something that is intrinsically dull, exciting.
Visitors, particularly children, find completing a task against the clock very exciting. This is even found with extremely trivial tasks and hence is an effective technique for making interactives more appealing. Children are often observed repeatedly playing the game in an attempt to improve their scores.
Lesson 22: Sometimes you need to slow visitors down.
Yes an exhibit needs to respond immediately to a visitor's input but that does not mean that the entire experience should be completed within 5 microseconds. Sometimes it is necessary to design an exhibit so that visitors have to take more time and care to complete the activity. Hopefully this will mean that they are more thoughtful.
Lesson 23: Visitors are attracted to things that are brightly coloured, move, make a noise, look like they are interactive …
Visitors are attracted to things that have at least some of the following characteristics: move, make a pleasant noise, are brightly coloured and well lit, have a complex shape, an intrinsic surface, are famous, nostalgic, have been sectioned, are unusual quirky or amusing, look like they can be manipulated and operated, that can be touched, have people crowded around them.
Visitors are not interested in things that look static, difficult to interpret (and hence require reading a huge label to understand) or are mundane everyday objects that they can see in their homes, schools or shops.
Lesson 24: Visitors love Feely Boxes but …
Feely boxes are popular exhibits, especially with children, and an effective method of getting visitors to use their sense of touch to investigate an object. They can be a great way of making finding about an object, fun and challenging. However …
Feely Boxes don't work if people can look straight into them - seems obvious doesn't it but this mistake has been made. If the visitor can easily see inside the box the motivation to put one's hand into it sinks to zero.
None-the-less once visitors have felt what's inside they want to look, so you need to provide a strong, flexible covering that can be moved aside, a lift-up lid or some other method of revealing what is there. Otherwise they will just wrench the cover off.
Objects inside the Feely Boxes need to be positioned in such a way as to ensure that the visitor's hand touches them as soon as they reach into the box rather than resting on the floor or stuck to the top of the box. In other words they need to be positioning 'in-line-of-reach'. Otherwise many visitors just will not find them.
Care needs to be taken to ensure that any support for the object isn't confused as being part of the object.
Lesson 25: Visitors rarely see the beginning of a video presentation.
The two main problems visitors have with videos are i) not being able to hear the audio output; ii) joining the video part way through and not being able to work out what it is about.
The video needs to be structured so that visitors are constantly reminded of the theme and key messages - e.g. every couple of minutes. This will ensure that visitors who join the video part way through (which let's face it is going to be the majority of visitors) don't have to wait too long before finding out what the exhibit is about.
Audio out-put from the video needs to be of a sufficient volume and quality for most visitors to hear when the gallery is busy. TV monitors should always show some kind of image even when in a resting state. Visitors will assume it is broken if they see a blank screen.
Lesson 26: Visitors don't expect to find works of art in science museums.
Visitors respond extremely positively to the use of art-work in the Science Museum. The main problem we face is getting visitors to recognise that they are looking at an art-work and not some object, interactive or incidental part of the gallery structure.
Because visitors are not expecting to come across art-works - and since there are only ever likely to be a few works of art in a science museum compared to other exhibits - it is vital to label them as works of art.
Visitors do want the art-work interpreted to some degree. Research has shown that visitors respond much more positively to works of modern art if there is some basic interpretation provided.
PLANNING EXHIBIT CONTENT
Lesson 27: Be clear about what your exhibit is trying to achieve.
Problems often arise early in the development of an exhibit if there is doubt, confusion or obfuscation about what the exhibit is trying to do. In the development of any exhibit it is vital to consider the following questions at the earliest stage:
- Are there clear, concise objectives for the exhibit?
- Are these objectives realistic? Will the visitor be able to comprehend the messages of the exhibit? Can this amount of information be communicated through this medium?
Objectives should also be graded according to age. An exhibit can quite reasonably have different objectives for different age ranges but you do need to be realistic - four year olds tend to know relatively little about quantum dynamics.
Failure to set objectives leads to confusion since nobody really knows why the exhibit is being developed, what are the priorities, whether or not the exhibit is working and so on. Some of the worst examples I have come across are where people try to retro-fit objectives to exhibits in the belief that whatever visitors get from the exhibit and however they use the exhibit is valid and worth the money being spent. The logical conclusion from that is that no exhibit can ever fail no matter how badly designed or conceived it is--which of course is patent nonsense.And finally--
Lesson 28: Don't make assumptions - visitors do weird things in museums.
Visitors come to the Museum expecting to behave in a particular way and to do particular things. These actions may bear no relation to what the visitor might do outside the Museum. It is therefore hazardous to assume that visitors will necessarily follow the clues you provide for them about how to use an exhibit. The clues might be appropriate and helpful in the visitor's home but not in a museum setting. The only way to reduce the chances of making a bad interactive is to do as much prototype testing as possible.
Acknowledgments
A big 'thank you' for their hard work to all the people who have contributed to the findings outlined in this document. I would particularly like to mention: Peter Bailes, Kirsten Barton, Sandra Bicknell, Emma Birch, Eleanor Bridgman, Catherine Bristow, Lindsay Cook, Jane Croucher, Karen Davies, Jo Graham, Keith Greaves, Catherine Halcrow, Yvonne Harris, Barbara Keating, Rachel Kingston, Susan Klugman, Ros Mist, Theano Moussouri, Amanda Parkes, Dave Patten, Jill Payne, Alison Percy, Carmine Ruggiero, Claire Seymour and Nick Smith. Thank you to all of you, I could not have done this without all your hard work.
Author info here.Ben Gammon is Head of Visitor Research at The Science Museum, London.