Allen, S. Designs for Learning: Studying Science Museum Exhibits that do More Than Entertain. Science Education Vol. 88. No. 1 pp 17-S33. 2004.
Wow, I knew designing museum exhibits must be hard work, but I never imagined it would be so complicated! I’m so impressed with Ms. Allen’s and the Exploratorium’s commitment to real research and to applying that research in the exhibit halls. I think they’ve done a great job, and though it's true that there can probably never be a real “formula” for exhibit design, these are some excellent guidelines.
Some thoughts:
I’m really interested in the concept of flow. I’ve read about it a lot in terms of social and personality development, education, and even video games, but never museum design. But it seems like a perfect fit, as designers are trying to find the right balance between boredom (“is it worth it?”) and anxiety (cognitive overload).
This balance also reminds me of Vygotsky’s idea of ZPD—but then I wonder, what if there is no “expert” there to guide visitors? How do you know if signs are sufficient for the majority of such a diverse audience? Maybe in addition to creating visitor personas, we could think about creating expert personas appropriate for each one, and try to embody the qualities of those personas (i.e., a young child and an elementary school teacher, a teen and a peer, an adult and a tour guide) into our design.
I loved the idea of making the whole museum experience—not just the exhibit experience—easily apprehendable. If you’re frustrated about finding parking, you’re far less likely to enjoy and learn from your time in the museum. In CS 247, we had someone from IDEO lead us in a brainstorm on assessing needs around garage sales. He had us start from the “beginning”—the decision to go to a garage sale, getting directions, deciding on transportation. I think this brings home the point that experience—and learning in particular-- is connected to what comes before and after. We as designers need to keep in mind that what happens before a visitor enters and after a visitor leaves may be just as important as what happens when a visitor is in a space.
I thought it was really interesting how the narratives that elicit the strongest response were the ones that involved some kind of “life-endangering enterprise.” (that sure explains the success of the Shackleton IMAX! http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackleton/) Having worked at NOVA, this makes a lot of sense to me—the more drama you can inject into a documentary, the better! Something NOVA is really good at is dramatizing the scientific pursuit itself, often by focusing on an individual scientist and his or her search for answers and setbacks along the way. (Some good examples are shows on Rosalind Franklin, Percy Julian, and Judah Folkman: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/julian/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/cancer/ Museums often use short documentaries, but maybe dramatized scientist biographies would be a good way to incorporate narrative into their exhibits.