The Zen Den

Research Objective

Our research objective was to gain a deep and holistic view of museum users’ experiences. To achieve this, we planned to gain insights into the props (the built environment and artifacts), the people (the user’s personal appeal to the space), and the processes (how the users interact with/within the experience).

By investigating these interconnected categories, we hoped to gain well-rounded insights into the user experience (summated into the following questions):

1. What are the compelling factors that attract users to museums?
2. How can we adapt museum spaces to better cater to the needs of users?
3. How can elements of UX increase the positive impression of museums?

Sensitising

Our research participants were presented with sensitising materials in the lead up to our in-person generative research sessions. This was done in order to slowly allow participants to become more introspective and aware of their habits, making it easier for participants to assimilate into the generative sessions by“triggering creativity. By doing this, we were able to prompt deeper discussion and reflection on the experiences of our users/participants during the sessions.

The topic for our sensitising exercises was on how people spend their downtime. This broad topic was chosen as it’s open-ended (to allow for more subjective responses) while still being related to our research topic (museums).

The sensitising booklet consisted of 10 activities, split into 2 activities to be completed per day for 5 days. These 10 activities were split into four main categories under the general terms of how people spend their downtime: hobbies, staying at home, going out, and socialising with friends.

We ran a pilot test with of initial sensitizing booklet, finding that we needed to adjust the order of our activities, make some instructions clearer, change the general aesthetic of the booklet and also add a conclusion. The second pilot test was well received and looked more inviting to participants, so we ran with that version (supplied below).

User Research - Generative Sessions

We ran 2 generative sessions with 9 participants in total. These sessions were a tool through which to hear detailed and diverse information about the experiences of our target users, and consisted of two activities and group discussions. Within these sessions the participants could listen and bounce ideas off of each other, leading to useful discussion, a consensus on pain points and highlights, and deeper insights into the user journey.

Both the collage and cognitive map directly focused on the experience of museums. A large range of diverse stimuli (i.e. icons, pictures, words) were provided for each activity for participants to use as a guide through which to describe emotions and experiences. In combination, the collage and cognitive walkthrough were used to highlight the main highs and lows of the museum experience among our participants (18-25 year old museum-goers).

The collage used a mix of literal and ambiguous words and images to spark creativity and aid with the participants' interpretation of the activity. Participants were given 20 minutes to reflect and plot their experiences of museums overtime before a group discussion where they could share and explain further.

The cognitive map consisted of relevant but generic icons to be used as springboards for participants to write and draw about their own experiences. We asked our participants to map out their last museum experience, from start to end, before another explanation/elaboration and group discussion was conducted.

Synthesising Findings - Statement Cards

Two of my groupmates transcribed the generative sessions and picked out over 220 key quotes. From here, I grouped and organised these quotes according to key themes and ideas onto statement cards. We printed the statements cards out and physically arranged them into relevant, overarching themes of our users’ experiences.

The statement cards were arranged into 8 groups, with the 8 arising key themes being as follows:

1. Self-direction enables self-reflection in relation to artifacts
2. New experiences at museums are the most rewarding
3. Relevant and relatable artefacts are more engaging
4. Interactive experiences and visualisations help to create an enjoyable and immersive experience overall
5. Perceived constraints and pressures restrict the ability to enjoy museums
6. Social interactions enhance and add to the experience of museums
7. Navigating to and through museums can be frustrating
8. An understanding of the artifact allows for a higher level of appreciation

Research Visualisation - Deliverable (Poster)

To finish this stage, we translated our research findings into a poster, including key quotes in support of the 8 key themes we observed about the museum experiences of young adults. My role was to put it all together; composing the layout, writing the summaries and selecting the quotes - shout out to Jade for creating the great sculpture and people graphics!

Following on from our initial research we chose to narrow in on one overarching theme for our solution to focus on, that perceived constraints and pressures restrict the ability of young adults to enjoy museums.

Design Vision

We aimed to foster freedom and expression of thought in young adult patrons of the White Rabbit Gallery. This was in response to members of our target audience conveying a shared feeling that perceived constraints and pressures restricted their ability to enjoy museums. Our target audience of Young Adults was chosen primarily due to the proximity of the gallery to Universities.

These perceived constraints and pressures were experienced in a number of ways and decreased their enjoyment and engagement with the artefacts presented. Some commonly perceived constraints included: carrying/managing belongings, imposed rules (i.e. do not touch exhibits, do not make noise), feeling as if they weren’t welcome, the perceived judgments being made by other patrons about them, the pace and directions of other people, and the perceived expectation that they would have pre-formed knowledge as well as be gaining cultural and historical knowledge while there.

Thus, we planned to change the museum ethos of the strict and unwelcoming environment reported by our patrons by making museum visitors feel more comfortable and redefining the implicit and overbearing museum rules.

Storyboards & Decision Matrices

We each produced 2 storyboards to flesh out some ideas for solutions/approaches to the problem. We discussed and explained these ideas with a range of peers and industry professionals to help us see beyond our initial thinking and develop all of the ideas further.

Storyboards - by me

Storyboards - by Jade

From there, we did a Harris Profile (Visual Decision Matrix) on each of the ideas proposed in order to standardise, centralise and justify our decision-making process regarding which idea to pursue further. We designed the criteria for the matrix based on a mix of what our users had identified as requirements, what the original brief required, and what secondary research suggested as key elements of successful experiential/spatial designs.

The Rationale - Problem Solving Approach

The Zen Den was the concept chosen as it responded most effectively to our design brief, according to the matrices and feedback/discussion. This concept tackles the pain points of museums being perceived as too strict, being environments in which young adults feel a pressure to be intellectual, being unwelcoming, and being too controlled with patrons feeling very little personal ownership over their experience. This is done through a combination of experiential learning and immersion-oriented design within the context of the White Rabbit Gallery.