I really liked the emphasis on user testing and the think-aloud experience. Was your group tasked with any focus on designing for accessibility? As well can you expand a bit on the experience of redesigning the buttons as part of your think-aloud experience (I’m looking at poster item #2 under results)? I’d love to hear more about that process and how you incorporated user feedback into the button design. Do you have any “before” images of the buttons to show the evolution that you could link out to?
In this project, we focused on language use and colorblindness in regards to accessibility design. Since museums need to connect and cater to a broad age range within their audience, we needed the language to be clear enough for children, teens, young adults, adults, and elderly users. Within that demographic as well, we needed the instructions written in a language that would be clear to all the age ranges as well as users who may or may not be familiar with mobile games. During our first and second testing sessions, we noticed that older users typically needed more guidance due to them not being familiar with mobile games. Clear language use allows for a more enjoyable user experience by providing instructions that are understood by different age ranges and experience levels. We saw this during user testing sessions as young testers enjoyed the app while older testers became frustrated when they were confused in what they were supposed to do to interact with the app. By making these language edits, our team was able to improve the user experience for users who fall in the older age range as well as users who may not be familiar with mobile games. We also had a testing session with an individual who has severe colorblindness, to know if the user interface was still legible with the red buttons (see the bottom three buttons in Figure 1). Due to the thick outlines of the buttons’ symbols and the contrast in its color, the user was able to still read what the symbols were in order to navigate the app.
Icons went through two major design changes: first, we added thick, black outlines of the buttons’ symbols, and second, we changed the symbol of the right button (see the bottom three buttons in Figure1). With the first change, not only were we trying to match the art style of Helmutt, but we also were designing them with enough thickness and contrast, so the symbols would still be legible for users if they could not read the buttons’ color (red colorblindness). Unfortunately, I do not have the assets of the first iteration, but the third button used to be swatches of fabric rather than the needle and thread. Users were confused as to what the original symbol was, because it was not reading as fabric with the black and white color palette. So we switched the symbol to something similar, the needle and thread, in order to convey that this button accessed the accessories menu and patches that you could “sew” onto your jersey. This switch was a better visual symbol to communicate with users what the button accessed.
Thank you! It can be very difficult to design systems with such a broad remit, and I think your group did a great job in balancing the differing demands.
Kylie Jacobsen
1 year ago
This sounds like a fun project! Thank you for sharing. Could you talk more about the direction from your client to make the design “character-based and not UI-based?” What did that mean for you and your team in the planning and research phase? I see by your results section that you looked closely at the UI in later iterations. What kind of communication strategies did you use to convey the importance of this design decision to your client?
Many apps focus on designing their main interactions with the UI elements, such as pop up instructions when a player first opens or begins the app. This method of providing instructions does not create a personal connection between the player and developer. Since we were developing this app during the second COVID Spring/Summer, we needed to ensure that the app was designed so it was capable achieving this while being separated from the exhibition (visitors needed to download the app rather than the exhibition include iPads in the exhibition space). Our client already uses Helmutt as a mascot in the museum to provide additional information in their exhibitions, so including him as the instructional character was familiar to the visitors already.
This was actually a design decision brought to us by our client. They wanted to include Helmutt as the focus and customizable character interaction. After we tested our first group of users, who responded to our survey stating the app was cute but confusing, we looked at the language used in the wall text that Helmutt provides in the museum exhibitions. In these wall texts, our client used familiar, clear, and playful language, so we translated that similar style into the opening instructions that comes from Helmutt in the app.This language style connects the user to the actual exhibition they were visiting.
danielliddle
1 year ago
This seems like a very useful, real-world application! I was wondering if you could talk a little more about the relationship between the app and the exhibit. Did the app interact with the objects in the exhibit? Or if it was stand-alone, was there a place for users to congregate while they played? It seems like a great experience.
We started development of this app in January 2021 through June 2021, so this was during the peak of COVID and the second Spring/Summer of the pandemic. Normally our client includes either hands-on activities or iPad stands to include interaction in the exhibition. However, they needed something that involved less shared touch to avoid COVID concerns. The exhibition space was designed with social distancing in mind, so there was space where visitors could stand with their groups to make their jerseys as well as keeping space between visitors.
We provided a button (see the middle button on the bottom row of Figure 1) where the user could have their Helmutt jersey put into a baseball card that they could screenshot on their phone. This allows the user to have a keepsake of their visit and share on their social medias to make a community connection between themselves, their friends, and our client.
dcard
1 year ago
What a cool project! Can you say more about how the team defined the goals for the app and subsequent playtesting? I’m particularly interested in the goal to create “a connection with the exhibit and museum.” I understand the why and how of “could players easily interact with the app?” but “did our app create a connection?” presents a different but interesting set of challenges!
Our team went through the Agile Development Process, where we needed a playable deliverable every two weeks to show to our client. Essentially, our app needed to be “ready” to publish at the end of any sprint. We had two programmers and two artists, so each mini-team came up with their own set of goals. The programmers focused predominantly on bugs, build issues, and providing asset dimensions for the art assets (to make sure it fit on the screen) while the artists focused on whether the the visual aesthetic and communication had a positive reaction with users. These goals were the main questions and concerns we tested around as well.
The goal of creating a connection between our client and the user was set by our client, and both teams centered their sprint goals around that. Our client has expressed interest in making similar supplemental experiences for their exhibitions again, so it seems like there was a sense of connection between users/visitors with our client. This project goes along with the long term goal of incorporating interactive installations or experiences in their exhibitions. This was especially important due to developing this app during COVID where many people felt disconnected from their friends, family, work, and a sense of normalcy.
That is very interesting! Can you discuss a little bit about how (if?) you went about measuring that goal? Particularly during the pandemic, did you do remote testing, or what did your testing process look like? Were you testing at the museum, and what questions did your group develop that got at the questions your group developed to assess the issue of “connection?”
Fortunately, we were able to schedule testing in the museum. One day we were in the parking lot be able to spread out, and another day we were in the lobby as well as the elementary school. When we were indoors, we only had one tester at a time working with us, and during all sessions, we wiped down the phone in between uses. We began testing when vaccines were coming out, so luckily we could be in person.
Our questions focused around user testing, user experience testing, and learning outcome testing. Due to the short turn around, we needed to combine these types of testings into the same testing times. We were looking to see if the app was easy to navigate, if instructions and historical information were conveyed both visually and verbally, and whether the information was retained. We asked reactionary questions like: what are three words to describe this app, did you learn anything, do you (the user) have any experience in mobile games/apps, and how old are you (the user). These allowed us to understand what demographic was reacting in what way to determine if we were accomplishing our goal in connecting the museum with their audiences.
I hadn’t even thought about the project in the context of the pandemic. It certainly adds another set of interesting considerations. Thanks for the response and for sharing this great work!
jennifermallette
1 year ago
I was struck by the idea of using these tools to support the missions of cultural institutions, like museums–they offer another type of engagement and experience for visitors. I’m curious about some background: is it currently uncommon for this time of communication to be used to engage visitors in museums? What are the untapped potentials here? Why is it beneficial for museums to dedicate potentially limited resources to develop these forms of communication?
There is a large, ongoing conversation about whether museums should continue to have more silent, reflective experiences versus interactive experiences. Interactive experiences started as videos and audio stories shown in the exhibition space. This certainly is a valuable supplemental tool, however it is stagnant. The visitor does not actually interact or manipulate what they are experiencing to create a new sense of connection or understanding. This is partially due to the technology that was available in the past times and the stigma of games. Many people believed, and still believe, that games are unhealthy or cause harm, but that is not necessarily the case. Games, apps, and virtual reality experiences provide different learning experiences to better resonate with users/visitors. Not everyone learns the same, and by including different learning tools more visitors/users could have deeper take aways from their experiences either in person or virtually. Also, mobile games and apps can act as social media content or marketing for the institutions. This can drive interest in a larger online community and bring more people to visit the institution. These types of experiences cater to people who learn either through hands on activities (click and drag jersey components), exploring (virtual reality walk through experiences), visual storytelling (movies or art design in the app), or audio learners (audio tours). We especially have seen during COVID the concern of museums and other institutions closing or loosing visitor retention due to a lack of visitor interaction, so these experiences also provide another way to interact with their audience in case of a temporary or long term closure.
I’m currently completing my senior capstone where I am designing an interactive gallery and have been reading Jenny Kidd’s Museums in the New Mediascapes. If your interested in learning more about this, I would highly recommend Kidd’s work.
This is interesting. I’ve read Kidd’s work (and worked long ago with museum installations myself). I’m really interested in learning more about your Capstone project. Please do share it with us as it progresses.
Thank you! I document my process on my twitter account @WooMiniMuseum for anyone who is interested in the process. It will be hosting my gallery this coming March, so there’s a lot of behind the scenes work on there at the moment.
I really liked the emphasis on user testing and the think-aloud experience. Was your group tasked with any focus on designing for accessibility? As well can you expand a bit on the experience of redesigning the buttons as part of your think-aloud experience (I’m looking at poster item #2 under results)? I’d love to hear more about that process and how you incorporated user feedback into the button design. Do you have any “before” images of the buttons to show the evolution that you could link out to?
In this project, we focused on language use and colorblindness in regards to accessibility design. Since museums need to connect and cater to a broad age range within their audience, we needed the language to be clear enough for children, teens, young adults, adults, and elderly users. Within that demographic as well, we needed the instructions written in a language that would be clear to all the age ranges as well as users who may or may not be familiar with mobile games. During our first and second testing sessions, we noticed that older users typically needed more guidance due to them not being familiar with mobile games. Clear language use allows for a more enjoyable user experience by providing instructions that are understood by different age ranges and experience levels. We saw this during user testing sessions as young testers enjoyed the app while older testers became frustrated when they were confused in what they were supposed to do to interact with the app. By making these language edits, our team was able to improve the user experience for users who fall in the older age range as well as users who may not be familiar with mobile games. We also had a testing session with an individual who has severe colorblindness, to know if the user interface was still legible with the red buttons (see the bottom three buttons in Figure 1). Due to the thick outlines of the buttons’ symbols and the contrast in its color, the user was able to still read what the symbols were in order to navigate the app.
Icons went through two major design changes: first, we added thick, black outlines of the buttons’ symbols, and second, we changed the symbol of the right button (see the bottom three buttons in Figure1). With the first change, not only were we trying to match the art style of Helmutt, but we also were designing them with enough thickness and contrast, so the symbols would still be legible for users if they could not read the buttons’ color (red colorblindness). Unfortunately, I do not have the assets of the first iteration, but the third button used to be swatches of fabric rather than the needle and thread. Users were confused as to what the original symbol was, because it was not reading as fabric with the black and white color palette. So we switched the symbol to something similar, the needle and thread, in order to convey that this button accessed the accessories menu and patches that you could “sew” onto your jersey. This switch was a better visual symbol to communicate with users what the button accessed.
Thank you! It can be very difficult to design systems with such a broad remit, and I think your group did a great job in balancing the differing demands.
This sounds like a fun project! Thank you for sharing. Could you talk more about the direction from your client to make the design “character-based and not UI-based?” What did that mean for you and your team in the planning and research phase? I see by your results section that you looked closely at the UI in later iterations. What kind of communication strategies did you use to convey the importance of this design decision to your client?
Many apps focus on designing their main interactions with the UI elements, such as pop up instructions when a player first opens or begins the app. This method of providing instructions does not create a personal connection between the player and developer. Since we were developing this app during the second COVID Spring/Summer, we needed to ensure that the app was designed so it was capable achieving this while being separated from the exhibition (visitors needed to download the app rather than the exhibition include iPads in the exhibition space). Our client already uses Helmutt as a mascot in the museum to provide additional information in their exhibitions, so including him as the instructional character was familiar to the visitors already.
This was actually a design decision brought to us by our client. They wanted to include Helmutt as the focus and customizable character interaction. After we tested our first group of users, who responded to our survey stating the app was cute but confusing, we looked at the language used in the wall text that Helmutt provides in the museum exhibitions. In these wall texts, our client used familiar, clear, and playful language, so we translated that similar style into the opening instructions that comes from Helmutt in the app.This language style connects the user to the actual exhibition they were visiting.
This seems like a very useful, real-world application! I was wondering if you could talk a little more about the relationship between the app and the exhibit. Did the app interact with the objects in the exhibit? Or if it was stand-alone, was there a place for users to congregate while they played? It seems like a great experience.
Also….cute dogs.
We started development of this app in January 2021 through June 2021, so this was during the peak of COVID and the second Spring/Summer of the pandemic. Normally our client includes either hands-on activities or iPad stands to include interaction in the exhibition. However, they needed something that involved less shared touch to avoid COVID concerns. The exhibition space was designed with social distancing in mind, so there was space where visitors could stand with their groups to make their jerseys as well as keeping space between visitors.
We provided a button (see the middle button on the bottom row of Figure 1) where the user could have their Helmutt jersey put into a baseball card that they could screenshot on their phone. This allows the user to have a keepsake of their visit and share on their social medias to make a community connection between themselves, their friends, and our client.
What a cool project! Can you say more about how the team defined the goals for the app and subsequent playtesting? I’m particularly interested in the goal to create “a connection with the exhibit and museum.” I understand the why and how of “could players easily interact with the app?” but “did our app create a connection?” presents a different but interesting set of challenges!
Our team went through the Agile Development Process, where we needed a playable deliverable every two weeks to show to our client. Essentially, our app needed to be “ready” to publish at the end of any sprint. We had two programmers and two artists, so each mini-team came up with their own set of goals. The programmers focused predominantly on bugs, build issues, and providing asset dimensions for the art assets (to make sure it fit on the screen) while the artists focused on whether the the visual aesthetic and communication had a positive reaction with users. These goals were the main questions and concerns we tested around as well.
The goal of creating a connection between our client and the user was set by our client, and both teams centered their sprint goals around that. Our client has expressed interest in making similar supplemental experiences for their exhibitions again, so it seems like there was a sense of connection between users/visitors with our client. This project goes along with the long term goal of incorporating interactive installations or experiences in their exhibitions. This was especially important due to developing this app during COVID where many people felt disconnected from their friends, family, work, and a sense of normalcy.
That is very interesting! Can you discuss a little bit about how (if?) you went about measuring that goal? Particularly during the pandemic, did you do remote testing, or what did your testing process look like? Were you testing at the museum, and what questions did your group develop that got at the questions your group developed to assess the issue of “connection?”
Fortunately, we were able to schedule testing in the museum. One day we were in the parking lot be able to spread out, and another day we were in the lobby as well as the elementary school. When we were indoors, we only had one tester at a time working with us, and during all sessions, we wiped down the phone in between uses. We began testing when vaccines were coming out, so luckily we could be in person.
Our questions focused around user testing, user experience testing, and learning outcome testing. Due to the short turn around, we needed to combine these types of testings into the same testing times. We were looking to see if the app was easy to navigate, if instructions and historical information were conveyed both visually and verbally, and whether the information was retained. We asked reactionary questions like: what are three words to describe this app, did you learn anything, do you (the user) have any experience in mobile games/apps, and how old are you (the user). These allowed us to understand what demographic was reacting in what way to determine if we were accomplishing our goal in connecting the museum with their audiences.
I hadn’t even thought about the project in the context of the pandemic. It certainly adds another set of interesting considerations. Thanks for the response and for sharing this great work!
I was struck by the idea of using these tools to support the missions of cultural institutions, like museums–they offer another type of engagement and experience for visitors. I’m curious about some background: is it currently uncommon for this time of communication to be used to engage visitors in museums? What are the untapped potentials here? Why is it beneficial for museums to dedicate potentially limited resources to develop these forms of communication?
There is a large, ongoing conversation about whether museums should continue to have more silent, reflective experiences versus interactive experiences. Interactive experiences started as videos and audio stories shown in the exhibition space. This certainly is a valuable supplemental tool, however it is stagnant. The visitor does not actually interact or manipulate what they are experiencing to create a new sense of connection or understanding. This is partially due to the technology that was available in the past times and the stigma of games. Many people believed, and still believe, that games are unhealthy or cause harm, but that is not necessarily the case. Games, apps, and virtual reality experiences provide different learning experiences to better resonate with users/visitors. Not everyone learns the same, and by including different learning tools more visitors/users could have deeper take aways from their experiences either in person or virtually. Also, mobile games and apps can act as social media content or marketing for the institutions. This can drive interest in a larger online community and bring more people to visit the institution. These types of experiences cater to people who learn either through hands on activities (click and drag jersey components), exploring (virtual reality walk through experiences), visual storytelling (movies or art design in the app), or audio learners (audio tours). We especially have seen during COVID the concern of museums and other institutions closing or loosing visitor retention due to a lack of visitor interaction, so these experiences also provide another way to interact with their audience in case of a temporary or long term closure.
I’m currently completing my senior capstone where I am designing an interactive gallery and have been reading Jenny Kidd’s Museums in the New Mediascapes. If your interested in learning more about this, I would highly recommend Kidd’s work.
This is interesting. I’ve read Kidd’s work (and worked long ago with museum installations myself). I’m really interested in learning more about your Capstone project. Please do share it with us as it progresses.
Thank you! I document my process on my twitter account @WooMiniMuseum for anyone who is interested in the process. It will be hosting my gallery this coming March, so there’s a lot of behind the scenes work on there at the moment.