The Bowl of Edmonds
History Map
How might we using interactive design to create engaging exhibit for kids and adults?
View prototype 
How might we using interactive design to create engaging exhibit for kids and adults?
View prototype How might we apply interactive activities to the museum experience that engage both kids and adults while teaching visitors about history?
The Edmonds Historical Museum is in the remodeling process. The museum board wanted to look for more exhibit ideas that used technology.
Xuan Bui - UX designer (map and location feature)
Cindy Fu - Graphic designer
Li Tang - UX Designer (community dashboard feature)
Maya Totonchi - Brand designer
4 months
Sep - Dec 2023
Arnie Lund
Edmonds Historical Museum Board Member
The stakeholder interview with the museum board member, Arnie Lund, set scopes and goals for the project including vision and mission, target audience, and their interest in using technology and interactive experience in the museum.
Taking kids & students as focus audience, we defined the value tension and find solution to balance between the fun value and learn value.
Based on observation, the three types of exhibits below attract children the most. These exhibits provide learning opportunities while still engaging, helping kids feel more enjoyable when going to a museum.
Immersive art installation
Large and colorful displays
Activity corner
The personas are created based on research data that helped guide my decisions along the design process to make sure the solution I am designing is centered on our users.
I wish museums let me touch their stuff.
I'm not very famiar with new technologies.
Hands-on/interactive exhibits
Visual instruction
Technology experience
Our group started brainstorming design ideas based on the research. I did a 10+10 design exploration session to sketch as many design ideas as I could. I focused on ideating hands-on/physical activities that were both kid and adult-friendly.
10 + 10 exploration
Physical printed map of Edmonds with magnetic pins for visitors to mark their location
A web app accessed through QR code with landmarks within Edmonds and the history of them.
Community thread for visitors to share their stories, thoughts, photos, etc.
Task: access map and read history of a landmark
Task: access community notes and leave a note
The first prototype ensures the end-user requirements are met: interactive map, filters & categories, and audio options.
We chose Nelson's heuristics as the user testing method. Testing with experts ensures thorough assessment and valuable insights, given our fellow designers as test subjects.
The physical map of Edmonds downtown is printed in large size with push pins and prompts for visitors to interact with. This activity mainly aims to get the kids attention and create a community among visitors.
After scanning the QR code, users access the home page. This home page offers a comprehensive interactive map of selected historical locations within Edmonds downtown.
Users can read the history of the location they choose. Audio with adjustable speed is provided for accessibility and gives users the option to enjoy the content in a different way.
The community story feature provides users with a sense of community building where they can share their experience with other museum visitors.
