Mobile-first website providing digital didactics in exhibition spaces.
- A digital alternative to physical labels which can be adjustments to users’ needs (text size, language, level of education, audio)
- NFC tags enable visitors to scan and read the desired information from anywhere in the physical space
Scope: Capstone Project (1 academic year)
Team: Natalia Parraga
roles: User Researcher, Product Designer
Attendees and workers alike want more out of didactics.
Observational Research
Labels are Limited
Didactics provide context. They are typically in the institutions’ primary language(s), stationary, and relatively small.
Card-Sorting
More Information Please
Users accept any and all information in an exhibition space, but want more information when their interest was high.
Research Questionnaire
GLAM Workers Unsatisfied
Only 42.9% of workers in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums rated their exhibitions as somewhat accessible.
How might we develop hybrid (physical & digital) didactics to improve users’ accessibility?
1. Altering Physical Didactics
NFC Tags
Labels contain affordance to indicate scannability with mobile devices.
2. Creating Digital Didactics
ExhibitAccess
Mobile-first site and/or app contains relevant information and the ability to customize.
3. Increasing User’s Options
Accessibility
Users interact with digital or physical didactics according to their needs/wants.
Creating Intuitive Designs
Usability tests were run on paper prototype. Participants were invited to work through scenarios which included: scanning didactics, changing the language, bookmarking pieces, and listening to the audio of the didactics. Participants struggled with the save feature and how to scan an NFC tag.
User Flow Streamlined
Feedback from usability testing was applied for the following key scenarios: Scanning a Didactic, Onboarding, Creating a Profile, and Editing User Settings.
Accessible & Customizable
UI was developed to fit three default text sizes, in both light and dark mode to emphasize the customizable nature of the app.
Mobile-first, a Phygital Solution
ExhibitAccess is a digital tool to enhance physical user experience by increasing accessibility with a hybrid experience.
View prototype on Figma.
What I would do if I were to continue developing ExhibitAccess:
- Develop the scannable NFC tags in the exhibition spaces: This integral part of the user journey was not developed due to timing constraints.
- Conduct user testing with physical didactics, iterate more: While I believe the conceptual product to be effective, I’d like to validate my beliefs with real data and feedback.
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