Mini M+
Reimagining the M+ Museum experience for family bonding
RoleTimelineContextMay to July 2023
Individual Project
Researcher, Product Designer
Problem
Modern and contemporary visual art museums like M+ often appear less inviting to young children.
The intricate meanings hidden within each artwork and the expectation of proper behavior in gallery spaces create an environment that seems less than kid-friendly.
What I observed
01
Kids lack self-guided experiences due to the difficulties in space navigation. There is a lost of opportunity to discover the meaning of the piece on their own.
The intricate meanings hidden within each artwork and the expectation of proper behavior in gallery spaces create an environment that seems less than kid-friendly.
02
Parents don’t realize that they are too dominant. Instead of cultivating kid’s ability to self discover, they always want to be in control.
Within gallery spaces, there are too many “I want” as parents -- they want to guide too much. The best educational way is to let go and provide help only when needed.
What if…
How might we empower kids to self-discover the gallery, uncover the meaning via playful factors?
How might we help parents become good facilitators for a fun and educational museum visit?
Research
To get at the heart of what makes family museum visits challenging, I interviewed 5 families and attended a family workshop at M+ Museum to uncover their struggles.
01 Research Methods
02 What I learned from kids and their families
Inspired by museum’s principle “10 Ways of Seeing”, a brochure that guides visitors to look at art and make personal connections with art through a series of prompts, Mini M+ respects the service provider and brings in its key principles: Group visit, Observe, and Express.
03 What I learned from the museum
“10 ways of seeing”, 1 way to express
Although there are “10 ways” of looking at art, children lack a way to express their thoughts and feelings. They should be empowered to express through simpler means, and the first step requires breaking down the components and meanings of artwork to make understanding art possible.
04 User Journey Map
I summarized all of my insights into a user journey map.
Findings
From my research, I found 3 validated problem spaces:
I reshaped my design direction, moving on with the following focuses:
Challenges
01 Game mechanics that engage children
Scavenger hunts stood out for their hands-on fun and achievement.
They are rich in content: finding a shape with a specific color, taking pictures, and discussing what you found are all suitable tasks for museum settings. From interviews, I found that materials are hard for kids to grasp without touch, so I avoided tasks solely based on materials.
I landed on 3 major activities: Match the color, play with shapes, and family discussion. I simplified the tasks to ensure that all ages could understand and complete the tasks.
02 Children are not capable of complex screen interactions
We don’t want to introduce too many new patterns. The interface is, therefore, structured into three consistent sections to make UI patterns more learnable.
Exploring the Visual Identity of Mini M+
At the beginning of the project, I gathered a bunch of inspirations that drove me through the project. I wanted to represent the playful, vibrant potential of what kids’ products could be while honoring the museum’s visual identity.
Reflecting the museum identity on screen
The primary colors are used to enhance playfulness, while the Sora font strikes a balance between readability and a sense of fun.
Large buttons with a tapping range of over 80 px is used, enabling kids with chubby fingers to touch with ease. Images or figures are always accompanied by texts to enhance clarity, in case kids have varying reading abilities.
Final Design
Introducing Mini M+
01
Begin the journey as you want it to be
We offer an option to turn on audio for kids who have trouble reading.
We recognize that many museums offer audio guidance, so we’ve included a clear button to activate audio on the landing page. Kids and parents can use it when they believe it won’t disturb the environment or need audio assistance to comprehend instructions.
02
Basics for the basics
A scavenger hunt inspired mobile game for kids to navigate the M+ museum
Guided by basic art components, shapes and colors focused tasks encourage kids to observe and express.
Children love bright colors, but identifying them can be challenging for kids with visual impairments. To ensure that everyone could participate without difficulty or discouragement, we asked them to match the colors rather than simply identifying them. Mini M+hope to make the activity enjoyable and accessible to all.
03
Express by re-making it
How can we actively involve kids in the creative process within a gallery setting?
Kids love getting hands-on and expressing themselves. Usually, the chance to create art is confined to family workshops, which can be challenging for many families due to their busy schedules. We make hands-on creative activities more accessible to kids. Imagine you're asked to design a sofa – which flower shape would you pick: a tulip, a hibiscus, or a hyacinth? We want kids to let their imaginations run wild and express themselves in exciting ways.
04
Your family has got your back
Feeling stuck? Don't worry – ask your family for a hand!
05
Bringing families together
Time to spark a conversation for deeper family bond.
We understand that parents may sometimes feel unsure about what to discuss with their children in museums, especially if they're not experts. That's where we step in. The next task on your team's agenda is all about sparking conversations. It's a great way to encourage kids to express their thoughts and create a bonding experience. It's a chance for your family to explore, learn, and grow together!
Takeaways
This is my light touch on service design…
Considering the service provider's perspective helps with decision-making on trade-offs.
Initially, I struggled to define my target audience as I wanted to design interfaces for young kids (4-7 years old) to make art more understandable.
Thinking beyond user experience, I also include the perspective from service design and how to enable the museum to implement it. I realized that only designing for a small group of children might entail high development costs for the service provider.
So, instead of catering only to tiny kids, I focused on creating an app with clear and user-friendly features using cute illustrations. This approach allows a broader age range, including older children and adults, to enjoy the app. This shift in perspective helped me advance my designs.
Physical interactions > digital and device interactions
Designing this app is such an exciting experience. I have to think about how to seamlessly merge the digital and the physical aspects of the museum experience.
I want to aid meaningful learning experiences rather than keeping kids glued to screens for extended periods. It's about embarking on a collaborative adventure with family and friends, solving mysteries together, rather than having children isolate themselves in a digital realm while navigating the museum with the device.
Indoor navigation could be confusing for children
If I had more time, I would work on this indoor AR navigation feature to help the kids with navigation inside the museum. Providing a real environment on screen is essential as children may easily focus only on screens and fall if they are unaware of what’s in front of them.
Thanks for scrolling ;)