YEAR
2022.9-2023.2
Client
RISD Museum Educational Department
My Role
UX Design & Research
User Interview, Competitive Analysis, Journey Mapping, Usability Testing, Prototyping, User Flow analysis
Project Management
Planning and executing product launches, Collaborating with cross-functional teams
Overview
During my internship experience at RISD Museum's Educational Department, I developed a museum-focused activity that is based on the principles of curation to increase children's engagement and interest in visiting the RISD Museum, connecting the museum's art collections to their daily lives.
I collaborated with Christina Alderman, the Assistant Director of the Family and Teens Program at the RISD Museum's Education Department, to create the activity. It launched on February 19th at the RISD Museum's Super Art Sunday Event and continuously used at the Museum.
Outcome
On Super Art Sunday:
Children Participation
+
Deeply engaged in the activity.
General Visitors
+
Walk around and interact with the activity.
Problem
Since my initial visit to the RISD Museum in 2019, I've noted a marked absence of young children and families among the attendees, with the demographic largely consisting of college students and local retirees. The museum lacks children activities that allow them to explore independently. Additionally, the existing exhibits do not contain child-friendly descriptive labels, challenging parents to engage meaningfully with their children, often resulting in a rushed visit without significant educational interaction or understanding.
Design Challenge
How might we…
Have more children engaged in RISD Museum's collection.
Create more family interactions and experience at RISD Museum.
Add more playful activities to RISD Museum to reduce "pedagogical atmosphere."
Solution
A museum-focused activity that is based on the principles of curation to increase children's engagement and interest in visiting the RISD Museum, connecting the museum's art collections to their daily lives.
Process
Key Learnings
Designing an Event for Children is Challenging!!!
Unlike events for adults, children don’t always follow the rules. Instead, they often use the materials I provided to doodle freely around the gallery. This sparked my interest in studying their behavior and deepened my understanding that good design for children should always be flexible!
Be brave and creative.
While designing the event, I realized my logic and perspective were limited by adult stereotypes, which hindered my creativity compared to the children. At that point, I decided to use several small experiments rather than a single large design to test in the museum. The children’s reactions consistently provided fresh insights that influenced my design thinking.