The Exploratorium’s 2024 Volunteer Exhibition Prototyping Project
COLORFUL CONNECTIONS
Colorful Connections is an interactive Exhibition prototyping project created for the San Francisco Exploratorium’s annual Hindes Prototyping gala. This 3-day design sprint gives the museum’s Exhibition Designers the opportunity to share new exhibit ideas with the rest of the faculty.
Designing alongside a team of seven other volunteers over the course of two months, I collaboratively project-managed and developed a functional an interactive exhibition prototype for museum staff to enjoy during the event.
Colorful Connections centers the concept of bringing the experience of an exhibit beyond the exhibit itself and invite participants to create more meaningful connections with others in the space through the catalyst of color and conversation.
Brainstorming.
When beginning our brainstorming and ideation sessions, the other volunteers and I quickly reached the consensus that we wanted to create an exhibit design that would facilitate some kind of interpersonal connection.
Direction.
After 3 weeks of research, ideation, and collaborative critical thinking the volunteer team and I determined our design direction involving a large color wheel that participants could spin to land on a random color. After spinning, they would receive the same colored identifier (sticker or lanyard) which included a fun-fact about the color and a conversation prompt they could share with other participants.
Prototyping.
To test out dimensions, usability, and building plans, a few of the volunteers and I created a carboard mock-up of the design.
Build.
This process involved sourcing materials from the museum shop and working with an Exhibit Designer to CNC machine the Wheel’s pieces using a 3D model I developed. We then assembled the pieces, laser-cut the color wedges, lanyards, clacker and small spokes and ran spin tests to ensure it was fully operational.
Final Design.
Takeaways.
The final design was presented at the 2024 Hindes Gala in the Exploratorium’s Pier 15 shop. The overall response was very positive and many participants wearing the lanyards appeared to be engaging in lively conversation. Although tracking more specific data would be necessary, the prototype functioned as intended and provided a fun social activity for staff and other attendees.
