It all starts with a great idea…

Developing Interactive exhibits can be hard, after all, there’s so much to think about, is it possible to get it all right?

It all starts with a great idea.

In many museum galleries there is an overarching narrative, or a big idea, which our clients want to interpret. Interactives are a great way to inject a bit of fun into a space, they can often be the perfect way to tell a story, and they dramatically improve information retention in visitors.

But how do we get from that first idea all the way to installation of an interactive museum galley?

The museum’s design team will create a layout or an interpretation framework which maps out all of the themes, stories, objects and displays. At this stage the ideas for the interactives begin to take shape but they are often still pretty loose. The client knows the subjects they want to explain, and maybe how they think they would like to do that, but this is often where a bit more specialist help is beneficial.

We love being asked to join the creative process at this stage of a new project. All our combined years of experience can be put to use as we work collaboratively with the team to give advice and feedback on the exhibit concepts.

In order to turn great ideas into engaging interactives, there are quite a few factors which we work through along the way. We break them down into a series of manageable steps to help guide our clients through the process.

We listen, understand, and cooperate.

This is where we start, we want to spend time discussing the project with the client and understanding what’s important to them. This often takes time, and that’s ok, the more questions we ask, the more we know and the better we can help.

Innovation or Reliability, or maybe both…

There are often many ways to tell a story; to keep it simple, or to be truly innovative?

Does the client have in house technicians who will be happy to maintain complex exhibits to keep them in tip top working order, or would it be more prudent to borrow tried and tested classic ideas from other museums and re-package them into the new gallery.

Budget

We can provide budget costings to help ensure the ideas sit within the current cost plan. It’s infinitely preferable to do this early on, avoiding the dreaded Value Engineering which can dilute the essence of the project if not undertaken diligently.

Feasibility

Assessing the concepts and providing feedback on whether an idea is possible in its current form. If not, what can be changed to make it work, or what alternatives could we offer.

Health and safety

Interactives can be dangerous. We use Design Risk Assessment to help mitigate hazards in the early stages of the design process. Early identification usually allows us to design hazards out of an exhibit without spoiling the visitor experience.

By collaborating with the project team through these early stages we ensure that the exhibits will tell the right stories, and that they will be achievable, reliable, intuitive, engaging, fun, affordable and safe.

We have built the foundations of a new exhibition, and the next stage is to develop those concepts into working designs. Get in touch to find out more.