Crafting a Call-to-action Exhibit Experience

Duration

5 weeks
‍

Team Size

4

Role

Exhibit design
Design system
Graphic design
3D modeling and rendering‍

Background

"Birds are the most visible aspect of nature, I would argue. To have a functional ecological system in an urban setting, you need animals, and birds are most of the most abundant."
— Interviewee 3, Professor of Wildlife Science

Seattle's bird population rapidly declining, with a 5-year loss of 225 acres of tree canopies, the essential habitat resource for avian life. Addressing such ecological challenges demands collective action from individuals. The design challenge is to empower the residents of Seattle to enact positive change in our urban landscapes.

●  To final design  ->

Challenge: How might we encourage Seattleites to take small conservation actions to mitigate man-made threat to birds?

01.
Understanding the roadblocks to action

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02.
Building empathy and actionability

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03.
Crafting design systems and artifacts

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04.
Visualizing space and materiality

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SME Interviews & Contextual Inquiries

How can individual Seattleites help?

After initial desk research on existing findings of manmade threats to birds, we wanted to learn from first-hand observation of how bird experts interact with birds in urban habitats and formulate the immediate and long-term actions for the individual citizen to build coexistence. We conducted 30-minute interviews and 1-2 hours of contextual inquiries with a conservation worker, an ecologist, and a group of birdwatchers.

Affinity Mapping

Identifying opportunities

The data we gained from the interviews and contextual inquiries were rich but contained a lot of noise. To make them more actionable for an exhibit, we affinitized our data into the categories of tempority (short-term / long-term) and scale (individual / collective).

Key Findings

Small individual actions like treating windows and keeping house cat indoors can lead to success at greater scale.

"People can make small differences, and those small differences can add up to a lot."—  Interviewee 3, Professor of Wildlife Science

Make conservation takeaway accessible, enjoyable, and home-scale to help people grow genuine interest.

"Start with close to your home - make it accessible, make it fun, help people grow interest in it."—  Interviewee 2, Bird Guide for birdwatchers

Highlighting the bird crisis is crucial, but inspiring people to celebrate their coexistence with birds is equally important.

"Being around a higher diversity of wildlife is correlated with greater connection to nature."—  Interviewee 5, Urban Conservation Manager

Desired Outcomes & Exhibit Schematics

Reframing Findings into Desired Outcomes

The research findings gave us insights into how to build the actionability of the experience, introducig factors of education, joy, and empathy. We then reframed them into a sequence of desired outcomes in the context of exhibit. The desired outcomes were then translated to zones in the exhibit schematics, with each zone representing a specific valence state for the visitors.

Step 1. Celebrate

Deepen appreciation for birds and the biodiversity of the local ecosystem.

Zone I: Interactive display wall showcasing the prevalence of avian lives in urban spaces.

Step 2. Educate

Bring awareness to man-made threats and developing compassion for avian life.

Zone II: Multi-media exhibit that examines various human threats to birds.

Step 3. Empower

Propose actionable solutions and encourage individual conservation actions.

Zone III: Call-to-action workshop that provides resources to support bird-friendly practices.

Concept Testing

Building Actionability

Now that we had structure of the exhibit flow, we wanted to zoom in on the call-to-action zone to flesh out the bookending touchpoint of exhibit. We prototyped a Gacha Machine that contained different takeaway tokens, including pamphlets, window treatment stickers, etc., to observe the participants' reactions. This study helped us to structure the final exhibit zone with elements that the participants found most delightful and impactful.

2D Specs

Design Systems

Our interviews and secondary research provided material for the exhibit's copywriting content. We compiled this content into systems of banners and themed them with colors corresponding to each exhibit zone.

3D Specs

Assembly Guide

Before creating the final renders, I built a catalog of isometric visualizations to study how different exhibit elements came together spatially. These ranged from large partition walls with audio-visual installations to small desktop items in the call-to-action space, all labeled with measurements.

Render

Navigation and Wayfinding

Render

Exhibit Visualized

ZONE I: DISCOVERY

The interactive wall features small "windows" revealing details about birds in human spaces.

ZONE II: CRISIS
ZONE III: CALL TO ACTION

Reflection

The current exhibit uses the Special Exhibit Gallery of the Burke Museum as a template. A key next step is to explore how this three-step call-to-action model can be adapted to spaces of varying scales and programs. This includes considering smaller implementations like bus shelter panels, as well as larger, fully immersive themed informational tours. An additional consideration is to examine how this model can adapted into the digital space and strategize ways to make resources actionable through the digital format.

●  Next Project: Crumbz  ->

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Contact.

peterlin.atelier@gmail.com

646-203-3270