Design is Around You

Prototyping

Experience

Generative AI

Highlighting design’s role in everyday life though an interactive game.

In partnership with the Design Museum of Chicago

The Design Museum of Chicago (DMoC) faced challenges in maintaining its pre-pandemic visitor numbers and raising awareness about the importance of design in daily life.

Among 69 surveyed Chicago residents, more than 80 percent were unfamiliar with the museum. Those who are aware of the museum either do not have clear expectations or lack interest in design, undermining its value.

“I swear I’ve been there [the Design Museum of Chicago] but I don’t remember anything about it.”

“I have not heard of it [DMoC]. Is that a current place?”

“[Design] is much broader than I understand.”

To address this, we proposed a versatile framework for future exhibits that offers a consistent, engaging approach to attracting visitors through interactive elements that highlight the role of design in everyday life.

The framework is centered around interactive elements that encourage visitors to reflect on design's impact in their daily lives.

To demonstrate the application of this framework, we prototyped the 'Design is Around You' campaign, which features five game kiosks placed around Chicago.

The brightly colored, eye-catching kiosk grabs the attention of passersby, creating interest in design-related concepts.

Each kiosk poses simple design-related questions, such as ‘Which potato peeler is preferred?’ or ‘Who invented the Rubik's Cube?’ to encourage people to reflect on how design impacts their surroundings.

When presenting to stakeholders, we took them on a 'tour around the city of Chicago' (the building).

Participants who answer the questions collect cards, and those who gather all five cards can exchange them for a Golden Card at the museum, incentivizing visits and further engagement.

“I think it was cool! The kiosk asked me about design preferences I had never considered before, like the different versions of a potato peeler.”

- [Random passerby/player]

The solution was validated through user testing with middle-aged, non-designer Chicago residents, resulting in high engagement, with 42% of passersby interacting with the kiosks.

“I saw the thing [DMoC logo] on the corner. I was about to search about that and see where it is at.”

- [Random passerby/player]

The campaign entices players to complete their card collection. In doing so, they embark on a journey, and the Design Museum of Chicago is their final stop.

“Thanks to [the team's] smart combination of gamification and generative design, we'll greet a wider and more diverse public at the DMoC doorstep. And we'll fulfill our mission to help visitors better understand the power of design—so that together we can use that power to fundamentally improve the human condition.”

- Tanner Woodford, Executive Director, Design Museum of Chicago

Process

01 DEFINE

As the initial step of our process, we visited the Design Museum of Chicago to observe the exhibition space and gain insights into the typical display practices.

Additionally, we determined our target audience to be 25-45 year old non-designer Chicago residents. This choice was influenced by several factors, including their status as the largest demographic in Chicago, their significant influence over younger and older generations, their transition to remote work, and their current interest in seeking experiences outside their homes. Engaging this group of non-designers also presents an opportunity to expand the museum's audience and attract new visitors.

02 RESEARCH

As the second step of our process, we conducted a comprehensive survey on NextDoor to assess the current awareness levels of the Design Museum of Chicago and the concept of design among our target audience.

Following this, we proceeded with in-depth user interviews to delve into their interests and motivations, which helped us formulate specific design principles for our campaign. These interviews revealed that a significant portion of our target audience still lacks a complete understanding of the essence of design and its impact on their lives, highlighting the need for our campaign to address this awareness gap effectively.

03 RE-DEFINE

After carefully analyzing the research insights, we redefined our primary objective as follows:

"How might the Design Museum of Chicago facilitate a better understanding of design's influence on the lives of non-designers?"

This reframing aimed to address the identified awareness gap and focus on empowering the target audience to grasp the significance of design in their daily experiences. This also helped us in creating more focused design principles which later guide our ideation process.

04 IDEATE

In the final step of our process, we utilized the established design principles to generate various concepts for the interactive campaign.

05 CREATE AND VALIDATE

Following this, we conducted a thorough three-round prototyping and testing phase, where user feedback was continuously incorporated to enhance the campaign.

The first round involved a low-fidelity prototype, utilizing materials like paper and cardboard, which was tested among friends and colleagues.

The second round progressed to a mid-fidelity prototype, with the kiosk partially built and tested on the first floor of our design campus.

For the ultimate round, a high-fidelity prototype was developed and tested in a real-world scenario, left unattended in the student union building to simulate authentic user interaction.

Through these iterative testing rounds, we fine-tuned the interactive game kiosk experience, ensuring its effectiveness in engaging the target audience and fostering a deeper understanding of design's impact on their lives.