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My work

ACMI

Designing museum interactive labels

UX Design

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UX activites

  • Observational research

  • Competitor research

  • Wirefaming

  • Mid-fi prototyping

  • Usability testing

Background

ACMI is a museum dedicated to showcasing the moving image and is located in Melbourne, Australia. The museum is home to a collection of film, television, interactives and videogames.

ACMI reopened its doors in February 21' after 2 years of a complete building redevelopment. There was a digital transformation in this renewal, which meant incorporating interactive digital labels into the exhibition.

Objectives

The main objective of this project was to design interactive labels for the artworks in the ACMI museum that improved the visitor's experience and enhance their understanding of the artworks on display.

 

The specific objectives of the project were to:

  1. Increase visitor engagement with the artworks on display and the Lens

  2. Provide a deeper understanding of the artworks through interactive elements

  3. Provide all essential artwork data

  4. Enhance the overall visitor experience in the museum

Everything in ACMI's centrepiece exhibition, The Story of the Moving Image has a label or at least a credit attached to it.

There are hundreds of works on display. Some of these works are encased in cabinets for which they need labels.

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Casings for the interactive label screens

One of the many cabinets filled with objects inside the exhibition.

Research

There are not a lot of interactive label examples in Melbourne galleries, however there is one close by the ACMI office. I went to the Arts Centre to see the free permanent exhibition, The Australian Music Vault.

I observed other visitors interacting with it and one of the developers who came along with me.

I engaged with members of the curatorial team to understand their needs and constraints and an eternal developer brought on to assist our team during the renewal period.

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Initial concepts created by Second Story, USA.

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Australian Music Vault interactive label

Wireframes

The interactive labels were designed based on the results of the user research and testing. The labels incorporated interactive elements to provide a deeper understanding of the artworks. 

Requirements

Small objects need to be magnified 

We have many smaller objects in the cabinets, which visitors won't be able to get up close to, so the ability to enlarge images is important.

 

Limit dwell time and allow visitors to see what they want in short interactions

We have lots of visitors and large amounts of objects and content, so we wanted to limit the features of the labels, so we can give a rich experience minus too much dwell time.

No scrolling interactions

The screen we had wasn't highly sensitive to touch, so we had to adjust the interactions in light of these limitations.

Remind visitors they can collect a label with their Lens

Everything in ACMI's centrepiece exhibition is collectable with the Lens; a hand-held device which allows you to collect your favourites in the exhibition to then later explore online.

We must include object credits

These are typically no more than 3 lines and does not need hierarchy.

User testing

 

Prototypes of the interactive labels were created and tested with anyone I could find to gather feedback and make any necessary improvements.

Wireframe progression

Initial designs

This is the first thing a visitor sees; a front on image of the cabinet in front of them.

Casings for the interactive label screens

Lens reader

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The visitor clicks on a group of objects and an individual label appears.

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The visitor clicks on an image and it opens a window with object images.

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Wireframe progression

Second round

After a round of feedback with stakeholders, I added changed some of the elements around and presented a few different options.

Stakeholders and I decided on a finite amount of objects which would appear on a label.

This was to have consistency across all labels.

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This design was then sent to Liquorice, who took over the design process.

Final design by Liquorice

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