Prototyping the Power Hall: a decision-making process
Interactive gallery interpretation is seen as a valuable tool for engaging families with the subject of science and engineering. It can offer many opportunities for creating active learning experiences and can help stimulate visitor interest and motivation (Falk et al, 2004). However, with such an a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Science Museum, London
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Science Museum Group Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/prototyping-the-power-hall-a-decision-making-process/ |
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| Summary: | Interactive gallery interpretation is seen as a valuable tool for engaging families with the subject of science and engineering. It can offer many opportunities for creating active learning experiences and can help stimulate visitor interest and motivation (Falk et al, 2004). However, with such an abundance of technologies and techniques to choose from, it can be challenging for exhibition teams to decipher which interactive interpretation approach will deliver the most impactful results for their future visitors. The practice research outlined in this study identified that there was currently no defined method to compare the success of one proposed interactive interpretation approach to another from the perspective of both family and science engagement, despite these two elements being essential components in the design thinking process.
This paper presents an innovative approach to interactive interpretation decision-making at the discovery stage of exhibition planning. It trials a process of evaluating and comparing multiple high-fidelity prototypes developed to answer the same interpretation problem through family discourse and a science capital-informed coding method. Science capital is a concept that describes a person’s science-related knowledge, attitudes, contacts and experiences, which can be accumulated over time (Archer et al, 2015). The author labels the investigated evaluation phase as ‘proto-scoping’ and explores its potential to guide the direction of audience-driven, interactive interpretation design before formal design briefs have been written, developers commissioned, and the more common, iterative prototyping begins. |
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| ISSN: | 2054-5770 |