Identity:
Projection, Audio, and Touch-Screen Experience
Working in close collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology— Studio Joseph, Pentagram, and Bluecadet produced 20+ interactives throughout 20,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space in the new MIT Museum, weaving them together into a seamless experience that conveys the diversity, identity, and ingenuity of the MIT Community. I designed the Identity interactive stations, which specifically focus on the Black experience at MIT.
MY ROLE:
Client Partner, Strategy, Lead UX and Visual Designer
I coordinated both internal, client, and archival teams providing direction for the overarching experiential strategy, visuals, content, and interaction design.
Designed at Bluecadet for the MIT Museum.
Playlist intro screens
Playlist view: Scrollable image montage, audio interface, clip selection and closed captioning
Listen to STEM Stories
Three individual touch stations, each with a personal handset speaker, share playlists of audio recordings and oral histories of Black people working in STEM.
A Multi-part Experience: A/V and Touchscreens
The nearby projection and overhead speakers provide image and audio montages for larger groups and visitors standing in the back. Triggered by the individual stations up front, this is meant to help create a more meaningful group experience.
A docent mode lets museum guides control the full experience via personal iPad. Docents can take over the projection screen to play pre-designed slideshows and specific audio clips.
Montage Intro Animation Still
Projection Montage Playlist: In the Lab
The Mystery of a Multi-User Experience
Crafting a seamless and immersive multi-user experience required navigating a number of UX challenges. The biggest hurdle was mastering a balance between ambient audio, individual stations, and projection visuals. I had to establish rules for how the projection would pull and manage queues from individual stations and how that would in turn affect overhead audio. Establishing protocols for managing user ‘timeouts’ also added to the complexity of the problem.
Experience flow: Understanding how individual stations, overhead audio, projection, and handset interaction worked together
Exploring the Archive
As an alternative to the playlist view, visitors can also explore MIT’s vast sound library via the archival search feature. Perfect for those who want to curate their own listening experience, users can explore the library by searching for topics or eras that interest them.
Archive Mode
A Connected Design System
Aforementioned, the Identity A/V stations were only one out of the 20+ interactives Bluecadet produced for the MIT Museum. As Lead UX and Visual designer for several of those programs, I worked closely with our AD and ECD throughout the entire UX and design process, contributing design system patterns and providing feedback so the kit could encompass the identity and feel of my programs.
TEAM:
Associate Creative Director: Kim Gim
Producer: Katie Lannigan
Content Strategist: Ksenia Dyrkin, Madeleine Osborne
Lead UX Designer: Janet Lu
Visual Designer: Janet Lu, Andy Moliski
Developer: Erin Wiegman AWARDS + RECOGNITION:
BlooLoop Innovation Awards | Third Place in Experiential Technology
Webby Awards | Best Experiential Design Nominee (Pending)