Design Analysis

Prior to conducting the studies, the team met with gallery designers to gather more information about the gallery’s exhibits and designs. The team met with Pete Wilson, Senior Exhibit Designer at Museum Victoria, who discussed design aspects, specifically shortcuts between different exhibits, that were intended to create certain energy levels within areas of the gallery. The team also met with Kate Phillips, Science Curator at Museum Victoria, who was the designer of the educational showcases present within the gallery. Both designers requested the team to use the data gathered through the performed studies to evaluate the use and effectiveness of the shortcuts, energy levels, and educational showcases.

5.2.1. Shortcuts through the Gallery

During the guided tour with Pete Wilson, the team learned of three shortcuts placed within the Big Box area that offer children exciting and exploratory ways to navigate through the gallery. The major shortcuts that were discussed were the large cutout circle between areas H and G, an area of low-backed benches connecting the Lower Net Area and the Burrows Area, and a white arch connecting the Lullaby Nook Area and the Lower Net Area, pictured below in Figures 45, 46, and 47, respectively. Each figure also includes a zoomed-in image of the overall pathway overlay at the locations of the three shortcuts, highlighted by a black circle. Although the

Photoshop overlay eliminated the pathway tracings over the colored borders of each area, a trend of visitor movement toward the shortcuts can be seen within the pathway tracings, indicating their extensive usage.

Figure 45: Shortcut Between Net and Burrows (G) and Camouflage Disco (H)

Figure 46: Shortcut Between Lower Net Area and Burrow Area (G)

Figure 47: Shortcut Between Lullaby Nook Area (F) and Lower Net Area (G)

To analyze the use of shortcuts by different age groups, the team evaluated the separate map overlays for the four developmental age groups, which are shown in Figures 27 through 30.

Looking at Figure 27, which displays the map overlay for babies, it can be seen that only one baby utilized the shortcut between areas H and G. Comparison of the map overlays of the four age groups show that the amount of children utilizing the shortcut increases with age. This trend is also seen when comparing the use of the shortcut highlighted in Figure 46, however it is not seen when comparing the use of the shortcut highlighted in Figure 47, as all age groups use the shortcut in Figure 47 equally. The difference in shortcut usage between age groups is largely due to their differences in physical capabilities, as younger children are not able to run and explore as easily and freely as older children who are more capable of climbing and moving around the gallery. Babies are particularly restricted in their exploration of the gallery, as they are often carried or pushed in a pram by their caregiver and are therefore limited to moving where their caregiver wants to go, causing them to use the shortcuts less frequently.

The frequent use of shortcuts within the Big Box also indicates that the design was successful in creating high-energy within areas G, H, and the front section of area F. The pathway overlays show that areas G, H, and the section of area F around the Big Pattern Wall were heavily used by children ages 4 to 5, who frequently demonstrate the highest energy as they are the most physically capable children within the intended age range. In addition, timing and visitation data showed that the exhibits within those areas received the highest number of stops

and the highest number of repeat visitors, as well as holding powers of only one to 2 minutes.

This shows that children were frequently moving between exhibits and only spending a short amount of time at each stop, further demonstrating the high-energy play taking place within the areas. Alternatively, areas D, E, and the Lullaby Nook Area within area F are rarely visited by older children and have fewer overall pathway recordings than within areas G, H, and the front section of F. This shows that designers were successful in promoting more low-energy activities used by younger children within those areas.

5.2.2. Traditional Showcases

Although the Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery has a large number of interactive

exhibits that promote learning through hands-on experiences, it also contains customary museum exhibits that offer a more traditional style of learning. Kate Phillips, Melbourne Museum Science Curator, created two main traditional exhibits in the gallery: the Spots and Stripes Showcase (H3) and the showcases within the Shapes Wall (D1). The Spots and Stripes Showcase is a full traditional museum-style showcase, while the Shapes Wall has both traditional showcases and a large, interactive touch wall. Kate and other educational exhibit designers at Melbourne Museum are specifically interested in evaluations of the traditional exhibits, as visitors are typically drawn towards the larger, more exciting features such as the Climbing Net and the Camouflage Disco, and the designers want to ensure that the more traditional exhibits are still receiving use from visitors. To conduct the evaluations, the team examined the data collected from the tracking and timing study.

Figure 48: Spots and Stripes Showcase

Figure 48 above depicts the Spots and Stripes Showcase, located within the Camouflage Disco Area of the Big Box. Results of the tracking and timing study showed that of the 52 visitors that were tracked, only 23% visited the Spots and Stripes Showcase. The exhibit ranked 24th for the highest visitation and 27th for both number of repeat visitors and number of stops at an exhibit, indicating that it has a low popularity among children. In terms of holding power, the exhibit ranked 32nd out of the 49 exhibits with an average time of 44 seconds per stop, which is 1 minute and 4 seconds shorter than the gallery average time per stop. Due to its design as an educational exhibit with a variety of different animals and objects, children would have to spend a longer amount of time than was found through the tracking and timing study to fully

experience the exhibit, leading the team to conclude that the showcase was not meeting its intended holding power goal. However, when caregivers were asked which exhibits they believed were the most educational during interviews, the Spots and Stripes Showcase was the most frequently mentioned exhibit, showing that caregivers are aware of its importance to their child’s learning and believe that it has a strong educational value.

In addition, the Camouflage Disco Area was designed for children to progress from one exhibit to the next by starting at the Spots and Stripes Showcase, moving to the Touchscreen Animal Wall, and progressing to the Camouflage Disco. However, both the Spots and Stripes Showcase and the Touchscreen Animal Wall received visits from only 21% of tracked children while the Camouflage Disco received visits from 50% of tracked children, showing that most children were entering the Camouflage Disco without stopping at the Sports and Stripes

Showcase or the Touchscreen Animal Wall. This was further proved through the observational studies, as children were recorded most often entering the area and traveling straight to the Camouflage Disco.

Results showed that the Shapes Wall exhibit was more popular with children than the Spots and Stripes Showcase, as 35% of tracked children visited the exhibit during their stay in the gallery. The exhibit ranked 16th out of the 49 exhibits for number of visits, 10th for number of repeat visitors, and 11th for number of stops, showing that it has a relatively high popularity overall. In terms of holding power, the exhibit ranked 24th out of the 49 exhibits with an average time of 1 minute and 16 seconds per stop, 32 seconds less than the gallery average time per stop.

This placed the exhibit within the middle range for holding power, showing that children were experiencing parts of the exhibit and quickly leaving instead of exploring all aspects of the wall.

During the observational study, all age groups were recorded interacting with the Shapes Wall, and a portion of each age group was recorded specifically interacting with the traditional showcases within the wall. Toddlers and babies had the highest interaction with the traditional showcases, as 58% of toddlers and 21% of babies were observed interacting with the traditional exhibits during their stop at the Shapes Wall. Although no caregivers mentioned the Shapes Wall as an educational exhibit during the interviews, they did mention many aspects that the wall contains as reasons why exhibits within the gallery were educational. For example, caregivers stated that their child learned through sensory and tactile aspects of exhibits, which are contained on the wall through the various cranks, gears, buttons, and fossils that are available for children to touch and play with on the wall, as well as the projections that children can begin by pressing certain areas of the wall.

When comparing the Shapes Wall data to the Spots and Stripes Showcase data, it is clear that the Shapes Wall is the more popular exhibit. The interactivity of the Shapes Wall is most likely the cause of its higher popularity, as the Shapes Wall contains both interactive and traditional aspects while the Spots and Stripes Showcase only contains traditional aspects;

however, although the interactive portions draw children to the exhibit, it is important to note that a significant number of children were observed interacting with the traditional showcase portions of the wall. In order to increase the popularity of the Spots and Stripes Showcase, the team recommends altering the visual attraction of the showcase. As can be seen in Figure 48, the lighting within the showcase is dim, making the exhibit easy to overlook and contributing to the low attracting power of the exhibit. The team concluded that increasing the brightness of the spotlights in the exhibit and adding additional spotlights to highlight specific animals within the exhibit could increase its attracting power. The addition of lighting could also help to increase the holding power of the exhibit by allowing visitors to better the details of the animals within the showcase. This would most likely result in increased durations of stops at the exhibit, as the exhibit would be more visually appealing and interesting.