Raiselis, Bob. “What Makes a Good Interactive Exhibit?” Web http://www.montshire.org/stacks/exhibits/goodexhibits.html. 8 February 2011.
This article summarizes multiple characteristics of exhibit design and specifies which ones are important to creating a good interactive exhibit. The exhibit must be inviting to persons, it needs to look interesting enough for someone to want to spend some time playing with it. It should invite exploration and curiosity from those who interact with it, it should also create interactions with other visitors, forming a sense of community and shared experience. From a scientific perspective it must be accurate. Simplifying a complex idea is no easy task, making it enjoyable to learn about even more so, however it must be done to ensure the exhibit is used and gives the user something to think about and take away from the experience. The two most difficult aspects of interactive exhibit design are closely linked: navigation and appeal. The navigation of any exhibit should be easy to understand and make both the next step and its outcome easy to observe. This leads into an exhibits appeal. Because of the differences in intelligence and maturity between age groups, creating an exhibit that appeals to multiple demographics is extremely difficult but intensely sought after.
Most of these characteristics listed in this article, we can all agree, are part of just about anything people find interesting. It highlights some important aspects that most people don’t think about when they are interacting with an exhibit. One would hope this is because they are enjoying themselves too much due to the brilliant design. Making something which can convey information is easy, we all can write words onto a piece of paper. We can even make information sharing somewhat entertaining through the use of multimedia presentations: power point, drawings, animations, etc. However, creating a presentation which requires no guidance, is easy to navigate, and is interesting to the visitor, is a daunting task. Moreover, it must also simplify a complex idea and educate the user. This set of guidelines is by no means a solid template, but it is something any exhibit designer should try and incorporate in their design.
One of the things that I was at odds with was how safety, supervision and maintenance weren’t incorporated in creating exhibits. People, especially children, tend to either seek out risk or habitually engage in risky activity. This means that fragile arrangements or dangerous equipment would either need safety precautions or preventative measures. Maintenance of exhibits would also be difficult due to the higher traffic and interactivity of them. This increases cost from replacement parts and upkeep. Money is in short supply, especially for services deemed non-essential by the government.
The issues I take with the listed aspects is that there isn’t a checklist. They are stated more as guidelines and they don’t really all apply at the same time. Does that list change with different demographics or geographical regions? Does the priority switch when dealing with children as opposed to adults? How so? What about the needs of disabled? Can an exhibit be designed that is interesting and accessible to a multitude of persons and still be successful as an exhibit?
1) Your MLA citation needs to be fixed. As it is, you have the date linked with the actual website, so using the link as provided doesn't bring up your source. Be careful when providing the links that you don't add any other text to the link, like here. It makes it more difficult for readers to access your source, and sometimes they may not know what is actually part of the link and what isnt. If you move the date to before the website and leave the website for the end, you should be able to avoid this problem.
ReplyDelete2)You did an excellent job of summing up the points in the article. However, reading through it, it sounds more like you just listed the points from the article, using your own words, but just listing them. The first paragraph doesn't seem to flow as much from one point to the next. For example, where you said "it should invite interactions, it should also create interactions", it seems like you had the two points typed as separate sentences and merged them without altering them enough to let them flow fluidly.
3) I thought this was an excellent paragraph. Using the example of writing words on a piece of paper and making it more appealing really works for this article. Like simple words, if an exhibit is kept too simple and without much effort, it won't be as appealing to people as an exhibit in which presentation has been carefully done and real effort has been made. I felt this was an excellent way to describe why the article discusses these points.
4)This was an excellent point regarding safety in exhibits. While the article does have excellent points, safety isn't brought up, and as you said, ensuring safety should be a top priority. This means that making an exhibit interactive and appealing is more difficult when the interactive it is, the more dangerous it can be. Unfortunately, as you said, the article doesn't mention safety.
5) I found your questions regarding the article very interesting. Essentially, your questions are about if the exhibit is trying to be accessible and interactive for everyone, making everyone happy. While these are good questions, they all stem from that same basic question, "Is the exhibit making everyone happy while being effective?" You could sum these questions up into single question, or add more questions afterward. I was a little surprised that you didnt have any questions regarding safety. You devoted an entire paragraph to safety, how the article doesnt mention it, but then you don't ask any questions here regarding safety. This would be an excellent place to add those questions, like how could safety be incorporated while using the other points to make an effective exhibit?
Overall, I found the article interesting and right on track with what the Discovery Center is about. Just final reminders, be careful when linking a website, and at the end be sure to add the questions you had in the paragraphs leading to the end, such as your comments on safety. Other than that, well written, good topic, and thanks for reading.
Hi Jason:
ReplyDeleteTo extend off Taylor's post, you can find MLA works-cited information for electronic sources at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/.