Chapters

Overview

Problem

Research

Ideation

Testing

Final Design

Reflections

✽ Making learning and discovering in the Burke Museum of Natural History more accessible and community-oriented in order to create a more inclusive and engaging visitor experience.

✽ Making learning and discovering in the Burke Museum of Natural History more accessible and community-oriented in order to create a more inclusive and engaging visitor experience.

✽ Making learning and discovering in the Burke Museum of Natural History more accessible and community-oriented in order to create a more inclusive and engaging visitor experience.

Skills User Research, Testing, UI/UX

Skills User Research, Testing, UI/UX

Software Figma

Software Figma

Course Interface Design I

Course Interface Design I

Duration 8 weeks

Duration 8 weeks

Team Lee Hardisty, Aidan Moeck, Emilia Flores

Team Lee Hardisty, Aidan Moeck, Emilia Flores

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Jump to Design Solution

Jump to Design Solution

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Jump to Process

Jump to Process

Context

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture is part of the University of Washington focusing on natural history and cultural heritage of Indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest.

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture is part of the University of Washington focusing on natural history and cultural heritage of Indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest.

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture is part of the University of Washington focusing on natural history and cultural heritage of Indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest.

Problem

There’s high demand for a central app for tours, navigation, events, and artifact information, but no digital solution exists.

Our biggest challenge was balancing the app’s design for both general visitors and the Burke’s role as a major research institution for faculty and scholars.

Goal

This project aimed to design a way for visitors to access event, news, exhibition, and artifact information all while incorporating the Burke's values of inclusivity and decolonization.

VALUE PROPOSITION

VALUE PROPOSITION

For learners of all ages, the Burke Museum App serves as an exploratory and accessible way to foster in-the-moment-discovery and learning by encouraging interactivity within the museum’s exhibits, research, events, and community.

USER RESEARCH

Understanding the Burke Museum experience

Competitive Analysis allowed me to understand how other museums approached ways of digitizing the experience.

How do museums currently take advantage of the digital space to enhance the experience? What aspects of these apps could we learn from and be inspired by?


We tore down the task flows of similar apps and their features to gain insight into what we found was successful as new users, and what we can avoid when designing our own experiences.

How do museums currently take advantage of the digital space to enhance the experience? What aspects of these apps could we learn from and be inspired by?


We tore down the task flows of similar apps and their features to gain insight into what we found was successful as new users, and what we can avoid when designing our own experiences.

How do museums currently take advantage of the digital space to enhance the experience? What aspects of these apps could we learn from and be inspired by?


We tore down the task flows of similar apps and their features to gain insight into what we found was successful as new users, and what we can avoid when designing our own experiences.

User interviews with Burke staff and visitors taught me what makes the Burke special and how we can approach designing our experiences to reflect its values.

We spoke with 4 Burke staff members and 3 visitors to understand how visitors navigated the Burke, what challenges they ran into during the museum experience, and any additional accessibility needs.

Sophie, Burke Researcher

"Way finding and logistical information are the most important questions that people ask me. That's actually the number one reason why people will come here because there's something special going on."

"Way finding and logistical information are the most important questions that people ask me. That's actually the number one reason why people will come here because there's something special going on."

"Way finding and logistical information are the most important questions that people ask me. That's actually the number one reason why people will come here because there's something special going on."

LP, Staff on Visitor Experiences Team

"We don't even have guided tours. Another big thing is that people want a personalized experience. At the moment, these spaces are very self driven right now, and for that reason, everyone gets as much as they put into it."

"We don't even have guided tours. Another big thing is that people want a personalized experience. At the moment, these spaces are very self driven right now, and for that reason, everyone gets as much as they put into it."

"We don't even have guided tours. Another big thing is that people want a personalized experience. At the moment, these spaces are very self driven right now, and for that reason, everyone gets as much as they put into it."

The next step was to consolidate all of our research findings, put ourselves into the shoes of a Burke visitor, and map out the user journey experience map of going to the Burke museum.

DESIGN

Creating and ideating to enhance the Burke experience

With a clear understanding of our users, I led my team in developing the key features we wanted to focus on before ideating our information architecture and wireframes.

With a clear understanding of our users, I led my team in developing the key features we wanted to focus on before ideating our information architecture and wireframes.

With a clear understanding of our users, I led my team in developing the key features we wanted to focus on before ideating our information architecture and wireframes.

At this stage, we each ideated on different concepts and style tiles before consolidating into one design system after feedback.

Who is our audience? How would the design system and style reflect different audiences? Which style and functionality best served our value proposition and mission?

Who is our audience? How would the design system and style reflect different audiences? Which style and functionality best served our value proposition and mission?

Who is our audience? How would the design system and style reflect different audiences? Which style and functionality best served our value proposition and mission?

USER TESTING

Finding and minimizing gaps in users' mental model

While iterating on our designs, my team and I conducted user testing with Burke visitors, families and staff using a mid-fidelity prototype.

Key Insights:

Pain Points and Opportunities:

DESIGN SYSTEM

Developing and refining a unified brand and design system

After solidifying our user flows based on user testing and feedback, we began focusing our attention to creating a cohesive design system and brand identity across all pages on our app.

The Final Prototype

Learn like never before with the Burke Museum App!

Press "R" to restart

Navigate with your cursor

REFLECTIONS

Trust the team and the process

From the start, we each had a vision for the Burke app, but our final solution came from prioritizing user needs. Early on, we struggled with design decisions, often focusing on what we wanted as features rather than what users needed. For instance, we wanted to design for a navigational tracking system, but given the Burke’s compact layout, this feature wasn’t necessary.


This project challenged me in both design thinking and collaboration, but working with a team just as passionate about museums made it incredibly rewarding.


A special thank you to Professor Chad Hall for his support throughout the quarter!

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Play Prototype

Play Prototype

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