Asian Civilisation Museum - Service Redesign
Project details
Project type: UX Design Immersive Course School Project
Project duration: 3 weeks
My team: Syafiq Kamal, Ella Choi, Jelena Duric
​My Role: UX Researcher, UX / UI Designer, Service Designer,
Visual Storyteller, Prototyping
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Challenge
Discover gaps and identify opportunities to improve service in ACM Museum trough digital or physicals touchpoints. Identify one or more new features and develop solution with deep understanding of the users needs, in order to increase visits traffic and offer a seamless and delightful Singapore experience to visitors.
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About ACM
ACM has a mission to foster understanding of the diverse heritage cultures of Singapore, their interconnections and their connections with the world by exploring Asia’s artistic heritage. Their target audience includes local visitors (Art & History enthusiasts, families, schools) as well as tourists and foreigner visitors.
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PROBLEM
In a research phase of our design process, we were able to identify several pain points among the visitors and identify weak areas in ACM service which do not meet some of the users' primary expectations. In general, many visitors felt that museum is "cold", "boring", "lacking soul", with weak narrative and lukewarm storytelling. Poor info signage made navigation trough museum difficult and confusing. Common expectation among users were to have fun, engaging and memorable learning experience - instead the educational content was provided in old fashion way trough info displays, it was hard to digest and users would easily lose interest in reading them.
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SOLUTION
Our solution is based on a blended service with a goal to improve experience for ACM visitors through an immersive walk-through in physical space of museum, and supported with bite-sized information on the digital Museum Guide App .
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Improvement in physicals space of the museum includes:
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Implementing clear signage and info panels for easy navigation and awareness
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​​​​​​​Implementing digital technologies, interior décor and wall painting with purpose to tell a story and bring unique atmosphere
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Implementing interior décor and ambient sounds
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Implementing interactive, hands-on activities to provide fun, engaging and memorable learning experience
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More docents and volunteers to welcome visitors, provide help and share interesting knowledge about exhibits
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Digital Museum Guide App support learning trough:
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Audio stories about Asian Civilization and certain exhibits
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Bite - size information about exhibits
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Fun Facts
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Before
After
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DESIGN PROCESS
How did we come to solution - Methods and Tools
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Online Research
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User Interviews
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Affinity Mapping (Mural)
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Service Safari
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User Persona
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Journey Map
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Problem Statement
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Hypothesis
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Brainstorming
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Competitive Analysis
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Feature Prioritization
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User Flow
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Mood Board
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Sketching
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Wireframing (Figma)
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Prototyping (Figma)
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UI Design (Figma)
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Space Mock - ups (Photoshop)
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Usability Test
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Next Steps
1. DISCOVER
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WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO FIND OUT?
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Our goal was to develop empathy with our end-users and identify possible pain-points and gaps. We wanted to find out what motivates people to go to a museum, what do they expect and need, what are challenges and concerns they face.
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WHAT PREVIOUS VISITORS SAID ABOUT ACM?
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Very useful source to collect data from tourists who visited ACM was TripAdvisor. We were analyzing visitors reviews and ratings, for a period from 2017 to 2020. In general, people who gave 5 stars rating, liked fine collections and informative displays of exhibits. People who gave 4 stars also liked collections but felt lack of narrative trough the museum. On the other hand, people who gave ratings from 3 to 1 were very critical and disappointed, describing a few major downsides.
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SERVICE SAFARI
Immersing ourselves into the Asian Civilizations Museum visitor experience
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Goal of service safari was to increase empathy with users, explore different touch points and understand internal processes and users flow. We have focused to identify the main gaps and area of opportunities for improvements.
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Observation:
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GATHERING INSIGHTS TROUGH USERS INTERVIEWS
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Having in-depth 1-on-1 interviews with 12 users, helped us understand motivations and goals of museums-goers, gather insights on behaviors and feelings at a museum and identify key touch and pain points in a museum experience. The major pattern and trends discovered by Affinity Mapping were:
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Informative
Amazing
collection!
Boring,
Not interesting
Lack of info, soul and narrative
Poor signage
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MOTIVATION
I visit museums because...
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The exhibits themes and content appeal to my interests
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I experience rare and novelty moments that I don’t usually get to see
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I want to learn something new and get inspiration
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The experience is relatable and relevant to my life
AWEARNESS
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I know about museums through…
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Advertisements, billboards and ads, which signal to me that the museum is a must-go attraction
I plan and research for the trip through...
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Looking up information on the cost, opening hours & how to get there
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Looking at reviews & recommendations from friends and online platforms
FRUSTARATIONS
I am disappointed when a museum…
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Is different from what was advertised
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Is boring, since I wish to be entertained
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Does not meet my expectations
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I am concerned about…
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Making good use of my time, as I can spend up to 2-4 hours at a museum
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Is museum crowded
EXPECTATIONS
I like when a museum...​
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Is hands-on and interactive to make the experience fun, engaging and memorable
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Allows me to experience a strong narrative, one that tells a story
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Allows me to imagine, feel, and step into the shoes of people living in the past
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Tells me more about the exhibit, in a tone and language that is easy-to-understand
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Provides guides / docents / volunteers that teach me more about the exhibits
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Provides maps, signage and a well-marked trail to guide me which route to take
PEOPLE
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Onsite staff did not have knowledge about museum exhibits
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Security guards at each gallery gave a strict and officious presence
PHISYCHAL SPACE
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The facade of each gallery was largely similar, plain, no visual markers to show which exhibit we’re at
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Museum was extremely quiet
PROPS
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Names of galleries were not prominent
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Information panels were brief, with little audio/visual support, making reading effortful
DISCOVER
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DEFINE
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USER PERSONA
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We have created User Persona based on insights and common patterns that we have synthesized from our research. Since expectations and paint point of both target groups, local visitors and foreigners, were very similar, we have created one user persona to keep us focus on target users while working toward solution.
CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP
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Mapping out the most critical points of Lana's experience when visiting a museum
DEFINE
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PROBLEM DEFINITION
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How might we...?
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Supplement Lana’s learning of the exhibits in a fun and interactive manner?
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Create a powerful storyline?
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Help Lana immerse into the history & culture of the past?
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Lana wants a museum experience that has great storytelling and educational content,
so that she can learn about new things and enjoy her time there
Problem Statement
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Solution Hypothesis
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We believe that by having more interactive features and audio/visual stimulus within the museum (via physical and digital forms), we will meet her needs and improve her overall museum experience. We will know that we succeed if Lana come back to ACM museum again, recommend it to other people, or trough a positive online reviews.
IDEATE
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COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
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Before we started working toward the solution, we conducted competitive analysis to understand best practices in the industry and identify opportunities for ACM in terms of features that we can be implement in ACM service to make IT stand out and bring more value to the business. For the analysis, we identified 6 competitors: some of them direct like National Museum of Singapore and Fort Canning Museum, and some indirect like Art and Science museum and Singapore Gallery. We wanted to find out how they tell stories, how they interact with visitors and provide streamline experience. This analysis helped us to identify in which area ACM is weak, so that we can focus on how to improve them. Competitive analysis showed us that best practice to tell stories, interact with users and bring them peace of atmosphere is to create unique experience trough: docents stationed around exhibit to share stories & take questions, large visual displays to convey the story better through visuals & motion, gallery decor to the theme of the exhibit to providing an immersive experience and digital guide that recommends exhibits based on your interests
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Feature
Inventory
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Museums' best practices and trends
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SOLUTION CONCEPT = PHISICHAL SPACE IMPROVMENTS + DIGITAL GUDE APP
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Based on what we have learned from our user research, followed by competitive analysis, and having our User Persona in mind, we stared brainstorming our solution. We identified many features that can be incorporated to improve the quality of ACM service and align our team on solution concept. As mentioned before, we came up with design concept which is based on a blended service, with a goal to improve learning for ACM visitors through an immersive walk-through experience in physical space of museum + supported with bite-sized information on the digital guide app.
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Physicals Space Feature Prioritization
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Digital Guide App Feature Prioritization
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PROPOSED BRAND GUIDE
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ACM
Current Mood Board
Personality: Expert Historian
ACM
Current Mood Board
Personality: Expert Historian
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Credible & reputable
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Educational
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Storytelling
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Inspirational
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Warm
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Approachable
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Conversational
ACM
Brand Personality
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ACM
Voice and Tone
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To inspire people with an understanding of Asia’s heritage, by allowing them to step in the shoes of those who lived in the past.
ACM
Mission
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DELIVER SOLUTION
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TRANSFORMING PHYSICAL SPACE
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Feature prioritization for physical space of ACM shaped impact, difference and experience we want to achieve. My main role was to work on that how improvements we identify can be implemented. I have managed to incorporate most of the features in our proposed solution which I will present in next mock ups.
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* Note: All graphics presented in mock ups are only for the purpose of communicating ideas and to present proposed solution. In case of solution adoption and application, all audio and visual content must be produced and validated in cooperation with experts from fields of history, culture, art, archelogy, anthropology and other museum experts.
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Reception - Before
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Front Desk - before
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Behind the front desk, there is a huge signage that informs us what is on level 3. On the left side of the front desk, and just before entrance to galleries, is a donor page. The poster at the entrance wall presents porcelain motives and does not consist of any wordings. Once you enter corridor towards galleries, you can find a basic map of the museum.
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We found out that signage panel consumes a lot of space, but does not say much and advertises only one level of the museum, while there was no sign to tell about other levels and exhibits in the museum, so that visitors can decide what interests them the most and plan their route accordingly. Donor page looks nice but it is on the way to the entrance, so people just pass by and don't pay much attention to it.
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Front Desk - after
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We decided to transform front desk hall in this way. At the front desk we put a welcome message, so that people feel welcomed. On the pillars we present scenes with some of the most famous characters from Asian culture and religion to show a piece of atmosphere. Instead of signage panel, we put large digital screen which will play specially designed video or animation to tell a story and give some introduction about Asian civilization. We have moved Donor page to the sitting area, so that when people wait or rest, they can enjoy beautiful wall and pay attention to the donors. Instead of Donor page we thought it is crucial to provide info panel with clear content, so that people know what to expect on each level and how to find the gallery they are interested in. Next to the panel, there is a map with layout of level 1 – current level. We have decorated space with potted plants that are replicas of artifacts from the museum collections, in order to bring more life and warm atmosphere to the hall.
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Clear Info Signage
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Video duration indicator
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Digital Screen playing video
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Map of the Current Level
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Video Time Indicator
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Signage - before /after
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Here you can see how we transformed signage to be more clear and to provide content to the visitors, so that they can know what to expect on each level, to find what interest them and decide their route.
This is level 2 and the entrance to Faith and Religion galleries. We found that signage is not clear and visible enough, and also there is a lack of info panels to tell what galleries are upfront. There are many galleries on this level and we wanted to introduce them on a info wall poster, so that from the beginning visitors would know what to expect inside. Also, we included a layout map of current level, which will explain how to navigate through the galleries, and also inform visitors what is on level 1 and level 3.
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Décor & Atmosphere - before
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Décor & Atmosphere - after
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Moving down trough the Ancient Religions gallery, you will come to the Kwan Im Hood Cho Temple exhibition which shows 5 statues. Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple is of significance to the Chinese in Singapore, and is believed to bring worshippers good luck after praying to the Kuan Yin -the Goddess of Mercy. On this sample you can see how we used gallery décor and audio stimulus to transform and enrich ambient around this exhibit.
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Storytelling on the Corridor Walls - before /after
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Faith and Belief along
the Silk Road
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After you enter this door, there is a long corridor that will take you to Faith and Religion themed galleries. Here is a text that shows how religions have been spread over Asia. On the walls, there are photos of significant temples, followed by short description. We decided to show those temples on a map, in order to create a story and a timeline how religion was spread to Asia, and where those temples are actually geographically located.
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Storytelling using Digital Technology
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Ancient Religion is the biggest gallery in Faith and Religion theme. Here again, we incorporated digital technology to embrace experience by watching interesting video or animation which will tell a story and interesting facts about ancient religions. There is a rime indicator in the corner, so people who did not join from the start know when video will start playing again from the beginning.
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Since this exhibits reflects Kwan Im Hood Cho Temple, we have to decided to transform space around exhibits to bring atmosphere of approaching the temple and finding those statues inside. To create strong sensory stimulants we were using structure of the temple, colors and lighting, complimented by calming ambient sounds visitors can here from the ceiling. Goal is to match museum experience with real life experience in the real temple and bring exhibit closer to audience.
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Storytelling on the walls
and through replicas of
the objects that visitors
can touch, feel and interact with
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Galleries on the 1st Level show times of trade. There are more than 1.000 pieces of ceramics, gold, and silver displayed to tell the story of the bustling Indian Ocean trade, and of globalization long before the term was coined. Reasonable, all artifact in the museum were under protective glass. From our research, we fond out that people were complaining that there is a lot of pottery, and nothing else - they were bored and overwhelmed by it. We decided to use wall art to present how people used to made pottery, so that visitors can connect more. To increase interaction, on one side of the wall we placed an old cabinet with a replicas of pottery that visitors can touch and feel the texture, and take a look of the details from close. Beside that, they can open the drawer and find more interesting object there like some tools, personal belongings, letters, pieces of clothes and replicas of objects that once belonged to people who lived here.
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Storytelling trough Object Replicas and Wall Art - before /after
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Storytelling by Docents and Guides
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Since our User Persona wanted to hear stories, another feature in a physical space is an idea that each gallery will have available docents at every moment to assist visitors at the spot. They will share stories and give visitors more information on current exhibitions. Docents will be dressed according to theme of exhibition to be highly visible and to bring piece of atmosphere and unique experience.
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How tour guides help museums execute their strategies?
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Their work is closely affiliated to the strategy of the organization. What they say, how they say it, and how they encourage their audience to engage with the museum artefacts is shaped in ways which related to the museums’ future plans. They balance education and entertainment in a way that is sensitive to the collection, which is strategic aim of most museums.
Source: How tour guides help museums execute their strategies (lse.ac.uk)
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Hands - on Activities
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NEW IN OUR MUSEUM!
POTERY MAKING WORKSHOP
Put yourself in shoes of ancient pottery artist!
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Immerse yourself in the process of throwing on the potter's wheel, and moulding your own wares from clay with handbuilding techniques. Come and be surprised at what your hand can create!
Classes are infused with mental wellness elements to stimulate visitors find inner peace through the art of pottery making.
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NEW IN OUR MUSEUM!
VIRTUAL POTERY MAKING
Creating virtual pottery might not provide the actual product but it is so much fun!
Virtual Pottery is an interactive audiovisual installation that uses hand gestures to create 3D pottery objects. Pottery making game in virtual reality is based on the world's first spinning wheel simulation. Users can draw pictures with a brush, carve with a carver, and try simple baking and glazing to experience pottery making as much as possible.
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NEW IN OUR MUSEUM!
VIRTUAL POTERY MAKING WORKSHOP
Creating virtual pottery might not provide the actual product but it is so much fun!
Pottery is an interactive audiovisual installation that uses hand gestures to create 3D pottery objects. Pottery making game in virtual reality is based on the world's first spinning wheel simulation. Users can draw pictures with a brush, carve with a carver, and try simple baking and glazing to experience pottery making as much as possible.
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One more suggestion in physical space related to Maritime trade gallery (where porcelain was one of the major parts), will be implementing hands on Pottery Making activities to engage users . Visitors can listen and learn about techniques used in ancient times. They can put them self in the shoes of ancient pottery artist, so they can feel and learn the technique by modeling their own art.
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Similar concept but in a modern and fun way, and probably more suitable for kids, we will offer trough Virtual Pottery Making. Visitors can engage and by movement of the hands create their unique pottery. They can use virtual colors to paint and decorate it. Once they are finished, they can send their masterpiece to the virtual wall display, to show their work and have a sense of achievement.
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Introducing
THE ACM DIGITAL TOUR GUIDE
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Enhance your
museum experience
with our
DIGITAL GUIDE
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Dive deep into the historical artifacts and stories with our museum's digital guide. With audio tours and interesting facts about the exhibits, come and enjoy a fuller experience with ACM.
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COLLECT AT INFO DESK
FREE OF CHARGE I TERAMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY
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Our Digital Tour Guide provided by museum is an App on special mobile device + headphones. By using App on this kind of device, users can experience the audio separately for specific exhibits but conserve their mobile phone batteries and data.
My role was to help my team with visual aspect of User Interface.
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TEST
GOAL
Goal of Usability Testing was to understand how easy or difficult is navigating the digital app, is process intuitive and how would users behave, react and interact in the physical space. Due to time constrains and Covid-19 circumstances we have conducted facilitated remote testing.
Key Tasks
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Use the app to find the Ancient Religions gallery
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Play the audio soundtrack to get a tour of the gallery
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Get more information about the exhibit
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Try a quiz to learn interesting facts about the exhibit
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View recommendations on the next exhibit to visit
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Bookmark resources and forward to themselves
Key Findings
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Test limitation
During our remote test unfortunately we were facing many limitations. Navigating trough physical space was difficult because participants was not familiar with click-through prototypes. We were unable to test and measure the actual effect of the gallery decor against the lighting and physical space. Beside that tasks for the tests was harder to complete as users cannot experience the app & physical space at the same time (e.g. entering exhibit code while looking at info panel).
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NEXT STEPS
Refine prototype & usability tests
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Test at ACM and use the mobile device to explore physical movements and interaction with app
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Involve ACM’s Visitor Service Officer as part of the usability tests to explain and provide the app
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Include the frames for the map’s filter options, GPS tracker and street view of the map
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Improve ACM’s Corporate website
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Improve the site’s information architecture and labels on the navigation bar using a card sorting and tree-testing exercise
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Include video tour experience of exploring the museum and using the digital guide
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Upload downloadable flyer that displays key info about the museum (opening hours, location, exhibits, cost....)
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Align website look and content with new Brand Guide principals.
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Users were able to feel the atmosphere of the temple through the backdrop & decor. Users appreciated clear info signage.
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Users likes Informative app which allows different modes of learning such as audio and quizzes
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Users likes the ability to bookmark resources and read them later
- DELTA
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Unsure if the guide is something to download on the phone or given by the museum
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Users (2 of 5) couldn't differentiate between a gallery (i.e. large section with many exhibits) and an exhibit.
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Expects the map to show the detailed layout of the exhibits in each gallery
Metrics
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Pass / Fail for each task
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Users’ ease of completing the task (scale of 1-7, 1 - very difficult, 7 - very easy)
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Qualitative feedback (liked most/least)
