Slides from the 2015 Museum Computer Network (MCN) Annual Conference. This workshop combined tools and methods from the design thinking process with theories and strategies from game design.

1. Building Authentic Connections with Visitors
through Design Thinking
DANA MITROFF SILVERS, DESIGNING INSIGHTS
November 4, 2015
SUSAN EDWARDS, HAMMER MUSEUM

2. Dana
Susan
@jolifanta
@dmitroff
Welcome!
hashtags:
#designthinking #musegames #MCN2015
#mcn?

3. Let’s wake up

4. What is design thinking?

5. A set of methods and mindsets for
framing problems & generating
innovative, human-centered solutions
5

6. All icons licensed from The Noun Project
Today isn’t design thinking “in the wild”

7. Image by the Stanford d.school
The process

8. Empathize Define
Prototype
Test
Ideate
REPEAT!
Image by the Stanford d.school

9. Organizations trained in design thinking

10. What are games?
Image cropped: Denver Post http://mashable.com/2015/02/07/monopoly-80th-
anniversary#4WJXGPEpqkqJ

11. Rules-based frameworks for exploration,
learning, and play

12. THE MAGIC CIRCLE

13. The Magic Circle

14. The Magic Circle
http://thearcadearchives.com/2015/09/27/mario-30th-anniversary-super-mario-bros-2/

15. Frustration
http://movietvtechgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/serena-williams-showing-frustration-2015.jpg

16. Human-centered
Bias towards action
IterativePrototype-driven
Collaborative
All icons licensed from The Noun Project
Mindsets
16

17. Problem-solving in museums
17
Image from flickr by Knight Center of Digital Excellence
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kcode/2879429718/

18. Image from flickr by Knight Center of Digital Excellence
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kcode/2879429718/
WWhat
Let’s redesign
the sharing
feature.
No, users
want a new
favorites
tool.
Hey, how about
an app?

19. Image by the Stanford d.school
A design thinking approach

20. “Design Doing”

21. Get a (new) partner
Not someone you already know well!

22. Your design challenge….
How might you make
your museum*
comfortable and welcoming
for your partner?
*or any museum of your choice if you don’t
currently work in a museum!

23. What does comfortable
and welcoming look like?

26. Image by BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8602038.stm

27. Image by Local Projects http://localprojects.net/project/gallery-one/

28. Image by Xinhua/Wan Xiang http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2011-06/30/c_13959216_7.htm

29. Image by Seattle Art Museum http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/programs-and-learning/families

30. Image by Darren Milligan on flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/brad-darren/15085988538/

31. Image: Whitney Museum http://whitney.org/Education/EducationBlog/AllGenderRestrooms

32. Image by Children’s Museum Pittsburgh https://pittsburghkids.org/about/museum-news

33. Your mission is to discover
what comfortable and
welcoming means
for your user.

34. Start with empathy

35. Empathize: what?

36. Empathize: why?

37. Empathize: methods
immersions
observations
ethnographic interviewing

38. Immersion
Image by Maryanna Rogers

39. What? How? Why?
)
Observation

40. What? How? Why?
Ethnographic Interviewing

41. Warm up!
Image by Paula Carlson

42. Interview “tools”
Encourage stories
Use open-ended questions
Always ask “Why?”
Allow space for silence.
Take notes! [Get some blank paper + a Sharpie]

43. Interview your partner
Tell me about a place where you feel
comfortable and welcome.
o Where is it?
o Why do you feel that way there?
Tell me a story about a recent experience in
which you felt uncomfortable and unwelcome
somewhere.
2 sessions x 3 min each

44. Follow-up and go deeper
“Why did you say…”
“Can you say more about…”
“Do you have another example of …?”
“Really? And why was that?”
“Why? Why? Why?”
2 sessions x 3 min each

46.
If I had 20 days to solve a problem,
I would take 19 to define it.
-Albert Einstein

47. What problem do you chose to solve?

48. 48

49. What are needs + insights?
Image by Maryanna Rogers

50. What does she need?

51. Human emotional and physical
necessities.
Verbs, not nouns
Opportunities, not solutions
Needs are…

52. Something you can see from the
outside that your user cannot see.
A contradiction, a surprise, an “aha!”
Why do you think your user has this
need?
What’s really going on here?
Insights are…

53. Examples
Insights:
A contradiction, surprise, or aha!
Needs:
Verbs, not nouns

54. Examples
Insights:
A contradiction, surprise, or aha!
Needs:
Verbs, not nouns
To reach
To get attention
To gain knowledge
To learn
To feel like an adult
She wants to feel
smarter than her
brother—he’s been
getting all the attention
these days!

55. Needs + insights mapping
Insights:
A contradiction, surprise, or aha!
Needs:
Verbs, not nouns
To reach
To get attention
To gain knowledge
To learn
To feel like an adult
She wants to feel
smarter than her
brother—he’s been
getting all the attention
these days!
4 min on your own

56. Coffee break
56

57. Craft a Point of View

58. Craft a Point of View
User: partner name + descriptive details
Needs to / a way to: verb(s)
Surprisingly / Because: Insight(s)

59. Craft a Point of View
User: Sarah, a precocious 9-year-old from
Philadelphia who loves science
Needs to / a way to: show off her knowledge
from her first year at her new science magnet
school
Surprisingly / Because:
her older brother has been getting all the
attention these days since he got accepted to
an Ivy League college

60. Craft a Point of View
User: partner name + descriptive details
Needs to / a way to: verb(s)
Surprisingly / Because: Insight(s)
4 min on your own

62. Let’s plan a party

63. o Gerben van Heijningen https://www.flickr.com/photos/breenjones/8057415401/

64. Brainstorming

65. build on ideas
headline ideas
encourage wild ideas
be visual
go for quantity
defer judgment
65

66. Crazy8s [Prizes!! Fun!!]
5 min on your own.
1. Prep a sheet for “Crazy8s”
2. Look back at your POV
3. Brainstorm solutions to meet your user’s needs
4. Try to get more than 8!

67. 2 sessions x 3 min each
Share ideas + get feedback

68. 3 min on your own
Reflect + plan your solution

70. Lo-fidelity prototyping
70

71. Prototype examples
71

72. Web + mobile
72
Images by Ahree Lee

73. Mobile app
73

74. Tablet app
74

75. In-gallery interactive
75

76. 76

77. Objects
Image courtesy Michael Edson,
Smithsonian Institution
Wayfinding and signage
77

78. #mw2014proto
Programs and services
78

79. #mw2014proto
Product or service?
79

80. Human-scale and interactive
80

81. 81

82. Build your solution
9 min on your own
Image by Jim Richardson, SUMO

84. Share prototypes
Ethnographic mindset
Observe, listen, question

85. Share prototypes
Testing best practices
Hand over your prototype!
Let the user touch it
Show, don’t tell!
Stop talking + listen

86. Share prototypes
Play test
Image by kgregson: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kgregson/3306255133/

87. Share prototypes
Get input + learn more
What resonated?
What failed?
Questions?
Ideas?
2 sessions x 3 min each
Image by Jim Richardson, SUMO

88. Share prototypes

89. Image by the Stanford d.school
Wrapping up

90. Human-centered
Bias towards action
IterativePrototype-driven
Collaborative
All icons licensed from The Noun Project
The Mindsets
90

91. Empowering
91
It’s empowering
Image from https://lthomason.wordpress.com/category/provision-2/
It’s empowering

92. focus groups
usability tests
surveys
web analytics
Where does design thinking fit in?
a/b testing
market research
formative evaluation
summative evaluation

93. Helps us connect with the
people + stories behind our data

94. Market research
94
Focus on demographics and averages
Image by the Stanford d.school

95. Design research
95
Image by the Stanford d.school
Use individual stories and
needs as inspiration
and a starting point for
innovative solutions

96. Design thinking resources
DesignThinkingforMuseums.net

97. Design thinking resources
dschool.stanford.edu/use-our-methods

98. Western Museums Association Talk
http://www.westmuse.org/articles/announcing-westmusings-2015
Image by the Western Museums Association

99. Questions?
99

100. Debrief
100
I like…
I wish…
I wonder…

101. !
101