The document discusses the evolution of participatory action research and design methodologies for informal science learning, emphasizing the importance of user-centered design in creating accessible exhibits for children and families. It outlines the methodology used, including design thinking and workshops, along with essential design considerations for safety, usability, and ethical standards. The goal is to create interactive exhibits that facilitate data collection while being engaging and inclusive for all visitors.

1. Design Lessons from Life –
An evolution of participatory
action research and design
methodologies for practice
based research.

2. Designing for Creativity and Innovation
in Informal Science Learning

3. The problem (need)…

4. The hypothesis…

5. Methodology: Participatory
Action Research

6. PAR

7. PAR for a multidisciplinary,
practitioner/researcher project

8. Developing all aspects of the
project through PAR

9. Supporting PAR

10. PAR for wider collaboration

11. Design Thinking Approach

12. The design workshop
Applying design practices - user journeys

13. A defined problem to develop
Practitioner considerations
- Needs to be safe for unsupervised public use
with no protruding components or sharp edges
- Needs to be comfortably usable by the target
audience (in our case children and family
groups) and by those in wheelchairs
- The exhibit needs to work as an exhibit outside
the research context and therefore it should not
exclude (and should be equally as engaging to)
those who do not want to take part in the study
or fall outside of the desired participant
demographic
- The aesthetics and materials should match the
overall exhibition design

14. Ideation and iteration…
Researcher considerations
- Needs to allow all experimental conditions (solo,
social, and collaborative) to occur in the same
location, to ensure consistency of data across
conditions (for physical, digital, and hybrid versions).
- The exhibit and surrounding space should be as
controlled as possible to limit variables.
- It should be easy to find digital video footage data
where ethical consent has been granted.
- Needs to meet ethical standards for submitting to
Research Ethics Committees

15. An Interactive Exhibit Pod

16. In-built digital research tools for
automatic data collection

17. In-built digital research tools for
automatic collection of ethical consent

18. Hardware and software

19. Online open source survey software

20. Outcomes and outputs

21. Impact: see it in other science
centres, and do it for yourself!
Creativescienceatlife.com

22. Conclusions

23. Thanks & Q’s?
Dr Hannah Rudman
@hannahrudman
hannah@hannahrudman.com
Dr Claire Bailey-Ross
@clairey_ross
claire.bailey-ross@durham.ac.uk
creativescienceatlife.com