The visit to Huntington made one thing very clear - the location is expansive, with more content than any individual could consume in one go. Part library, part garden, part museum, it encompasses a wide range of choices in terms of information, subject, and activity. On top of that, it attracts a diverse mix of individuals ranging from serious scientists, families on vacation, children to senior citizens, and even hobbyists - just to name a few. Initially we struggled to find a way to unite all the information into one understandable platform. It was during this time that we came up with the common theme of exploration that in turn defined our vision statement:
Finding
To start of our design process, we participated in an on-site exploration of Huntington Gardens in which we observed visitors, studied the pre-existing infrastructure, and identified initial opportunities for change. These activities guided us towards gaining a deeper understanding of the overall site as well as the problems visitors to the location face which in turn fueled the rest of our ideation process.
Research
The Huntington is a Ixd 2 Team project including team members Sophieyuchang Tang I Rens Ying I Pooja Nair. We went through the process of designing a multi-platform digital experience that would enhance the experience of visitors. Through 14 weeks of ideation, wireframe and prototyping, we created a three feature, three platforms tool that would allow visitors to explore the expansive location.
Introduction
Visiting Huntington I The site
Ethnographic Research I The Audience
Elder people exercising ; Faster than most people
Family with teenager studying plants
Family with extremely small child
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People are seems like willing to discover by themselves.
- Most people do not seem lost.
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A lot of people taking photographs, some are professionals.
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A lot of elder people take a walk here
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Few young couples date here
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A lot of family with kids. (babies or teenagers)
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Everyone is relaxed instead of hurry looking for the scene
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People visit in groups. Nearly nobody walks alone.
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Larger Font for plant information - a lot of the audience is older
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Audio Guided Tour
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Key locations if you don’t have time for everything
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Recommended activities for kids
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Scenic spots for photo taking
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Distinction between garden transitions - ex:Chinese/Japanese gardens
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Information for each individual section - not just in the rainforest building
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Signs in central areas that point out different sections of the park
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A suggested route for first time visitors that takes them through all the key features
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Color organization - perhaps consistent on the map
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Directions to entrance from parking lot/Directions to parking lot
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Use Map model style from chinese garden at all locations
“The Huntington Experience should be a hub for exploration in which visitors learn more about themselves and the world around them.”
People Observation Insights
Information Distribution Insights
Directional Insights
After each participant finished their card sort, we had them label the groups they created or explain their rationale. These provided valuable insights into how they viewed and understood the information.
Key Groups:
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Administrative
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Location Related
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Activity Related
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Administrative
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Location
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Stuff in the location
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Activity in location
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Facilities is always grouped
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Some people group by purpose people visit the park.
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Some people group by department
The way people group is highly related to their background
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Parents in government studying international relation: group by department
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Graphic designer and Photographer: group by purpose
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Interaction people tend to group in the same way (bias)
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People prefer the simple words such as Garden, Museum… and use it as title to sort.
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People categorize contents by using their previous experience ( knowledge in the head)
Huntington is a vast educational institution located in San Marino. To start off our Design Process, we visited the campus in order to learn about the information types, the visiting demographic, and gain an overall idea of what Huntington is.
One of the earliest design exercises we conducted in order to gain a better idea of the system we were designing for was to do a fast paced post it brain dump in which we listed every single activity a visitor (or even staff) could participate in, the types of visitors, and objects/groups at the park. Seeing all of these laid out allowed us to then go in and pick and choose what would be most relevant or important to focus on. Creating the post it wall also gave us our first idea of how big Huntington was and how many different components were in play in Huntington and the challenge that would translate into when trying to combine all of these into a cohesive project.
Brainstorming
One of the earliest design exercises we conducted in order to gain a better idea of the system we were designing for was to do a fast paced post it brain dump in which we listed every single activity a visitor (or even staff) could participate in, the types of visitors, and objects/groups at the park. Seeing all of these laid out allowed us to then go in and pick and choose what would be most relevant or important to focus on. Creating the post it wall also gave us our first idea of how big Huntington was and how many different components were in play in Huntington and the challenge that would translate into when trying to combine all of these into a cohesive project.
Brainstorming
In a rapid design ideation practice, we quickly jotted down as many initial feature ideas as we could as well as collected quick ideas from other classmates as well. At this phase we concerned ourselves more with creating a large quantity of ideas that we could then comb through and refine as opposed to perfect ship-quality features. While many of these features didn’t make the final cut, it was here that we began to also create the beginnings of what would become our final three features.
In Class Ideation
We provided participants with 38 cards to sort. We tried to keep the number fairly low so as to not fluster the people we were testing and therefore receive more accurate and thoughtful results.
In the creation of cards, we tried to be as widespread as possible and cover all the topics associated with Huntington.
Process I Card Sorting
Following our rapid ideation storm, we needed a way to cut down excess ideas and hone in on the ones that would be successful moving forward. In order to do this, we went back and looked at our personas and started to envision what these features would look like when incorporated into their visit - which ones would be the most helpful/entertaining for them. It was at this point that we also started to look at the entire platform in terms of a pre post and during experience.
User Journey
Card Sorting Insights
Audience:
Others:
In order to choose our final features we reviewed the initial user stories we had made with the ideas from the brain storm session and tried to see which “fit” the best and provided the greatest possible benefit for Huntington visitors of every type. Referring back to personas was useful in this process. In addition, we tried to make sure that the features we were choosing weren’t just great individually, but would work cohesively to complement one another and that no user type would be left out of the experience.
Three Features
The Hunter
Citizen Scientist
Audio Experience
Information Architecture
