TY  -  JOUR
TI  -  Prototyping the Power Hall: a decision-making process
  AU -Christina Buckingham
PY  -  2025
VL  - 
IS  - Spring 2025
KW - discourse analysis
KW - evaluation
KW - informal learning
KW - interactive interpretation
KW - Interpretation
KW - prototyping
KW - science capital
KW - visitor engagement

AB - Interactive gallery interpretation is seen as a valuable tool for engaging families with the subject of science and engineering. It can offer many opportunities for creating active learning experiences and can help stimulate visitor interest and motivation (Falk et al, 2004). However, with such an abundance of technologies and techniques to choose from, it can be challenging for exhibition teams to decipher which interactive interpretation approach will deliver the most impactful results for their future visitors. The practice research outlined in this study identified that there was currently no defined method to compare the success of one proposed interactive interpretation approach to another from the perspective of both family and science engagement, despite these two elements being essential components in the design thinking process. 
This paper presents an innovative approach to interactive interpretation decision-making at the discovery stage of exhibition planning. It trials a process of evaluating and comparing multiple high-fidelity prototypes developed to answer the same interpretation problem through family discourse and a science capital-informed coding method. Science capital is a concept that describes a person’s science-related knowledge, attitudes, contacts and experiences, which can be accumulated over time (Archer et al, 2015). The author labels the investigated evaluation phase as ‘proto-scoping’ and explores its potential to guide the direction of audience-driven, interactive interpretation design before formal design briefs have been written, developers commissioned, and the more common, iterative prototyping begins. 

N1 - The Science Museum Group supports the science capital theory that accessible and relatable science experiences can affect a person’s scientific aspirations and commitment to science learning. Their exhibitions aim to encourage diverse groups of visitors to have a positive, accessible and connected experience with science during their visit. 
N1 - Everyday relevance relates to the meaningful connections a visitor makes with gallery content and how links are formed with what they already know and have experienced in their everyday life. Silverman (1995) states that relevance is attributed to human meaning-making and is inherent to forming meaningful museum experiences.  
N1 - The Touch Board is a microcontroller board with a dedicated capacitive touch and MP3 decoder. 
N1 - GSAP is a JavaScript animation library from GreenSock supporting high-performance animations that work across multiple browsers and devices. 
PB - The Science Museum Group
 
SN -  2054-5770
LA -  eng
DO -  10.15180/252302
UR -  https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/prototyping-the-power-hall-a-decision-making-process/
T2 -  Science Museum Group Journal