One project I was tasked with during my internship at Lab 58 was the creation of a series of infographics to be displayed in conjunction with a selection of technologies showcasing past projects completed by the lab. Between the infographics and the technology, basically, all of which is available to pick up and interact with, the end product should approximate a self-guided tour. Some of the infographics were specific to the project being displayed, while others gave more general information about how the technology has advanced and how different technologies relate to each other.
Here’s an example of an infographic that provides information about depth-sensing cameras and how they’ve advanced over the past decade. Below, I’ll explain each step of the design thinking process as I understood it while going through the process.
Empathize
In the empathize stage, I thought about who would be viewing the infographics and technologies, why they would be in the space, and what they could gain by better understanding the technologies.
The audience is limited to professionals that work within RTI and their guests. The workers within RTI come from incredibly diverse fields and work in many different subject areas, but share that they are largely well-educated, interested in science, and curious about new things. The area that the tour is hosted in is a large common room surrounded with smaller meeting rooms but doesn’t have any main walkways through the space, so viewers here are likely in the space because they’re on a short break or waiting for a meeting to begin.
From those insights I was able to give myself a few design parameters:
- Information can be more in-depth for a science-savvy crowd, but shouldn’t assume previous field-specific knowledge
- Exhibits should work standalone and as a group. One person will likely not explore the whole table at once but will have many small chances to revisit it.
- Infographics should be inviting and provoke curiosity enough to pull someone over to the display table. Resources need to compete for attention from phones and the desire to scroll social media or send one more email while waiting.
If done well and people learn about the new tech and lab projects, it could be very impactful to RTI and the Lab. RTI has many different specialized groups working on their own projects, so they may not always be looking out for new technologies that are emerging that may eventually disrupt their field or technologies that could be incredibly powerful and relevant to a project they are working on. By showcasing technologies and inviting people to have conversations with those of us in the lab, hopefully, we can stoke some inter-disciplinary innovation.
Define
For as long as I’ve been there, the lab has always had some sort of tech display up in the large common room that I typically work in. I’ve observed that the largest problem with how people interact with the tech, is that a huge majority of people simply don’t. Professionals aren’t typically the type to pick up something in their office that they don’t know who it belongs to and start playing with it to start figuring it out. They need to be told what the tech is and why it’s set up. They need to be invited to check it out, pick it up, and see what it does.
Ideate
While developing the resources for the table, I maintained many back-and-forth conversations with the rest of the lab team to be sure content on the infographics was correct and easily understandable. I shared completed drafts of infographics with the team to get feedback and then would make edits accordingly. Edits ranged from basic re-wordings, to improving diagrams, trying different color palettes, or altering the layout for better readability.
Prototype
Prototype images were created in Adobe Illustrator and were then printed out and placed in basic plastic standees on the table. Final versions of infographics may be more professionally printed, but the prototype versions are cheap and effective placeholders while we gather more information about their effectiveness.
Test
Unfortunately, COVID has thrown a wrench into the test portion of this project. With no one in the RTI offices, we’ve currently paused the project but will continue once people are back to work. In the testing phase, I hope to learn which elements of the infographics are most effective and which should best be revised. I’m anxious to see whether the infographics can increase engagement with the display table and build enthusiasm about the lab and projects.