Redesign of Museum Information Kiosk

Challenge

Museums today lack many of the aspects that create an accessible and inclusive experience for blind and partially sighted visitors. Exhibitions are often limited in ways that visually impaired people cannot get a full experience and information systems are more often adjustable for the sighted user in mind. Using an iterative design process and user evaluation The task was to redesign the information system  at The Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology so that it is more accessible to people with visual impairments. 

 

Process

We then brainstormed ideas and system requirements followed up by sketching out ideas. Based on the sketches we created a low fidelity prototype which was user evaluated with a Wizard of Oz method and Think-Aloud approach with observations and interviews for data collection.

 

Solution

A low-fidelity prototype of an information kiosk was developed, focusing on the physical attributes of the interface. The findings from the user tests can be seen as six design considerations, not as strict rules. Firstly, if NFC technology is used, the physical NFC spot should be identifiable by feeling a distinguishable shape and braille text. Any headphone should be placed where a user without vision exploring the interface with solely their hands will feel the headphone. The headphone should preferably not be required to be continually hand-held. Arrow-shaped buttons are intuitive for navigating the digital interface. A binary flip switch is intuitive for changing between two languages. Braille text in arbitrary locations may be missed. Lastly, if buttons are placed on the headphone they should be easily felt and have an intuitive mapping.
 

Skills

Design Practice: User Tests, Universal Design, Interview, Sketching, Wizard of Oz, Think Aloud, Low Fidelity Prototyping

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Software: Figma 

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Course: DM2624 Human Centered Technology for Disabilities