Core Concepts Linking Exhibit Design and the Visitor Experience in Science Centers: An Early Framework

摘要

Understanding the visitor experience is critical for exhibit designers. Interactive exhibits should engage visitors into meaningful and compelling science learning conversations. However, exhibit design is a complex endeavor, particularly because many factors are interrelated and because of its subjective and dynamic nature. A body of research has addressed this subject from different perspectives over the last two decades. Nonetheless, most of the conceptual and practical contributions have used an under-articulated conceptualization of the visitor experience. This paper attempts to clarify experience in interactive exhibits based on a systematic empirical and theoretical research on the topic. Building on a literature review-based framework, we conducted a card sorting technique to sixteen expert exhibit designers. The seven core concepts that emerged represent a general expert mental model and serve to provide a holistic and articulated perspective of experiential exhibit design. This work can serve as a future reference to develop methods and tools for the design of experience-centered exhibits.