What Grows Where?
OVERVIEW
"People were waiting in line to use it, that is really great!"
Problem: The Exploratorium museum in San Francisco wanted an exhibit that allowed museum visitors to learn more about plants across California. They had a dataset of over a hundred different types of plants across the state but needed an interactive map and narrative.
Solution: We created the exhibit What Grows Where? to be displayed in the museum on a large 6' interactive multi-touch table. The exhibit features a map of the most common plants in California with digital magnifying glasses that allow users to dig deeper. Users are able to read stories about how plants impact communities across California as well as drill down into the specific plants that may grow anywhere across the state.
As the lead designer on this project, my team and I:
Defined the overall user experience and visual identity for the interactive exhibit as part of the bigger collection ¡Plantásticas!
Built interaction models and user flows that catered to museum visitors of all ages
Simplified complex ecological data into an intuitive, interactive experience
Developed a visual system that balances scientific accuracy with a sense of playful discovery
Designed two complementary modes: story mode for narrative exploration and explore mode for open-ended data interaction
Collaborated on prototyping and in-museum user testing to find the best ways to refine the exhibit
PROBLEM
Visualizing over a hundred types of plants in a geospatial dataset across California
To kick off the project, we had the client define what success looked like in their eyes. This is always a helpful way of aligning our expectations at the start of the project as well as getting a better sense of what we are solving. It also serves as a benchmark to measure ourselves by as we progress through the project.
Failure
Success looks like avoiding 100% of these
Most visitors don’t understand what’s going on with the data viz
Experience is clunky or frustrating to use
Many/most visitors are not interested in using the data viz exhibit
Misrepresenting data or stereotypes
Project is too complex
UX & UI make it difficult for people to access and interpret info
Minimum Success
Success means achieving 100% of these
Free of most technical glitches
Visitors know how to use the exhibit and can make some comparisons
Visitors can easily locate places they care about and find out what plants grow there
Visitors say “huh, that’s cool” and wander off
Data is scientifically accurate
We incorporated stories from the community
Target Success
Success means achieving 40–60% of these
We hear people say “wow” when they see it or interact with it
Typical visitors spend many minutes at the exhibit (not because they can’t figure it out) but because they are excited about what they are finding
People understand something new about plants in California
Design is so beautiful that visitors request a poster version
A truly delightful user experience, a joy to use
See below for a screenshot of the actual activity we did with the client in FigJam:
DISCOVERY
Understanding our users and diving into the data
The Exploratorium is a museum meant for all visitors, regardless of their age or interests, so the client did not want to prioritize the potential users. We did, however, group the users into buckets to outline their goals and limitations:
User
Children (8+)
Goals / motivations:
Child is one who chooses exhibit
Wants to see an immediate response
Frustrations / painpoints:
Easily frustrated if confused
Expects an immediate response
If bored, will run off
User
Chaperone/parent (adult)
Goals / motivations:
Wants to have fun family day
Trying to keep child’s interest
Family can have a conversation about the interaction
Frustrations / painpoints:
Some parents not keen on kids looking at screens
Quick to move on if they don't get it
User
Non-parent (adult)
Goals / motivations:
Curious, interested in learning
Looking for more complexity
Frustrations / painpoints:
Potentially uninterested if content is not personally relevant
Quick to move on if they don't get it
At the same time as our user research, we loaded the plant dataset in our internal tools to get a sense of the data landscape. We worked independently and collaboratively to brainstorm many ways of visualizing the data. At this time, we focused on seeing where the data could take us before going down one solution path.
CARTOGRAPHY
Bringing the map to life with a cartographic system that makes the data feel approachable
With over a hundred plants to map and a large touchscreen table as the device, we decided that a map of California would be an effective place to start the user experience. We displayed the most common plant per raster point, despite there oftentimes being multiple plants per raster point. This way, users could start their journey through the most plants they may already know of and dive deeper to uncover what other plants might grow there.
We used the following goals to guide our use of color in the final map:
Use an overarching color bucket to group similar plants, such as desert plants or conifers, in attempt to reveal broader patterns across California
Create a color palette that was in line with the Exploratorium's brand and the general nature theme of the project
Keep users' eyes focused on California as we had no data for surrounding states or ocean
Create a map that was beautiful to look at and drew users into the product
USER INTERACTION
Crafting interactions that feel playful and engaging to balance narrative and exploration
The main map showed only the most common plant per raster point in California. While this was a good starting point, we wanted to add as much detail as possible for users to explore more. We divided the types of information we would show into two modes: "story mode" and "explore mode".
Story mode focused on how people are connected to the plants around them, from farming to eating at restaurants to the impacts of climate change. We geo-located each of the stories around the map depending on where the story was relevant to in California. The goal was for geographically relevant stories to popup when users searched the map.
Explore mode focused on all the plants that we had data for in a specific location. When in this mode, users could see the different plant groups that were relevant to an area as well as more granular details for a specific plant, such as a photo, scientific name, and coverage in California.
We designed a draggable magnifying glass that users could move around to investigate the map in these two modes. We expected people to be excited about moving the plant magnifier around the map mostly because it's a fun and gratifying interaction. To capitalize on this behavior, both the plants and relevant stories update as you move the magnifier around depending on where the information is relevant. This way, users can explore via the map and learn more as they go.
USER TESTING
Testing our prototypes to observe and learn from our users
We worked with the Exploratorium's exhibit testers multiple times throughout the project to build the most effective product. In regards to testing the design, we were most interested in:
How are users inclined to interact with the map and plant magnifiers?
Where are users' curiosities leading them in their exploration?
What questions went unanswered after using the product?
How does the design accommodate groups of many sizes and ages?
Are users engaging with the product as we expect and/or want them to?
Based on the feedback we received from our users, we refined our magnifier design to optimize for a more intuitive and friendly experience. More specifically we:
Prioritized the story mode over the exploration mode in design emphasis
Added a Spanish/English language toggle to broaden our user base
Added the ability to rotate a plant magnifier to improve the use of space around the table
Designed states that encouraged users to keep exploring when they moved off the map or finished reading through a story
Check out a snapshot of the magnifiers on the large map in the final design below!
