A Capsule Summary of APE Exhibit Development

The aim of APE exhibits is to shift the role of the visitor from recipient to participant.

The visitor is a participant (with the museum and with other visitors) in the generation of activities, questions, and explanations related to engaging phenomena.

Leading Observational Indicators

• Visitors spend more time at exhibits.
• Visitors ask and pursue questions not mentioned in the label and/or give other indications that they are not fully reliant on the authority of the museum.
• Visitors ask a certain class of questions including "How can I get it to...?" and "What if I...?" as opposed to "Why does it...?"
• Visitors engage in conversations or provide other indications that they are inquiring, exploring, playing, observing, or contemplating.
• Visitors' interaction with phenomena is not halted by requests for authority.
• Visitors leave for extrinsic, rather than intrinsic, reasons.

Process Strategies

General:

• Use evidence of formative evaluation.
• Make affordances both transparent and minimal.
• Nail initial engagement.

Specific to APE exhibits:

• Observe visitor behavior through video and interviews.
• Use "Gang of 6" (iterative meetings of developers, scientists, and project staff) to follow and inform exhibit progress.
• Anticipate or discover visitors' questions and provide visitors with the tools to explore their questions without overwhelming them with options.
• Try exhibits that:
  

  -	reveal the aesthetics underlying a phenomenon;
  -	provide opportunities for visitors to enjoy the pleasures of creation;
  -	present remarkable mechanisms;
  -	pose challenges or puzzles that are solved by the activity.

• Avoid cognitive conflict and other dead ends.
• Reduce the role of authority by minimizing guidance without introducing frustration — find the balance.

Some Criteria for Selecting Phenomena (Descriptive not Prescriptive)

General:

• Phenomenon interests exhibit developer so that the exhibit developer goes through an exploratory process.
• Phenomenon should be compelling and resetable.
• Is the phenomenon manipulable?

Specific to APE exhibits:

• Look for phenomena with a variety of interactions and results.
• Avoid dead-end phenomena.
• Consider rebuilds — we already have some information.
• Aesthetics may reduce the desire for authoritative explanation.
• Can I imagine multiple intellectual paths of some nature (e.g. branching)?

Design Strategies:

• Create multiple stations to encourage ownership through visitor control.
• Provide multiple entry points.
• Provide participatory activities for those not directly controlling the exhibit ( "Waiting Area").
• Create conducive environment: walls, benches, lighting, noise control, etc...
• Use graphics to minimize the role of authority and guide visitor to "Part B":
  

  -	Utilize challenges and competition;
  -	Embed part of explanation in hints or suggestions;
  -	Indicate activity by phrasing of the exhibit title (i.e. Watch Water Freeze);
  -	Experiment with minimal explanation.

       
• Use high level of iteration — try, try, and try again.