Key Readings

10 Important Exhibit Design Criteria

by Robert L. Russell - Co-Editor of The Informal Learning Review and Ted Ansbacher

In several conference and workshop presentations, my colleague Ted Ansbacher and I have emphasized the central importance of the exhibit experience, that is, what people see and do in the exhibits. Many times museum designers talk about the educational outcomes of exhibits, often couched in terms of “cognitive” and “affective” outcomes of impacts. With this great emphasis on outcomes, we may shortchange the attention given to the exhibit experience itself. In this article, I offer my “Top Ten Points” (with more detailed suggestions) for designing engaging exhibit experience-based exhibits.

Design Chart for 10 Criteria

This is quick reference design flow chart that breaks down the process into:

• Exhibit Qualities
• Enhancing Visitor Experience (interaction)
• Visitor Experience (mental processes)
• Outcomes

Exhibit Development-Rules of Thumb

These are few pages about Exhibit Development written by Frank Oppenheimer and others. Though the museum has changed and advanced in many ways, these writings still manage to get at the core of how the Exploratorium creates and thinks about exhibit development.