For Week One, the team began by getting to know one another and establishing our roles. We met with our professors, Mike Christel and Brenda Harger, and our client, Christofer Nelson from the ASTC, to discuss the project’s goals. The project seeks to create an interactive experience for ASTC conference attendees that will help facilitate authentic conversations about key topics relating to science engagement organizations. In order to better understand the project, the team began by researching the ASTC, science engagement organizations, and transformational games.
The ASTC, Association of Science and Technology Centers, is a professional membership organization consisting of science centers and museums as well as varying allied organizations. In 2022, the ASTC will host its annual conference in Pittsburgh. This conference is where our team’s product will be used, thus, we want to design with both the venue and expected audience in mind.
As the ASTC primarily involves science engagement organizations such as science centers and museums, we researched some of the issues facing these institutions. Science centers and museums seem to be dealing with how to move forward in both an increasingly technological world and a post-COVID world. They’re looking for new ways to connect with their communities and ways to reach out to traditionally underserved communities.
Finally, we looked into other examples of interactive experiences which help inspire conversation. These included interactive museum installations as well as transformational games created for past ETC projects and Games for Change. By examining these precedents, we gain a better understanding of how we can design our interactive experience in the weeks ahead.
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