Air Playground II

Air Playground II was a united effort between the spatial, communications and experience development team. The design process commenced through analysing the successes and opportunities for development within the original exhibition. This uncovered a need for a brighter, bolder identity whilst retaining some of the existing interactives. This required a focus on colour, shape, and movement. In particular, the movement of air became the chosen concept for the exhibition, which was inspired by mid-century mobiles and flying ribbons. We then worked closely with the external team from Aeroplane Workshop to refurbish the interactives, collaborating to expand the vision for Air Playground II to incorporate 12 activity stations: fly, gust, squish, launch, flutter, puff, swirl, hover, lift, flow, whoosh and float.

Faced with the inability to change the existing walls and infrastructure within the gallery at Scienceworks, the designers developed a darker space with vibrant spot-lit features, to obscure the presence of the walls and shift attention to built form. Existing interactives, which were previously geometric and mechanical, were reworked to become stylistically soft and more playful. This conveyed a sense lightness and fun that was more strongly aligned with the core concept of air.

Alongside the spatial elements, our communication design team focused on providing clear instructions and educational content connected to the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This inspired a set of lively illustrations utilising bright colours and floating shapes, introducing ideas in an exciting and absorbing way for our target audience of 6-10 year olds. To ensure the educational content was communicated clearly, we performed consecutive rounds of audience testing during the school holidays (a peak visitation period for families). This provided the feedback required to improve audience satisfaction, balancing educational messaging with an engaging and memorable experience for our target audience.

We concentrated on accessibility in a number of ways, drawing heavily on the data from audience testing and feedback from the first exhibition to make huge improvements. The use of bold contrasting colours, soft rounded shapes, reconsidered sizing of interactives, and clear lighting, provides a safe and welcoming space for visitors of varying cognitive and physical abilities. Clear signage that combines text and diagrams welcomes people from all language backgrounds to interact and enjoy the space, as well as individuals who may not have strong reading abilities. Moreover, the exhibition is non-linear and can be accessed from any starting point, allowing visitors to begin with an activity that piques their interest first. There was a focus on safety throughout the design of the interactive elements and barriers were added to ensure the safety of our young patrons.

Sustainability was addressed by utilising many major components of an existing exhibition. The design team repurposed and refreshed exhibition elements, thereby greatly reducing the projects material consumption.

A major user experience focus for Air Playground was ensuring the exhibition can be toured. This foresight ensures that Air Playground has a long, enduring life not only at Scienceworks but at other institutions. This entailed utilising longer lasting, durable materials. In addition to its durability, the large playful shapes that comprise the major moments in the exhibition are designed to seamlessly pack away and assume minimal transport space when touring. Investing in this high-level design is essential to making our exhibitions accessible to other communities in Victoria and Australia wide. Overall, the exhibition is tailored to the needs of its patrons, as well as addressing the unique functional needs of the young target audience and their families.

The team’s deft assessment of children’s learning needs and quick response to redeveloping ineffective elements demonstrates our commitment to user-centred design. This process involved extensive user design thinking and testing, drawing on data driven methods such as focus groups. The team allowed children to guide how Air Playground II would materialise, and tailored the visitor experience to their learning needs. This helped us to create a space of imagination while teaching aerodynamic concepts in unconventional ways, providing not only a fun way for families to come together, but also an enriching educational experience.

A key motivation was to engage young girls in science and technology, as it has been reported that science literacy levels amongst girls has become markedly less than their peers across Victoria. This is recognised as a real concern for the science and tech sectors both regionally and nationally, impacting the number of women entering the workforce later in life. With this in mind, our team drew on the research presented by Exhibit Design for Girls Engagement (EDGE). Our approach was informed by these principles and led to a unique and vibrant exhibition with opportunities to play through craft activities, friendly illustrations, and bright colours. This research guided our decision to replace ineffective didactics with more friendly images guiding interactions within the space. This was an effective way to encourage girls to confidently interact with the exhibit and feel free to explore. Another design choice informed by the EDGE criteria is the wavy air installation with interactive ribbons, using shapes that are welcoming and familiar. In creating this safe learning environment, we hope to inspire girls to get excited about lifelong study and careers within STEM fields.

The exhibition’s success with audiences has been overwhelming. We have welcomed over 102,000 visitors to the exhibition since opening and exceeded our forecasted attendance by 55%. Air Playground II has provided integral STEM learning experiences to thousands of children and families, sharing positive impact on science literacy across Victoria. Responding to principles outlined in the ‘Exhibit Design for Girls’ Engagement’ guides and research, Air Playground II has made a significant contribution to the scientific educational experiences in Victoria, inspiring future generations of scientists, engineers, and critical thinkers to engage with an area of knowledge that has seen dwindling interest amongst female students, yet is crucial for future development of industry in the State.

Unlike the first presentation of the exhibition, Air Playground II has been designed and purpose built to tour. We intend to commence touring within regional Victoria, where we hope the expanded commercial success can have broader social impact, sharing educational experiences and inspiring a more balanced gender ratio within STEM fields across greater Victoria.

As a secondary benefit, the exhibition has also been immensely successful economically. This has helped us to build revenue to support Scienceworks, and justification for in house development of future exhibition products rather than relying on externally produced travelling exhibits. This in turn will support us in investing in local businesses and support the reputation of the Victorian Design sector. For example in this case, we collaborated closely with a range of locally based businesses in the creative sector, such as design studio Aeroplane Workshop to reinvigorate the existing interactives; Giant Inflatables to bring to life our inflatable title wall; iCreate to create bespoke cases for our paper plane displays; Design to Print for their expertise in direct printing onto difficult, large format shapes, and M&T Alison for their careful metalwork.

Air Playground was designed with sustainability in mind. It adheres to the principles of a circular economy by recycling existing exhibition elements from Air Playground I (the first iteration of the exhibition). The most popular interactives and components from the initial exhibition were used as the starting point for experience design of Air Playground II. This selection process relied on audience feedback, both to identify areas that were most successful and ought to be reused, and also to advise on ways the team could make improvements.

When developing new content and built form, the design team was careful to consider options that would have the least negative impact on the environment. They chose to avoid the use of self-adhesive vinyl and the creation of waste where possible, instead preferencing direct print methods for labels, as vinyl and plastic can’t biodegrade when it ends up in landfill. They also chose to prioritise the use of high-quality, durable materials that require less replacements during exhibition display and maintenance, to avoid excessive drain on materials and unnecessary creation of waste. This was incredibly important and a point of difference from Air Playground I, as this version of the exhibition was designed to tour following its now extended run at Scienceworks. It has proven to be the right approach, as exhibition attendance has exceeded forecasts, with over 42,000 children engaging with the interactives since opening.