INDUSTRY:
INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION DESIGN
CLIENT:
MUSEON & THUAS
YEAR:
2025
EXPERIENCE:
PHYSICAL SPACE DESIGN
Be A Bee
about.
Be a Bee is a design project for Museon-Omniversum and The Hague University of Applied Sciences. The challenge was to translate the complex, policy-heavy "Hague Climate Agreement" into an engaging, personal, and interactive exhibition that inspires local residents to take climate action.
design process.
1. Empathic Research & Discovery
To move beyond abstract policy and find human stories, we utilized:
Contextual Interviews: Conducted in-depth interviews with energy coaches, researchers, and artists to understand the barriers residents face regarding sustainability.
Participant Observation: Attended sustainability workshops (e.g., gardening) and analyzed existing museum exhibits to understand how physical interaction fosters community connection.
Synthesis Wall: Clustered research data to identify key themes, revealing that residents respond better to tangible, local actions than abstract goals.
2. Ideation & Concept Development
"How Might We" (HMW) Questions: Framed design challenges to focus on making climate deals relatable and inspiring for all ages.
Divergent Ideation: Used techniques like "Crazy 8s" and "Dark Side" to generate over 30 initial concepts.
Dot Voting: Collaboratively selected the strongest concepts, narrowing down to the "Be a Bee" metaphor for its playfulness and strong storytelling potential.
3. Prototyping & Iteration
Maquette Modeling: Built a scale model of the exhibition floor plan to visualize the user journey and spatial flow of the garden concept.
User Journey Roleplay: Tested the maquette logic by having users navigate the space with figurines to identify friction points in the narrative flow.
Full-Scale Prototyping: Constructed a functional, human-sized flower head to test the physical immersion and intimacy of the experience.
4. Validation & Refinement
In-Situ Testing: Tested the full-scale prototype within the Museon museum environment with real visitors to gauge engagement and comfort.
Rapid Iteration: Based on user feedback (e.g., screens being distracting), we pivoted from digital displays to audio storytelling and tactile elements within the flower to enhance immersion.
result.
The final concept, "Be a Bee" is an immersive garden exhibition where visitors "pollinate" the city with ideas. It features interactive, human-sized flowers that lower onto the visitor, playing audio stories of local climate heroes. The design successfully transformed complex climate deals into a personal, story-driven experience that encourages community connection and hopeful action.
