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Interactive design guidelines
The information on the following pages forms part of a document (also available for download below, which gives some guidance on the first steps involved in the construction of a science interactive. It pays particular attention to the target audience, and to the modularity and robustness of the design. A PDF version of the following document is available here.
Interactive design and construction – an overview These brief notes give a general overview on the principles behind the design and construction of interactive exhibits. There are many more issues to consider in all of the topic areas described below than we can discuss here: this is an introduction to a complex subject. Introduction to Interactives Many research students and staff approach the design of an interactive exhibit with a view to its use in a particular presentation or workshop. It’s useful, however, to consider a broader possible range of uses for such an interactive, before you embark on its design: a properly designed interactive can have a greatly extended lifetime and scope. We will discuss the construction of interactive demonstrations under the set of headings listed below, each of which will be expanded upon later. Interactives that have been designed (by members of a department or school) with these considerations in mind can later be used by others in a variety of environments, including UCAS visits, science festivals, schools outreach and CPD sessions. Fundamental Principles The following list of topics is intended to give you some of the overarching principles behind interactive design, in its broadest possible context. While some of these principles might be ones that you will eventually put aside for the design or construction, they are certainly ones that you should consider before you begin. A basic truism is that it’s more difficult to retroactively design an interactive for a different use than its original intent, than it would have been to design it with that possibility in the first place. All of the topics discussed below are obvious (with hindsight), but it’s instructive to consider just how many of them are forgotten about during the design stage. Our principles for interactive development can be considered under the following headings, each of which is discussed in more detail:
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