Museum Report - New York Hall of Science
Your impressions of the look and feel of the whole place.
The museum definitely felt like it was directed towards children. The interior has a “classroom” feeling. Most things could be touched and were meant to be interacted with. The signs for the delays often had colored images. Some parts of the space felt like a science fair because there were lots of kiosks in the space. There were some interesting built-in architectural parts, like the lower level “lab” had what I thought of as a large nest. It came down from the center of the ceiling and was decorated with large slabs of wood to look like a tree house. It operated as a dome, under which visitors could do activities.
What works, what doesn’t?
The museum felt fun and welcoming. It was clear that almost anything could be played with/ tested/ touched. When I visited the museum on a Tuesday morning there were at least 4 different school groups (probably 5th graders) and they were playing with all of the displays having a really good time.
The museum did not feel very cohesive. Some displays have colored images, colored text and lots of computer monitors, while some displays had black and white line drawings/ diagrams that were placed inside of the displays. One particularly different area was inside of an amazing massive blue stained glass room and used interactive projection mapping, while still another was a hands-on “lab” display that used architecture (half walls shaped like a wooden boat etc) to distinguish the exhibits.
Do you feel welcomed, is the place intimidating or comfortable, what’s the atmosphere?
I felt welcomed in the museum. It felt fun, interactive and light-hearted. Some parts of the museum felt old and worn out, but in some ways that made it feel like the museum was loved. One thing that I was struck by was that the museum did not feel very clean. There were lots of interactive displays with buttons, levers, dials etc and a lot of them looked very worn out and felt a bit sticky… Additionally, when Sydney and I first got to the museum we were some of the only people there. About 15 minutes into our time there however, a couple of school groups rushed in and started running around and touching all of the displays. At first this was a bit overwhelming but once I got used to it it felt like they were the perfect NYSCI visitors.
Every place has an emotional, social and intellectual gestalt—its interface. Do your best to describe it.
This museum felt like a space for kids to use exhibits and do activities (such as building structures with PVC pipe and making giant bubbles). The museum was welcoming, light-hearted and fun.
A word (or two) for its personality?
Welcoming, light-hearted and fun.
A memorable object, exhibit, hall or interaction (person-to-person)
The most memorable part for me was looking under a set of microscopes to see bacteria. Part of what was memorable about this display was that it was poorly designed while the content was extremely compelling. I found myself asking a lot of questions with no way to find an answer. I couldn't tell exactly what I was looking at, all I knew was that under each of the 8 microscopes was different type of small bacteria. Each microscope had a sign next to it with an ant and some other drawings that I couldn't identify and that didn't have any explanation. At first, I thought I was looking at different parts of the ant’s body under the microscopes (which didn't make any sense to me because the things under the microscopes were moving). After looking at a wall sign, however, I realized that the ant in the drawings was a size comparison and all of the bacteria under the microscopes were smaller than ants. This felt like not nearly enough information to understand what I was looking at.
Hospitality: how hard is it to find the bathrooms, how nice are the guards, can you find your way around.
The guard was very nice. From what I could tell there was only one guard at ticket check, there weren’t any guards in the exhibits, only museum staff helping out with the activities. There was very little signage and even though Sydney and I had a map it was still hard to find some of the floors. I had to ask the guard where the bathroom was. Part of the difficulty of finding our way around is that the floorplan for the museum is made up of circles connected by hallways.
Who’s there? Ages, demographics, and other details you notice about visitors.
There were about 4 different school groups of middle school age kids of a mixed demographic. Some groups would stick together with their teachers/ chaperones, while with other groups would split off into friend groups. There were a couple groups that seemed to be families, one parent and one young kid, about 3 years old.
Are they coming as one, twos, or in groups?
Mostly big school groups split off into friend groups (groups of 3-6).
How do people socialize at the museum?
Does anyone socialize outside their group?
People socialized within their groups mostly telling their friends to try something. Sometimes groups would do activities together, like building with the PVC pipe, or use displays together. People did not socialize outside of their groups.
Does anyone ask questions?
People asked questions at the kiosks to their friends but not the museum staff (there was no museum staff in the exhibit halls, only in the activity area).
Did you ask a question or socialize?
Unfortunately, the playground was closed when we went to the museum. We were standing outside of it and a parent came by with a young kid who was talking about how they wanted to go to the playground. I asked the parent if the kid liked the playground and the parents said yes, that they go there a lot and that it is a really fun place for the kid.
Think about what behaviors the museum space supports in regards to socializing, learning, and engagement.
The museum space supports play and engagement but I don’t know how much the visitors learned. I found that a lot of the learning was experiential rather than based on facts and figures. The Museum definitely encouraged socializing, some exhibits require 2 people to use them, and most exhibits are built for more than two people to use them/ look at them at a time.
Notice the exhibits.
Are they designed for one person, two people, or a group?
Some exhibits require 2 people to use them, for example, one person sits on one side of a movable mirror and another person sits on the other side of the mirror and moves the it until the other person’s mouth looks like the Chershire Cat (this didn’t work very well). Most of the other analog exhibits are built for more than two people to use them/ look at them. Most of the digital exhibits have a screen that only 1 or 2 people can use. About 20% of the museum was digital, while 80% was analog.
Is there a deep dive into content, or is the information “scaffolded” appropriately?
Some spaces “scaffolded” the information, while others did not give very thorough information. I often found myself confused about the content of the labels.
If there are any interactive technology exhibits, are they working? How do people interact with them? Get granular, think input/output.
There was some interactive technology, mostly in the section about evolution. There a set of 4 screens that focused on different animals and their survival mechanisms and then gave the user a quiz. For example, octopi can change their shape/color to mimic other plants and animals as a way to camouflage themselves. After this introduction there was a quiz with video clips of the octopus changing its shape then I had to use the touch screen to guess which of the multiple choice answers was correct. All 4 of the displays worked well. I found them engaging but I didn’t see any of the students using them.
Spend a few minutes on the museum’s website.
Does the website ‘feel” like its specific museum?
Yes, the website does feel like the museum. It is mostly directed towards kids, it is not very aesthetically cohesive and there are lots of different things to click. The website is a bit overwhelming and not very organized.
Would you ever go back to the website? Why?
I would only go back to the website if I was wondering about hours and special exhibitions/ events.
Missed Opportunities… think about what you would change or improve
The museum could be better organized and have better signage and maps. It could also be improved by being more cohesive in the display types. I think that visitors of a certain age range have a really good time at this museum, but I don't know how much the visitors learn. I don’t think they are reading the display signs (and as I said above, some signs don’t have good explanations anyway), but it would be and imporvement if there were other ways for the students to learn from the exhibits. Maybe by students reflecting on what they saw by guided drawing, talking etc. The museum displays are also very crowded, if there were less exhibits there would be more opportunity for the students to use them for longer rather than wanting to try everything out.
