Participatory techniques for science centers and museums. First presented at the Ontario Science Centre on 26 Jan, 2010 by Nina Simon of Museum 2.0

1. the participatory
science centre
nina simon, museum 2.0
nina@museumtwo.com
@ninaksimon on twitter
slides at http://bit.ly/participatoryscience

2. where i live

3. what i do
balboa park online collaborative
boston children’s museum
calgary science center
chabot space science center
chicago history museum
denver art museum
experience music project
girls math and science partnership
international spy museum
monterey bay aquarium
museum of life and science
oakland museum of california
SFMOMA
smithsonian museum of natural history
statens museum for kunst
tech museum of innovation

4. why i’m here
what does this look like?
how does it work?
how do you know if it works?

5. what i advocate
the participatory institution
is a place where visitors can
create, share, and connect
with each other around
content.

6. in cultural institutions, that can mean...
Cantor Art Center lower: Chicago Children’s Museum Center of Science and Industry
lower: Science Museum of Minnesota

7. and it requires some changes
traditional institution participatory institution
Authority is content provider Authority is platform provider

8. why would you want to do this?
participation does five things best:
deliver personal relevance
celebrate and network
diverse voices
deliver dynamic content
encourage interpersonal
dialogue
support collaborative +
creative practice

9. why would you want to do this?
to deliver personal relevance
London Science Museum

10. why would you want to do this?
to celebrate and network diverse visitors’ voices
The Wild Center

11. why would you want to do this?
to deliver dynamic content and experiences
Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum

12. why would you want to do this?
to encourage interpersonal dialogue
University of Washington

13. why would you want to do this?
to support collaborative, creative practice
National Building Museum

14. why would you want to do this?
participation does five things best:
deliver personal relevance
celebrate and network
diverse voices
deliver dynamic content
encourage interpersonal
dialogue
support collaborative +
creative practice

15. how can you do it well?
what are
INSTITUTION you about?
what will these
relationships look
like?
what do they
need?
visitors

16. participation for institutional goals:
Sound Off! case study
150 entrants
12 finalists
4 concerts
1 cd

17. part 1 - identifying audiences and their needs
Current Program Participants Their Audiences
teen bands (13-21) (don’t family who come see
have tight relationship) performance/show friends who come
school groups
teen artists (13-17) - for the show
makers, musicians
On Stage Sound Off audience
bands who don’t get into
Sound Off SoundLab peers other teen
Experience the Band - fans of the bands
ensemble musicians
guest events musicians
out-of-school
youth advisory board (13-18) one-off programs
facilitators
who volunteer with Sound teachers
Off + other projects
Affinities car guys
Interests/Desires from Site personal quest for
improvement
meet other kids like
movie buffs musicians tattoo
play the music you love
them/finding
community finding new things you’ll
fans of rock like
reading graphic design/illustration playing in a band meet pros
DIY music collectors meet heroes
becoming pro musicians close to celebrity
skateboarding behind the scenes influence
people into music get scholarships to
science enthusiasts history entertainment Berklee
comic books specific program interest
learning to play music/
artists cultivate arts be a part of the music
gaming dreamers activate historic making history
interest
architecture/design sharing passions with
people into scifi history family/friends
enthusiasts hope to replicate peak
experiences validating your niche

18. part 2 - identifying institutional opportunities
Sound Off currently...
Creators: kids in bands
Critics: Facebook voting, pro critics, judges
Joiners: MySpace communities around bands,
Spectators: people who come to the show
ADD:
-open submission process online (get other bands more out there)
-YAB switch from judging to press corps/critics, bloggers
-open vlogger competition
-oral history live with youth
-tracing past bands over time
-fans and bands that lose have online community to support each
-monthly challenges, lightweight, write a song based on X or using
-Sound Off backstage - other roles

19. part 3 - rolling out new services with impact assessment
year 1:
- digital, online submissions (private), culled by staff + youth advisory board
- engage the other bands in social network around Sound Off!
- light merchandise contest, gig promotion, musician meetups
- youth advisory board produces journalistic content about finalists and events
- live event text voting “people’s choice” by audience
year 2:
- digital, online submissions (public), culled by online audience, then staff + youth advisory board
- social network members produce journalistic content inc. behind-the-scenes
- youth advisory board manages social network
- youth advisory board begins oral history live project around all-ages scene

21. five techniques for
participatory engagement
1. be personal / i like museums + talk to me bubbles
2. scaffold the experience / side trip + human library
3. design for thoughtful response / on the road + signtific
4. offer multiple engagement points / youtube
5. make it manageable / haarlem oost + mls

22. five techniques for
participatory engagement
1. be personal / i like museums + talk to me bubbles
2. scaffold the experience / side trip + human library
3. design for thoughtful response / on the road + signtific
4. offer multiple engagement points / youtube
5. make it manageable / haarlem oost + mls

23. ilikemuseums.com

24. who are you relative to the science centre?

25. constrained profiles

26. five techniques for
participatory engagement
1. be personal / i like museums + talk to me bubbles
2. scaffold the experience / side trip + human library
3. design for thoughtful response / on the road + signtific
4. offer multiple engagement points / youtube
5. make it manageable / haarlem oost + mls

27. 90,000 visitors, 37,000 posters made Denver Art Museum
average time poster-making: 25 minutes

28. this is not enough to promote social dialogue
GoMA

29. I’ve never had a gay friend. It was unbelievably
exciting to find myself facing him with his body,
opinions and identity. It seems he was not very
different from me and especially he was not an
alien. From now on, I will not disrupt my
communication with the gays, I will enhance it.
- Reader in Istanbul, 2007

30. five techniques for
participatory engagement
1. be personal / i like museums + talk to me bubbles
2. scaffold the experience / side trip + human library
3. design for thoughtful response / on the road + signtific
4. offer multiple engagement points / youtube
5. make it manageable / haarlem oost + mls

32. Lowell National Historical Park

33. using comment boards for dialogue
lab.signtific.org

34. five techniques for
participatory engagement
1. be personal / i like museums + talk to me bubbles
2. scaffold the experience / side trip + human library
3. design for thoughtful response / on the road + signtific
4. offer multiple engagement points / youtube
5. make it manageable / haarlem oost + mls

35. don’t focus solely on creators...
the vast majority of social media users are not creators

36. what makes YouTube different?

38. participation can be for everyone
Ontario Science Cenre

39. “museums that get better the more people use them”
Auckland Museum Minnesota History Museum

40. five techniques for
participatory engagement
1. be personal / i like museums + talk to me bubbles
2. scaffold the experience / side trip + human library
3. design for thoughtful response / on the road + signtific
4. offer multiple engagement points / youtube
5. make it manageable / haarlem oost + mls

42. mission-driven social participation
at the museum of life and science

43. what makes sense on YouTube?

44. how can we encourage people to share their experience?

45. how can we encourage people to think like scientists?

46. what’s your idea?

47. contact me anytime
nina@museumtwo.com
http://www.museumtwo.com
Download slides at http://bit.ly/participatoryscience