Mystery Box Challenge
E-Tech - Service Design - Website Design
Creating a Mystery Box Challenge invites children to explore their inner inventor and create unique solutions with a box of surprises.
CLIENT
Children’s Creativity Museum
Jan 2023 - Aug 2023
INVOLVEMENT
User Research
Service Design
Design Systems
Website Design
Usability Testing
DELIVERABLES
Instructional Video
Prompt Cards
Instructional Manual
Digital Website
PROJECT TEAM
4 Designer
2 Project Managers
2 Developers
DESIGN IMPACT
25% increase in weekly platform usage within the first month.
50% decrease in dropout rates with personalized learning paths.
CONTEXT
The Mystery Box Challenge is the main exhibit at the Children’s Creativity Museum in San Francisco
Children can pick a prompt and then work with the materials provided to create their artefact. The goal is to make everyone feel welcome in the co-creating space, making learning accessible and enjoyable for all children.
WHO IS INVOLVED?
The program's user base consists of three distinct stakeholders that play different roles in the challenge. We broke down each role and their respective goals to gain clarity on each stakeholder.
PROBLEM DISCOVERY
Our initial meeting with the stakeholders unveiled pivotal challenges that need to be addressed in the existing program.
PROJECT GOALS
Our goal as a team of designers was to design an inclusive learning experience for children of all backgrounds, accessible anywhere, and easy for museums to run. This involved focusing on three core areas of the experince.
BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
The project covered the design and development of two complementary experiences for the Mystery Box Challenge
IN MUSEUM EXPERIENCE
Painpoints
The Mystery Box Challenge faced some key hurdles with mismatched prompts, unclear parent roles, and busy-hour bottlenecks that hindered its full impact in the museum.
HMW personalize children's engagement, empower parents as collaborators, and scale support for facilitators?
SOLUTION: IN-MUSEUM EXPERIENCE
01: Prompt cards
We developed a prompt card system that allowed children to create their own challenge prompts based on their interests, sparking their creativity and making the experience more personalized.
Personalized Experience
The personalized prompt card system includes structured components like objects, character, activity, and location, letting children tailor their challenges to their interests.
02: Silent Instructional Video for diverse audiences
During our research, we noticed that the museum's visitors reflected San Francisco's diverse population. However, language barriers often leave parents struggling to guide their children, leading to frustration. We created a "No Voice-Over" video that visually introduces the program to parents and kids, ensuring accessibility for all, regardless of language proficiency.
IMPACT
A more engaging and supported experience for all stakeholders
Children felt a sense of ownership over their creations, making their participation even more exciting.
Parents felt confident in supporting their children throughout the journey.
The streamlined processes empowered facilitators to spend more meaningful time interacting with the children.
DIGITAL EXPERIENCE
Painpoints
The Mystery Box Challenge was only available at the museum and had no system in place to replicate the experience outside the museum in different settings. This was a disadvantage for several reasons.
HMW make the "Mystery Box Challenge" experience engaging for children, parents, and communities in digital spaces?
SOLUTION: DIGITAL EXPERIENCE
03: A Digital Platform to bring the Mystery Box Challenge to kids everywhere
We want every child to be able to participate in the Mystery Box Challenge. By digitizing the program, we enable off-site experiences. This way, more children can enjoy the adventure no matter where they are.
Expands the reach of the program beyond the museum
The digital website of the Mystery Box Challenge extends the program's reach beyond the museum, allowing children from anywhere to participate and benefit from the creative and educational experience.
Build your own prompts
Enables parents and children to create their own prompts based on their interests, enhancing the website's personalization and interactivity.
Showcase your work
The website and social media provide a canvas for children to proudly showcase their artwork to an ever-growing audience. People from all over the world can appreciate and be inspired by their work.
IMPACT
The digital website transformed the in-house mystery box challenge into a globally accessible learning platform
The program reached a broader audience, making the challenge more inclusive and accessible to children and educators worldwide.
The website's implementation empowers parents to guide their children through the creative process.
The website enhances the overall experience by providing additional resources, support, and engagement opportunities for both children and educators, maximizing the benefits of the mystery box challenge.
NAVIGATING THE CHALLENGE
Drafting a roadmap allowed us to define clear scopes and plan effectively within our timeframe, helping us confidently tackle the challenge head-on.
A Roadmap of our Design Process
Stakeholder Mapping helped us understand the eco-system around the Childrens Creativity Museum
PHASE 1 - IMMERSE & INSPIRE
We started with identifying the various stakeholders involved in the museum and the program. This allowed us to define our research scope, ensuring a practical and focused approach.
PHASE 1 - IMMERSE & INSPIRE
Research Methods
Secondary Research
Identifying key stakeholders involved in the challenge
Observation
Watching 2-12 years old kids & their parents participate in the MBC
Interviews
Conducted 15 interviews with the target audience
Qualitative research.
Co-creation workshops with Program managers & facilitators
PHASE 2 - DESIGN & PROTOTYPE
We aligned our end-users painpoints with possible to solutions
We mapped our research findings to understand the current situation more comprehensively and how different elements are interconnected. Identifying pain points at each stage allowed us to explore opportunities for improvement.
Limited resources forced us to re-prioritise our features based on impact and effort.
PHASE 3 - IMPLEMENT & ITERATION
We prioritized solutions using stakeholder input. We identified critical solution areas focusing on high-impact, low-effort features, guided by voting, workshops, and persona considerations.
Design Principles
Usability Testing allowed us to asses the effectiveness of our proposed solutions
PHASE 4 - USABILITY TESTING
We receiving substantial feedback from children, educators, and other stakeholders to enhance the value and quality of the experience.
User Testing Insights
"It's so great to see the different interpretations of the same challenge that they all had. That's what makes everyone unique.“
Justine, MBC Facilitator
"The video and website were really helpful in understanding how much or little I should be involved in my child's creation. It's great to know where I can step in to support them without taking over."
Stephenie , Parent
"I really appreciate the flexibility the prompt system offers in creating age-appropriate prompts. Being able to tailor the prompt to a child's specific interests is a huge plus."
Henry, MBC Facilitator
SUCCESS METRICS
Theory of change - Logic Model
The theory of change model helped us make sure the program we co-created with our partner is making a positive impact on the museum's reputation and how the participants view its commitment to creating a fun, inclusive and accessible learning environment.
We implemented different methods to collect the participants’ feedback regularly.
MEASURING SUCCESS
On-site feedback and surveys to measure success by assessing engagement, participation, and progress.
01
Tracking number of website visitors and their engagement level by the time spent on the site.
02
Analyzing social media engagement by measuring the volume of artifacts created and shared, as well as gathering sentiment data from comments to assess audience perception.
03
The project reinforced the importance of user-centered design, agile processes, and embracing collaboration
WHAT I LEARNED
Multifaceted input: Partnering with stakeholders, facilitators, and users brought in perspectives. We uncovered hidden challenges, refined ideas, and ensured the experience resonated with diverse needs.
Agile iteration: Regular testing sessions with users at every stage allowed us to identify pain points early and iterate with agility. This ensured the final product addressed real-life usage scenarios.
Accessibility across platforms: Balancing digital platforms with offline engagement fostered inclusivity. This catered to users with varying technology access and preferences, maximizing participation and impact.
We believe that the Mystery Box Challenge can evolve into a truly dynamic and impactful learning experience for children around the world.
NEXT STEPS
Partner with diverse museums and educational settings to tailor the challenge to their unique contexts and audiences.
Analyze data from online activities, observe museum interactions, and participant feedback to improve instructions, streamline workflows, and enhance engagement.
Explore emerging technologies like AR/VR, and consider gamification elements to keep the challenge fresh and exciting.
