I ran across the concept of Feminine Exhibit Design when doing some post-conference research - and it perked my ears right up! What is feminine exhibit design? And, why is it important? Margaret Middleton has been focusing on these questions for several years now, and spent a little time with me to discuss.  Margaret is a thought leader in the inclusive design space, designer of playful, enriching learning experiences, and speaker and consultant advocating for inclusive museum practices.  In this week’s episode, Margaret shares their thoughts on why Feminine Design principles are a critical aspect for inclusive design and how and when to use them. We discuss how acknowledging and resisting an andro-centric perspective is important in design work, and how difficult that can be considering the complexities of femininity. We also discuss what fem-phobia is and how it may present itself in our design work. Margaret tells us how and when a focus on feminine design emerged from their work and how their thought exercise on this topic has developed since then - including how Cute came to be the 7th element in the emergent Feminine Exhibition Design structure.    Find Margaret on LinkedIn Find Margaret on their website   Links to resources discussed in episode: Margaret’s Family Inclusive Language Chart Book: Feminist Designer Book: Storytelling in Museums Book: Welcoming Young Children into the Museum Book: The Inclusive Museum Leader Article: Feminine Exhibition Design - describing 6 elements of Feminine Exhibition Design, before the 7th - Cute - was added Reader Guide for Feminine Exhibition Design article Gaston Bachelard - ‘the curve is inhabited geometry’ Barbie gets with the program - exhibit Margaret designed, and inspired their focus on feminine design Alok Vaid-Menon asks ‘What feminine part of yourself did you have to destroy to be part of this world?’  Discovery Museum, Acton Massachusetts - Teddy Bear diner Exhibit: Gender Bending Fashion - Museum Fine Arts Boston EDGE - Exhibit Design for Girls Engagement research from Exploratorium  Guide from EDGE - recommended qualities regarding what works for girls in a science museum setting Rhea Ashley Hoskin’s work on femininity and fem-phobia Sapna Cheryan’s work on the concept of ambient belonging - she focuses on learning and educational spaces Book: Extra Bold  feminist-inclusive, anti-racist, nonbinary field guide for graphic designers     Connect with us: Have questions or topics you’d like us to explore on the podcast? Or a recommendation of an expert to interview? Feel free to contact me via my LinkedIn page   Need help with a user-, visitor- or community-centered project, evaluation or experience design strategy?  Head over to digin-ux.com for info on human and community-centered strategies for your mission-driven institution  Or, contact us via the Dig In UX website about your project or collaboration you’ve got in mind, or just to say hello!  

- Summer Break Announcement - I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, taking things a bit slower, getting rest and having some fun! Here at Dig In UX and MuseumX podcast - we are wrapping up a few large consulting projects, and I’m trying to take things a bit more slowly this summer, so we are moving into a little podcast break. We'll be spending some of this break time this time lining up episodes with cool new guests! Later this summer you can look forward to episodes that dig into topics such as trauma-informed digital design, inspiring creativity, feminine design, facilitating hard conversations and several others in the works. As always, please be in touch about topics you’re interested in hearing on the show, AND if you are an expert in programming, facilitating or designing experiences or leading teams that do this work, and think you might have a  good story to share with other experience designers please feel free to reach out to me to see if you should be my next guest! Happy Summer!  

PART 2 of 2 This week - the tables are turned! If you wanted to learn a bit more about me - here’s your chance. One of my favorite people, who is also a former neighbor and former museum colleague, interviews me! Nicole has the curiosity bug as badly as I do, so she’s one of my favorite people to explore ideas, make connections and generally chat with. She’s awesome. In the episode, you’ll first hear Nicole tell the silly and fun story of how we met and became friends - it’s pretty good. Vintage Stef stuff. We then talk about my professional path from anthropology to digital UX research and design, and then switching to non profit spaces, museum evaluation and being a business owner. You’ll hear about some of my favorite projects, why I became a digital nomad for almost 2 years, and what I mean by heart-centered design and who are heart-centered designers. (Spoiler - it’s probably you!) Nicole Forbes LinkedIn page   Links to resources discussed in episode:  Elevator sign that Nicole & Ted have kept for years! Book: Contextual Design, Beyer & Holtzblatt my favorite text book I recommend to guide researchers and designers understand the deep How-Tos of this potentially very subjective design process.  General Motors ‘Journey’ project paper for the Second International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications (the gal sitting on the floor in Image 3 is yours truly) Public announcement of the Shedd Aquairum $500M Experience Master Plan project   Connect with us: Have questions or topics you’d like us to explore on the podcast? Or a recommendation of an expert to interview? Please drop us a line at [email protected] with your idea!   Need help with a user-centered project, evaluation or experience design strategy?  Head over to digin-ux.com for info on human and community-centered strategies for your mission-driven institution,  Or connect with us at [email protected]  about your project or collaboration you’ve got in mind    

This week - the tables are turned! If you wanted to learn a bit more about me - here’s your chance. One of my favorite people, who is also a former neighbor and former museum colleague, interviews me! Nicole has the curiosity bug as badly as I do, so she’s one of my favorite people to explore ideas, make connections and generally chat with. She’s awesome. In the episode, you’ll first hear Nicole tell the silly and fun story of how we met and became friends - it’s pretty good. Vintage Stef stuff. We then talk about my professional path from anthropology to digital UX research and design, and then switching to non profit spaces, museum evaluation and being a business owner. You’ll hear about some of my favorite projects, why I became a digital nomad for almost 2 years, and what I mean by heart-centered design and who are heart-centered designers. (Spoiler - it’s probably you!) Nicole Forbes LinkedIn page   Links to resources discussed in episode:  Elevator sign that Nicole & Ted have kept for years! Book: Contextual Design, Beyer & Holtzblatt my favorite text book I recommend to guide researchers and designers understand the deep How-Tos of this potentially very subjective design process.  General Motors ‘Journey’ project paper for the Second International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications (the gal sitting on the floor in Image 3 is yours truly) Public announcement of the Shedd Aquairum $500M Experience Master Plan project   Connect with us: Have questions or topics you’d like us to explore on the podcast? Or a recommendation of an expert to interview? Please drop us a line at [email protected] with your idea!   Need help with a user-centered project, evaluation or experience design strategy?  Head over to digin-ux.com for info on human and community-centered strategies for your mission-driven institution,  Or connect with us at [email protected]  about your project or collaboration you’ve got in mind    

We know creating equity-driven, inclusive experiences is critical to our institutions, sector, communities and society. But how might we make strides towards equity - as an institution? How might we continue on our own individual equity, diversity, and anti-racism journeys - together as an organization?   We heard from Lauren Young with Beloved Community about their suite of Equity Tools, in particular their EQUITY LENS MAP (ELM), a tool to help teams and institutions identify needs and gaps in equity leadership across their organization, as well as opportunities for growth and resources for intervention.   Beloved Community is a pro-black, pro-queer, pro-woman nonprofit racial and economic equity consulting firm based in New Orleans. Their tools are based on the firm belief that people change systems. As made clear by the name of their organization, Dr King’s vision of the Beloved Community inspires their work.    ‘When we are practicing the beloved community, we center love for humanity. Love as accountability. Love as justice. Love as community. Love as belonging.’  -Beloved Community website   Lauren Young LinkedIn Beloved Community LinkedIn Beloved Community website   Links to resources discussed in episode: Apply to Wheel of Fortune, like Lauren did! Beloved Community What is the Equity Lens Map (ELM)? FREE Beloved Community Equity Audit Tool (create a free account to explore tools and resources) What is the Equity Audit? Historical Impact Reports - examples of folks Beloved Community has worked with and the impact to their work Book: How the Word is Passed, Clint Smith Book: Me and White Supremacy (and there's a workbook!), Layla Saad. Podcasts: 1619 and CodeSwitch         Connect with us: Have questions or topics you’d like us to explore on the podcast? Or a Guest recommendation? Please drop us a line at [email protected] with your idea!   Need help with a user-centered project, evaluation or experience design strategy?  Head over to digin-ux.com for info on human and community-centered strategies for your mission-driven institution,  Or connect with us at [email protected]  about your project or collaboration you’ve got in mind  

How might a nature experience be purpose-built for healing?   The Bloedel Reserve is a botanical garden with a very unusual design choice - no signage! There are no plant identification labels and (almost) no navigation signage. It’s a space not meant for learning about nature, it’s meant for learning about yourself. At the Blodel, the point is to slow down, focus on the moment, experience your body within nature, and to heal.    Recently, a new and incredibly successful program - Strolls for Well-Being - has made this design intention come alive in new ways through a site specific program inspired by forest bathing. In the episode you’ll hear about the purpose, intention and impact from the program’s manager Robin Gaphni, who also leads one of the program cohorts focused on grief.    From Ed Moydell, Blodel’s Executive Director you’ll hear about the unique purpose, history and planning of their 150 acres in the 1970s by psychology, environmental and landscape experts who designed The Bloedel Reserve as a nature-based environment for human healing.    Links to Guests The Bloedel Reserve Ed Moydell LinkedIn Reach Robin Gaphni: rgaphni AT bloedelreserve.org to discuss developing a Strolls for Well-Being Program at your institution   Links to resources discussed in episode Prentiss and Virginia Bloedel  Charles Lewis - ‘father of horticultural therapy’ Video: History of Strolls for Well Being Program Webpage: Strolls for Well Being Program at Bloedel Reserve Medical Study on Forest Bathing (Shinrin Yoku) and Phytoncides Article: Canadian Physicians can now Prescribe Nature to Patients What are phytoncides? Rachel and Stephen Kaplan’s pioneering Attention Restoration Theory Environmental psychologist, Jay Appleton - published his Prospect Refuge Theory in 1975 Morikami Japanese Garden, Florida - Strolls For Well-Being program Sally Schauman, Prof Emeritus, Landscape Architecture University of Washington  Strolls at Home Program from Bloedel Reserve - use in your backyard or local park Book: Nature Rx   Connect with us Have questions or topics you’d like us to explore on the podcast? Or a recommendation of an expert to interview? Please drop us a line at [email protected] with your idea!   Need help with a user-centered project, evaluation or experience design strategy?  Head over to digin-ux.com for info on human and community-centered strategies for your mission-driven institution,  Or connect with us at [email protected]  about your project or collaboration you’ve got in mind  

  PART 2:  What’s the formula to spark and then activate compassion? As you’ll learn in this episode - there is one! I had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda White, Director of Content for Local Projects in NYC.  Amanda is a leader in experience design on a global stage - with 17 years' experience in leading content development for design. She leads teams to transform concepts into impactful experiences for user engagement - with a specialty in strategic messaging and storytelling.   In our two-part episode, we discuss how to connect with visitors’ compassion, how compassion might be transformed into action, and how Amanda is inspired to tell the stories that create deep connections with audiences. Local Projects LinkedIn page Local Projects website Amanda White LinkedIn page   Links to other resources discussed in episode Attention Restoration Theory and Study Terra, Sustainability Expo 2020, Dubai - example of immersion and a more linear relationship between ‘feel’ and ‘think’ Greenwood Rising in Tulsa  - example of integrating ‘feel’, ‘think’ and ‘do’ in proximal relationship Power of Science @ Frost Museum of Science, Miami - Example of ‘feel’ and ‘think’ in a proximal relationship Hyde Park Barracks Museum, Sydney Australia  form making plays a big role  Seattle Aquarium  Museum of Science and History, Jacksonville FL - Experimenting with integrating opportunities for people to get involved with their community much more closely with other parts of content and exhibits. Ex of ‘Feel’, ‘Think’, and ‘Do’, in proximal relationship. Jordan Museum in Amman Sleep No More - Immersive Theater Tribeca Film VR Arcade Tenement Museum Change the Museum instagram MuseumNext blog Inclusive Museum blog Science journal Nature journal Inside Climate News journal   Link to Stef’s episode sketch / mind map / data viz (aka Link to see the inside of my brain) Stef’s notes on Feel-Think-Do formula   Connect with us: Have questions or topics you’d like us to explore on the podcast? Or a recommendation of an expert to interview? Please drop us a line at [email protected] with your idea! Need help with a user-centered project, evaluation or experience design strategy?  Head over to digin-ux.com for info on user-centered strategies for your mission-driven institution,  Or connect with us at [email protected]  about your project or other cool collaboration you’ve got in mind!

What’s the formula to spark and then activate compassion? As you’ll learn in this episode - there is one! I had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda White, Director of Content for Local Projects in NYC.  Amanda is a leader in experience design on a global stage - with 17 years' experience in leading content development for design. She leads teams to transform concepts into impactful experiences for user engagement - with a specialty in strategic messaging and storytelling.   In our two-part episode, we discuss how to connect with visitors’ compassion, how compassion might be transformed into action, and how Amanda is inspired to tell the stories that create deep connections with audiences. Local Projects LinkedIn page Local Projects website Amanda White LinkedIn page   Links to other resources discussed in episode Attention Restoration Theory and Study Terra, Sustainability Expo 2020, Dubai - example of immersion and a more linear relationship between ‘feel’ and ‘think’ Greenwood Rising in Tulsa  - example of integrating ‘feel’, ‘think’ and ‘do’ in proximal relationship Power of Science @ Frost Museum of Science, Miami - Example of ‘feel’ and ‘think’ in a proximal relationship Hyde Park Barracks Museum, Sydney Australia  form making plays a big role  Seattle Aquarium  Museum of Science and History, Jacksonville FL - Experimenting with integrating opportunities for people to get involved with their community much more closely with other parts of content and exhibits. Ex of ‘Feel’, ‘Think’, and ‘Do’, in proximal relationship. Jordan Museum in Amman Sleep No More - Immersive Theater Tribeca Film VR Arcade Tenement Museum Change the Museum instagram MuseumNext blog Inclusive Museum blog Science journal Nature journal Inside Climate News journal   Link to Stef’s episode sketch / mind map / data viz (aka Link to see the inside of my brain) Stef’s notes on Feel-Think-Do formula   Connect with us: Have questions or topics you’d like us to explore on the podcast? Or a recommendation of an expert to interview? Please drop us a line at [email protected] with your idea! Need help with a user-centered project, evaluation or experience design strategy?  Head over to digin-ux.com for info on user-centered strategies for your mission-driven institution,  Or connect with us at [email protected]  about your project or other cool collaboration you’ve got in mind!  

How do you present emotionally challenging content to your audience in a way that they might connect with, rather than be overwhelmed? I interview Kelley Szany at Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center about strategies and tactics they use to help visitors connect with holocaust and genocide content. We discuss the art of storytelling, the concept of rescuing the individual, floor guide tactics to help visitors move from emotional to cognitive responses, and more.  Kelley Szany LinkedIn page IHMEC LI page    Links to books discussed in episode  All But My Life, by Gerda Weissmann Klein Interpreting Difficult History at Museums and Historic Sites, by Julia Rose   Links to other resources discussed in episode Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, Skokie United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, DC East City Films - VR firm, London   Connect with us: Have questions or topics you’d like us to explore on the podcast? Or a recommendation of an expert to interview? Please drop us a line at [email protected] with your idea! Need help with a user-centered project, evaluation or experience evaluation?  Head over to digin-ux.com for info on user-centered strategies for your mission-driven institution,  Or connect with us at [email protected]  about your project or other cool collaboration you’ve got in mind!  

Episode Summary What might a trauma-informed space look and feel like? I interview Lorne, an architect who spent his career building schools and education spaces. During the episode, we discuss the reasons for and importance of trauma-informed design (TID), the free TID workbook Lorne’s team created, and how museum professionals might use it to guide designs of trauma-informed spaces and experiences.     Download the free TID workbook, or connect with Lorne’s team Lorne and team invites those who use the free workbook to be in touch with feedback and perhaps guidance on how a museum-focused workbook might be created. Download their FREE trauma-informed workbook: https://www.bassettiarch.com/tidworkbook Email Lorne’s team to collaborate or with feedback: [email protected] Bassetti Architects website: https://www.bassettiarch.com/ Bassetti Architects TID page: https://www.bassettiarch.com/values/tid Bassetti Architects LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/1567541     Links to books discussed in episode  The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk Original study on ACES, Adverse Childhood Experiences Brain Rules, John Medina     Link to Stef’s episode sketch Sometimes my brain processes design concepts, ideas or strategies as visualizations.  Here's what came up for me during this episode: Episode Viz     Connect with us: Have questions or topics you’d like us to explore on the podcast? Or a recommendation of an expert to interview? Please drop us a line at [email protected] with your idea! Need help with a user-centered project, evaluation or experience design?  Head over to digin-ux.com for info on user-centered strategies for your mission-driven institution,  Or connect with us at [email protected]  about your project or other cool collaboration you’ve got in mind!