The Pollinator Protector App and Exhibit
School Project
Case Study
Interactive Design
Illustration
Space Design
Pollinators are a vital part of the environment and humanity’s future. To better educate youth about these species, Science World could open an app-activated exhibit that educates and engages.
The Pollinator Protectors app would activate with scannable visuals around the exhibit to encourage exploration and learning through a narrative-driven experience that centres the visitor as the protagonist of their adventure. Science World would lend tablets pre-installed with the app and have staff (called Pollinator Pals in-app) around the exhibit to help with any issues.
Pollinator characters in-game educate and explain games, goals, and tips to the user who is encouraged to complete as many tasks as possible. At the end of the experience, they get prizes for how much they achieve.
Strategy
The Pollinator Protectors Exhibit is a fictional interactive exhibit that fosters eco-consciousness in children and would appeal to the tech-smart generation of Generation Alpha.
The visitors will be provided tablets that will act as tools for gathering information and rewarding their learning as they explore. The exhibit’s storyline starts with the visitor being asked to help the pollinators in a special space meant for pollinators named The Garden. Within The Garden, the visitors are introduced to three different pollinators and help each of them with a specific issue that species encounter in the modern world such as how soldier beetle larvae are affected by chemicals meant for pest control. Each tablet would come pre-installed with the Pollinator Protectors application that will solve these objectives through a story-based approach that centers around the visitor to immerse and give the child control of how they explore the exhibit.
This experience would appeal to a wide range of youth as they accomplish what they want, at the pace that suits them best. Not only do the young visitors benefit from this exhibit, but their guardians as well. Many guardians may struggle to encourage their children to become interested in the natural world.
Solution
The app and branding are meant to replicate illustrations from a children’s book to contribute to the fantasy world and storyline the experience is based on. These illustrations are kept as simple as possible while staying colourful and are given an extra connection to storybooks with a paper overlay texture, inspired by illustrations made by Ryo Takemasa. Illustrations are kept simple in the app to not distract from their surroundings. Key information within the app is also highlighted in bright orange so the user can skim over information and know what to focus on. Interactions within the app are limited and icons or buttons represent real objects to ensure that users don’t get confused or distracted from the storyline. The exhibit also uses the motifs in-app and keeps a simple layout with some appliques of the illustrations to indicate the phase of the storyline.
Key Takeaways
As I worked on this project, I realized one of my core values as a designer; making a social difference with design. Researching this issue and putting together the app’s design, allowed me time to reflect on my design process which had remained undefined in past projects. It also opened my eyes to pollinators I hadn’t known before, such as the soldier beetle and made me appreciate the pollinator world that much more.