Museum Prototype Testing and Co-Design in Times of Covid: Videoconference Reviews with User/Experts with Disabilities

Submitted by mjoseph on Wed, 03/03/2021 - 13:14

Testing and co-designing prototypes for museums' inclusive mechanical and digital interactives and tactile experiences is the smart thing to do. But how can museums conduct hands-on sessions during a pandemic when it's not safe for the test facilitators and the reviewers to be in the same room?

In this webcast, IHCD and Access Smithsonian staff along with participating user/experts with disabilities will discuss their ongoing collaborative experiment to conduct effective testing despite Covid-19 restrictions of social distancing and closed museums. Spoiler alert: The team found that much of the remote testing provides better results than testing done in person!

Closed captioning will be provided.

Date: Thursday, March 11, 2020

Time: 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST

Location: Online Event. RSVP for Zoom details.

About the Panelists

Jan Majewski, Moderator

Director, Inclusive Cultural and Educational Projects, Institute for Human Centered Design

Jan's work at IHCD enables her to do what she loves most: helping build museums' capacity to make themselves more inclusive. Brainstorming and problem solving with museum professionals across the world, she works with clients to ensure their museums, exhibitions, programs, and policies provide people of all abilities and ages from every societal grouping an equal opportunity for full participation. 

Ashley Grady

Senior Program Specialist, Access Smithsonian

Ashley oversees pan-institutional programs, staff and volunteer training, community outreach, and intern and volunteer programs. Programs include Project SEARCH Smithsonian (internship for individuals with developmental disabilities) and Morning at the Museum, (sensory-friendly program for families) among others. Ashley is dedicated to creating inclusive museum environments and diversifying the museum workforce by hiring people with disabilities.

Anoopa Sundararajan

Human Factors & Inclusive Technology Researcher, Institute for Human Centered Design

In IHCD’s digital lab, Anoopa leads a variety of consulting projects, with an emphasis on the cultural sector. In her role, Anoopa engages real users to drive the engineering and design of inclusive experiences spanning from web platforms to digital immersives.

Nefertiti Matos

Access Technology Educator, New York Public Library

Katelyn Kelel is an access consultant and a graduate of Michigan State
University. For the last five years, she has worked to promote and
design inclusive access to programs, services, and facilities across
many sectors throughout the public domain. She is the current president of Seedlings Braille Books for Children, a longstanding nonprofit organization in Livonia Michigan. Her experiences as a woman with vision loss have placed equal access to opportunity at the top of her agenda, and she strives to foster this mission through her analytical and innovative solutions to overcoming barriers to inclusion.

Willa Crolius

Design Researcher & Design Thinker, Tata Consultancy Services

Willa is a human-centered designer with a background in industrial design and user research. She has worked on projects ranging from analysis of banking and financial services, museum and cultural sites, transportation and a mix of products ranging from medical equipment, watches and furniture, as well as technological systems and services including websites, apps, digital learning platforms and smart lighting systems.