Techniquest Visit - 'Freeze Frame' Exhibit Review
I have chosen to look at was one of the more popular interactive exhibits in Techniquest and one which I feel shows how difficult it must be to effectively combine fun and practical learning within one piece of equipment. The exhibit was called ‘Freeze Frame’ and attracted a lot of attention primarily because it was a bit larger and took up a lot more floor space then most of the other exhibits. It intrigues a user because it is hard to see what it actually does from a distance and its steel frame construction makes it look a bit more serious then many of the smaller, more brightly coloured objects around it. The first thing you notice when you walk up to the machine are the four monitors showing a series of 16 photos of the last user taken at one instance in time but from all around them so it appears that they are frozen in time and the camera is rotating around them. This looks very impressive, especially if the guy before you was jumping in the air; we all remember how cool ‘bullet time’ effects were when we first saw them in films like The Matrix. You are inevitably keen to see yourself suspended in time so you step inside the rig to find a way to interact with it. The information panel and a big, red button are situated on the floor in the centre of the exhibit so you’d step up for a quick read of the instructions. The button is used on all similar exhibits at Techniquest and is a familiar inviting visual cue for our initial interaction with any new piece of technology. The instructions are simple enough and very straightforward, though I also observed trial and error to be equally effective because the interactivity is so limited. A user presses the button and instantly knows they have initiated the machine as a five second countdown appears with big numbers flashing up. The picture actually seems to take just before you expect it to and no-one I observed managed to get a mid air shot first time, people tended to keep trying until they got a mid air shot and then become more ambitious in the poses they tried to capture. The whole process took about a minute as people prepared for their jump had it taken and then watched themselves for a bit on the screens. Most people tended to go for about five attempts before they moved on although many seemed tempted back to have another go later. ‘Freeze Frame’ had a definite cool factor about it and many people would encourage their friends to have a go, passing the instructions on quickly to them. Some people had a go without even needing to read the instructions or be told what to do, the average Techniquest user (our class and the school kids) seemed to be press the red button or turn the big lever and see what happens, if you’re not sure you’re doing it right, read the instructions briefly, if you’re really not sure, read them properly. Only an exhibit that really excited a user would draw them to read the Science bit. In terms of usability it is hard to fault ‘Freeze Frame’ really, one button that both resets the monitors and takes the pictures placed in the ideal location for usage of the exhibit i.e. it could have been placed on the side of the apparatus itself but the user would then have to move back into the centre ready for their photo to be taken. It also removed any height issues as children and adults can just step onto the controls with their feet requiring little concentration so that they can focus more on the visual feedback from the monitors above them. I might however criticize it on the grounds of how little scientific knowledge can be gained from the machine and no-one who I observed using the machine actually read the ‘What’s Happening’ text. Perhaps it could’ve benefited from some scientific information coming up on the monitors which hold the user’s attention through most of their usage. In terms of a user experience you’d gain in meeting learning objectives but as most people are repeat users it might become a little tiresome to see the same information over and over again. Maybe a 'find out more button' next to the ‘action’ button might work.
posted by nick_gerrard @ 5:05 AM
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