PBS Iowa:
Learning Lab
PBS Iowa tasked my class of 9 graduate industrial design students with designing an interactive STEAM learning lab for children ages 3 to 10 years old, with specific focus on children in kindergarten. This exhibit would be located in Lewis Hall at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
How might we design an interactive exhibit that integrates STEAM concepts into play seamlessly?
Biomimicry Playstructure
My exhibit in this learning lab focused on showing kids different shapes and forms in nature and how we see them in our everyday lives. From the shape of planes similar to bird beaks, to the shapes of Velcro and burrs, there are many places where the shapes of nature are seen reflected in our lives. I want kids to be able to recognize where nature inspires our designs, not only because it looks cool, but because it works well.
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Framework
Interactive
The exhibit I designed had to be made for interactive play.
Covert Education
Education should be seamless, offering knowledge without the child realizing they're learning.
Engaging
The design should be entertaining enough to catch and hold the attention of children.
Cohesive
The exhibit should have visual harmony with the PBS Kids brand and the surrounding exhibits.
Design Goals
Macro
Turning
shapes into
Environments
Micro
Teach kids how we go from
This
That
to
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Ideation
When Ideating, I had to take into account multiple factors outside of the framework I had set for this design. Theming and outdoor or indoor placement were big factors in how the play structure would be designed, what its size would be, and how many elements I could add onto it.
The final concept was selected by taking into account coherency with other exhibits, connection between the elements of the exhibit, and ease of integration into the space.
Final Concept
Renders
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Blender output
Mid-Fidelity Edit
High-fidelity Edit
Final Render
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Discovery Nooks for interactive exploration
Hexagonal net for access to second level and coherent theming
Bark-like texture for tactile interaction
Window for connection to outdoor exhibit
Easy access ramp
Preliminary Learning Lab Renders
Renderings for the finalized lab were made to further establish cohesiveness and harmony with the other exhibits in the lab.
