Sammy the Digital Canvas
Sammy the Digital Canvas
Creating an interactive digital drawing experience for museum engagement
Embedded Files
Sammy the Digital Canvas is an interactive drawing software designed specifically for the Susquehanna Art Museum to address this issue. It allows patrons to engage with the exhibits and share their creativity with others.
Client:
The Susquehanna Art Museum
Team:
Nia P.: Lead UX Designer
Mickey L.: Lead Graphic Designer
James G.: Graphic Designer
Troyan C.: UX Researcher
Tools:
Adobe XD
Google Jamboard
Google Forms
My role:
User research
Project Management
Project Mandate
Project Mandate
Design an interactive technology for a museum with the intention to increase engagement.
Research and Analysis
Research and Analysis
What makes a museum visit truly engaging?
What makes a museum visit truly engaging?
My team of four conducted two observational studies at the museum to observe real patrons and gain firsthand insight into their experience.
Key takeaways from field research
👀 Observed 10+ visitors across age groups
🧠 Conducted team walkthroughs from as designers and visitors perspective
🎯 Identified 3 key pain points:
Observation #1: Many attendees moved through the space quickly, glancing from art piece to the next. (Limited context for artwork)
Observation #2: Some instinctively reached out to touch the artwork. (Low interactivity)
Observation #3: There was little insight into what they took away from the experience. (Isolated experiences)
Competitive Analysis
Competitive Analysis
We analyzed the Susquehanna Art Museum alongside The Hershey Story, Hirshhorn, and The Met to evaluate their use of technology, accessibility, programming, and public engagement.
Key Gaps Identified:
Technology & Interactivity: SAM lacks digital features like AR, apps, and interactive guides found in peer institutions.
Educational Programming: Limited compared to others offering camps, labs, and digital learning tools.
Accessibility: Basic ADA compliance, but fewer inclusive features like ASL tours or sensory kits.
Social Media: Low engagement and inconsistent storytelling compared to competitors.
SME interview
SME interview
For further exploration, we engaged in an SME interview with the museum director, tapping into their first-hand perspectives of issues the museum and goals they want to achieve.
Activity Insights
Decreased Attendance: Patron visits have dropped dramatically, from 20,000 annually to under 3,000. Attendance is sporadic and inconsistent.
Audience Gap: The museum primarily attracts older adults and students. They aim to broaden their reach to include families and younger audiences.
Operational Constraints: Bandwidth limitations hinder consistent outreach and engagement. Additionally, acoustics and the historical nature of the building influence visitor experience and exhibit design.
Educational Offerings: SAM provides community classroom workshops, reinforcing their role as a learning hub — an opportunity to build deeper connections with visitors.
Problem Statement
Museum visits feel like passing through without ever connecting.
Our goal was to explore how the museum could create a more engaging and connected experience for younger audiences and families while still honoring the educational mission that defines SAM.
Ideation
Ideation
Personas
Personas
To keep our ideas grounded in the real needs of the community, we developed personas that synthesized findings from our competitive analysis, stakeholder interviews, and on-site museum observations. These personas helped us move beyond abstract insights, allowing us to frame design opportunities around the lived experiences, motivations, and constraints of people who might actually walk through SAM’s doors.
Design workshops
Design workshops
During this time, my team and I collaborated on brainstorming in Google Jamboard and sketching early concepts while keeping in constraints and client's goals.
🧩 My role: facilitated team workshops, organized idea prioritization
💬 Explored storytelling, social features, and gamification
Sketches: We began with 11 concept sketches to explore ways of integrating digital technology into the museum. After evaluating their strengths and alignment with project goals, we selected the most promising ideas for further refinement.
Design Charette: We collaborated in a design charrette to brainstorm, critique, and refine concepts as a team. The resulting report captured our shared insights and aligned direction, laying the groundwork for the next phase.
Design
Design
Interaction Modeling - Initial Prototyping
Interaction Storyboard.pdfWhile teammates built the interface in Adobe XD, I supported interaction modeling and crafted copy for SAMMY’s tone and persona.
Information Architecture:
Identified key interaction points and user goals and conduct a cognitive walkthrough
Developed a clear and logical structure for organizing content and functionality within the application.
Created user flow diagrams to visualize the sequential steps and decision points in the user journey.
Final Prototype
Final Prototype
Family-Friendly Affordances 👪
SAMMY empowers patrons to leave their mark. Visitors can use an intuitive tutorial to explore creative tools and design visuals that reflect their experience. Contributions are saved and curated as part of an evolving digital exhibit with safeguards in place to block inappropriate content, ensuring a respectful and inclusive space for all voices.
Share the Memories🔁
Patrons can send a summary of their interaction to their email, creating a personalized record of their visit and contributions. This feature helps patrons save the artwork they’ve created with the museum, reinforcing a sense of lasting connection and value.
Reflection
⏳ Constraints limited user testing
⚠️ Deity-based design revealed gaps in validation
✅ Outcome: High-fidelity prototype + client presentation
💡 Takeaway: Pushed for deeper user integration in future projects
Project Management Summary
Project Management Summary
1. Research: Scoping and Planning Research
Used this document to make sure that all team members are on the same page. It's important that we are all aligned on what is the priority during the project lifecycle and how to tackle communication issues.
2. Competitive analysis: Secondary Research Report
Gathered requirements from the customer and outlined how the system should behave based on those requirements. This document includes UML diagrams to better help visualize what needs to be accomplished by the system.
3. SME Interview with museum director
Gathered requirements from the customer and outlined how the system should behave based on those requirements. This document includes UML diagrams to better help visualize what needs to be accomplished by the system.
4. Design Charrette Report
In order to close out the project, I led a meeting with my team members to build a final report. It covers all the requirements that were met and how we went about to solve them.
6. Project Brief: Sammy Interactivity
In order to close out the project, I led a meeting with my team members to build a final report. It covers all the requirements that were met and how we went about to solve them.
7. Poster
In order to close out the project, I led a meeting with my team members to build a final report. It covers all the requirements that were met and how we went about to solve them.
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