How to WOOF About Art is an applied research project that explores the role of experience design in museum visits.

The design looks at:

• Creating a holistic family learning experience that values family as a collective unit, rather than children as prioritized audience (parents need to be engaged to actively learn, not actively play on their phones!)

• Bridging at-home remote learning with in-museum physical learning

• Finding ways of defining hybrid family learning that gives equal agency to both adults and children

tell me more

The design is a learning experience consisting of videos, downloadables and a role play game led by the wonderfully delightful Dr Woofmeister, a nosy art critic who wants everyone to learn how to engage with art.

It is intended to support the art museum experience for an average family audience. I propose the idea of museums providing age-appropriate resources so that families can learn together, but in a language that appeals more to their age group. For example, children can learn how to engage with art through videos and reinforce their learning using a tactile flip book. Meanwhile, adults are given tips on how to talk about art with their children as a discrete mini-zine that can easily be pulled out and put back in a pocket as they juggle herding kids through the museum. 

In this design example, the “art learning” lesson talks about using a method called the WOOF technique, which uses a mnemonic device to break down the art viewing experience into 4 steps.