The Dr. Guislain museum Toolkit
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Project Description
For people with a mental disability, a museum visit can be overwhelming and chaotic. The Dr. Guislain Toolkit provides information and interaction prior to the visit with balance, structure and an increased engagement as a result. A ‘one fits all’ approach answers the needs of a broad range of users, including people with a mental impairment.
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Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
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Description of the project
Summary
The Dr. Guislain museum in Ghent (Belgium), a former psychiatrical hospital, strives to be more socially inclusive. In the context of our postgraduate ‘space and service design’ we have a collaboration with the museum as part of the MindTour program. The MindTour project stands for 'Mindful tourist services for intellectually disabled people' and is an Erasmus + funded project that aims to make cultural heritage attractions (with a special focus on museums) more accessible to people with mental disabilities through the use of service design.
As service designers we came up with innovative design concepts by adapting existing services and adding new ones. We learned through observations and interviews during an extensive workshopweek that the museum has an overwhelming architecture and that wayfinding is not evident. The overall experience can be overwhelming due to the amount and difficulty of the museum objects and explanatory texts. That’s why we created a toolkit that helps by the preparation of the visit.
Visiting a new place can be stressful, especially when it’s a museum and it is supposed to be relaxing, enjoyable and pleasant. Having a memorable experience for people with special needs can be even harder. In order to design our toolkit, challenges such as: scheduling and planning, providing a safe and recognizable environment, creating interaction, excitement and anticipation were our main focus. A ‘one fits all’ approach answers the needs of a broad range of users, including people with a mental impairment. The toolkit is a pre-visit preparatory service, designed to improve the museum experience. It is ordered online via the museum website. The included items assure a well-structured, highly engaged and anticipated visit, free of stress and full of excitement. The toolkit is an assembly of a ‘coaching map’ dedicated for parents, caregivers, teachers and an ‘individual map’ for anyone who likes to visit the museum well-prepared.
Key objectives for sustainability
In terms of environmental sustainability our toolkit design is made out of re-usable and FSC-labeled paper which allows defects to be corrected and is able to meet new requirements. The future maintenance is made easier andcan cope with the changing character of the museum. The museum staff will be able to use a manual that explains how small changes can be made to the toolkit when exhibitions change. Also some items of the toolkit are designed as souvenirs for the visitors; as the mini-museum and photo frame. No plastic is used, neither in the delivery service. Additionally, a digital version of the toolkit can be downloaded from the museum website. The idea of a preparatory toolkit that will be sent to the museum visitors in advance is unique and innovative. Besides that, the toolkit is exemplary in its sustainable design whereas several people can use the same toolkit and the items inside the toolkit are easily adaptable in time. In close collaboration with the Dr Guislain museum we only settle for a circular approach, where the paper items of the toolkit that have to be thrown away will be sent to a recycle service.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The toolkit is created for a more qualitative experience: creating structure by guiding them through the experience and by taking away overstimulation in a museum with a lot of info. The toolkit makes it possible to introduce the visit and prepare for the activity on your own speed, when and where you want. It’s a one-fits-all toolkit because of its diversity in items. The items can be chosen on the needs of the user by the user himself or a caregiver, teacher, grandparent, friend, accompany, etc. It’s a homogeneous design created in a holistic way. To achieve that, we used very simple yet clear themes for all the items, following the same fonts, matching colors and coordinated codes, modifying the shapes in order to have a succession of visual coherence. The Dr. Guislain character creates recognition and plays a role in connecting all items together. He is seen in different illustrations and poses on all the items available where he explains the purpose of the items or guides the user on how to use the tool. We were able to increase the quality of the user experience by the simple and very comprehensive look; fonts and colors where tested and modified according to the user satisfaction. Also as mentioned earlier the shapes and organization of the items makes it easier for different users with varieties of cognitive abilities. The link between the items implemented and the readability of the whole design, improves the quality of the experience and creates a smooth, easy and pleasant way to discover the toolkit. There are also some ‘must-have items’ in the toolkit as a photo holder or mini-museum which can be sold separately in the museum gift shop.
Key objectives for inclusion
In a world of imposed expectations and work pressure, well-being and relaxation are more than ever a basic right. Unfortunately, great inequality means that not all services and products related to tourism are accessible and inclusive. For example, visiting a museum or cultural center, as well as many other activities, is not so evident for people with mental disabilities. Many financial, social and intellectual barriers are involved. Therefore, a preparatory toolkit was designed in attempt to reduce this inequality and create equal opportunities. A partnership was established with the Dr. Guislain Museum to achieve this objective. The Toolkit provides information and interaction prior to the visit with balance, structure and an increased engagement as a result. Together with the caregivers of our test panel we co-created the items inside the toolkit according to the needs of our focus group.
Several professional caregivers participated during the co-creative design process to make the tools inside the toolkit as inclusive as possible for the diverse focus group. Beside the intense search for readable, understandable and enjoyable preparatory activities, our main focus was to design a universal toolkit. Therefore, a broader public going from toddlers to teenagers and adults can use the preparatory toolkit. Every item inside can be used by people with different levels of intelligence; therefore, the toolkit is exemplary in its way of social accessibility. The toolkit was designed to make it as affordable as possible, by researching tools, evaluating paper sizes, colors and shipping methods. We designed an extra platform for the website to order the box online. Beside that a conceptual strategy to get the toolkits to care houses for people with a mental impairment was thought of.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
A mix and balance between inclusion, aesthetics and sustainability makes our design concept exemplary and innovative. Social and financial inclusion is obtained through our efforts to reduce the thresholds for people with a mental impairment and their coaches. Therefore, our goal to make the toolkit as affordable as possible implicated an intensive search for sustainable methods and materials. Consequently, the toolkit is made of FSC-certificated paper and can be re-used by the users. To meet expectations about the look and feel of the product, withoutincreasing the price, we thoroughly designed the images, colors, fonts and lay-out of the toolkit. We designed the toolkit with the balance between the cognitive level (of readability and understandability) and aesthetic in mind.
