Ongoing | Sponsored Project
Unifying the exhibit experience at the Georgia Aquarium
Role: UI/UX Designer
Timeline: August - December 2025
Stakeholder: Georgia Aquarium
Team: Josalyn Chow, Tanya Punater, Natasha Valluri
Background & Problem
Georgia Aquarium, a non-profit in Atlanta, houses over 500 aquatic and terrestrial species across eight galleries and receives 2M+ visitors per year. Its mission centers on education, conservation, and ethical animal care through immersive experiences like the Touch Pool, Dolphin Show, and digital exhibits.
Project Goal:
To design a cohesive, gamified experience in one of the galleries that aligns with the aquarium’s conservation and education mission. This project should inspire empathy, connection, and active support for ocean preservation.
How might we design an engaging, interactive aquarium experience that educates visitors about marine life while encouraging support for conservation efforts?
User Research
How do visitors engage with the gamified experiences, galleries, & habitats at the aquarium?
Observations: 3 hrs
Analyzed how visitors engaged with signage, navigation, and interactive prototypes at the aquarium, capturing moments that either supported or confused people in their visit.
Tabling & General Survey: 111 Responses
Conducted 3 rounds of tabling, with hand-made stickers as incentives, recruiting visitors for a survey asking about their visit, preparation, and favorite experiences.
Intercept Interviews: 20 Interviews
Co-led on-site interviews during tabling. Taking turns as interviewers and note-takers, we engaged parents, kids, couples, and other visitors to capture real-time visit reflections.
Contextual Inquiries: 12 Participants, 4 hrs
Shadowed participants to understand their end-to-end experience, without influencing their behavior/decisions, while asking follow-up questions about specific actions.
Semi-Structured Interviews: 12 Interviews
Interviewed Contextual Inquiry participants (45 min each) to ask them follow-up questions about their overall experience and illicit organic, narrative retellings of their experiences.
Competitive Analysis: Zoo Atlanta
Visited Zoo Atlanta to identify the strengths and weakness of their signage, navigation, and gamified activities. Also compareMonterey Bay Aquarium, and similar experiences like the MET Museum.
Research Synthesis & Insights
Users had trouble navigating galleries but were engaged by immersive activities they could learn from and share
Key insights from affinity mapping, thematic analysis, & survey data:
01. User struggles with finding meaning out of their aquarium experience.
02. User is confused about the galleries at the aquarium and what species, ecosystems, and activities they each contain.
03. User does not enjoy viewing digital screens at galleries.
04. User were heavily drawn to galleries that presented them with unique, immersive experiences.
05. User is eager to collect and share knowledge and memories from the aquarium.
Work In Progress
