Helping the Design Minds Test New Exhibits and Interpretation for the Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Experience Design Research
Written By Cathy Sigmond

Client: The Design Minds | Location: Washington, D.C | Funding: National Park Service

 
 

We teamed up with The Design Minds to test new designs for exhibits at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial on the National Mall to guide future interpretive planning efforts.

OVERVIEW

In 2022, we partnered with The Design Minds to test designs for new exhibits at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. We focused on helping the National Park Service understand how the public’s changing conception of representative democracy informs their relationship to important historical figures and monuments.

APPROACH

We conducted open-ended interviews with visitors at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and focused on three interrelated questions which were:

  • What are visitors’ motivations for visiting the Jefferson Memorial?

  • What are visitors’ perceptions and understandings of the intent of the Jefferson Memorial?

  • What are visitors’ expectations of reactions to new designs for the exhibit space under the Memorial?

CLIENT TAKEAWAYS

The evaluation revealed many insights to help the designer and the National Park Service move forward with the exhibition design and development process. For instance, one of the most helpful findings was that many visitors appreciated the exhibit planners’ proposed approach to promote critical examination of Thomas Jefferson’s words and the ideals articulated in the Declaration of Independence, rather than being turned off by it. Similarly, we found that visitors are interested in the exhibits new direction–one that respects Thomas Jeffersons’ legacy and the democratic ideals he espoused, while also acknowledging his complex and seemingly dissonant connection to slavery. These insights gave the team the confidence to continue with their efforts without worry of alienating visitors.

Cathy Sigmond

Cathy brings many years of experience in education and experience design to her role as Head of Strategy at Kera Collective. 

Having previously worked in a variety of educational settings, Cathy is driven by her constant fascination and delight at how people make discoveries about the familiar and the unfamiliar. 

Cathy loves helping to shape experiences that spark curiosity and make a difference in people’s lives. She particularly enjoys the rapid, iterative nature of design-based research and the deep insights that come from qualitative research, especially on projects exploring interactions with the digital and built environments. 

Cathy shares her passion for experience design research widely and regularly guest lectures for graduate programs, including the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Exhibition and Experience Design Program and the Pratt Institute’s School of Information. Cathy served as the co-chair of the Museum Computer Network’s Human-Centered Design special interest group from 2018-2021.

Outside of work, you can usually find Cathy playing soccer, thrifting, or making her way through her large cookbook collection. 

Cathy’s favorite museum experiences are immersive; she will always vividly remember walking through the giant heart at the Franklin Institute, being surrounded by birds at the Peabody Essex Museum, and hearing centuries-old instruments come to life at the Museum of Musical Instruments. 

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