For close to three decades, I have worked to engage museum visitors through meaningful interactive experiences. If you are a museum goer in New England, chances are good you have already interacted with my work.

You may have encountered my work at the New England Aquarium, EcoTarium, Boston Children’s Museum, Drumlin Farm, MIT Museum or in a traveling exhibition somewhere further afield. Beyond exhibits, I have led master-planning projects, written curriculum, and developed programs and educational software. I have researched and written about interactive learning, and designed and conducted front-end, formative and summative evaluation studies. The common denominator through all of my work is engagement through interaction. Interaction can be with scientific phenomena, collections objects, living plants or animals, or between people.

As a developer, my work on projects starts in the early stages, and often begins with research or front-end evaluation to understand how audiences think about, and connect with a content area. This is equally as important as understanding how scientists or other experts think about the content. Ideally the exhibit will bridge between the two.

Successful exhibition projects involve coordinating many skill sets, and most of my projects have involved leading, or working with, a collaborative team. Ideally, the development process does not stay in the office or meeting room. Involving the audience through discussion, evaluation, and iterative prototyping can both generate and prove ideas. Some projects also involve teaching staff (or administrators or funders) about the whys and hows of prototyping and evaluation so they can be part of the process.

Thoughtful development pays off. Many of the example projects on this website continue to engage and delight audiences daily — some more than 20 years after they were developed!

What is your project? How can we work together to engage visitors, learners, and your community?

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Alexander Goldowsky, Interact LLC

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