iSaveSpecies Prototype and Rapid Testing Handbook

The purpose of the Handbook is to inform the co-creation of a new wave of iSaveSpecies interactives designed to deepen engagement in science and conservation at zoos, aquariums, and other living-exhibit institutions. The Handbook allows participating institutions to easily collect visitor data, to better understand how visitors currently engage at exhibits, and to apply visitor data to the development of iSaveSpecies inquiry and action tools. We describe some common methods of data collection including: timing and tracking of visitors, prototyping exhibit mock-ups, and language testing using interviews and questionnaires. The Handbook describes various front-end methods and how the resulting data might be applied to improve living exhibits. One of the unique aspects of the Handbook is that each method has been field tested by staff and volunteers at partner institutions in the Wild Research Consortium, and modified as a result of these field tests. In part, the Handbook was created by informal science professionals for informal science professionals. By supporting cross-institution and some institution-specific protocols, we hope to build a general understanding about how to better engage families at living exhibits.