Science on a Sphere Interpretive Features: Prototyping Report

During January 2007, the Science Museum of Minnesota carried out a study to gather visitor feedback on a variety of potential interpretive features of Science on a Sphere. Visitor preferences related to the use of interpretive labels and graphics directly on the Sphere and the speed in which visualizations rotate were studied. A total of 51 visitors were interviewed. Key findings include: 1. Three quarters of visitors preferred descriptive labels to be directly on the Sphere. 2. If labels were projected on the Sphere, almost all the visitors wanted them to disappear after a period of time. 3. Half of the visitors wanted more information than just the name projected on the sphere. The most common response was more facts about the image. 4. Visitors who did not want labels or more information projected on the screen most frequently said it would get in the way of the image. This report includes an interview protocol and survey.