TMMC

The UX-centric tablet application strategically situated within The Marine Mammal Center's exhibition area leverages captivating storytelling of rescued marine animals to foster visitor empathy, effectively amplifying contributions and volunteer engagement.

Role

The Marine Mammal Center

Skills

UI/UX Design

User Research

Experience Design

Rhino 3D

Keyshot

Blender

Tools

Figma

Adobe Suite

Client

6 weeks

Time Frame

Prototyping

UI/UX Designer

Creative Visualization

Experience Designer

Team of 5

THE PROBLEM

The center serves as a health facility for various sea mammals.

Daily visitors come to observe and learn about the mammals but demonstrated minimal inclination to help or understand their situation due to a lack of empathy during the visit.

Improving the visitor experience to foster a stronger sense of connection and compassion is crucial.

51.5%

64.3%

78.6%

Visitors of TMMC comes after recommendations from friends and family

Visitors of TMMC who want to learn about its aim and what they do

Visitors of TMMC ends up expecting it to be a zoo where they can see marine mammals

As the world's largest marine mammal hospital, this center recently reopened its doors to the public in June 2022.

Our collaborative approach emphasizes the center's social impact, effectively elevating their presence in the public eye and enhancing awareness of their commendable endeavors in marine conservation and ocean health.

Our shared objective is to inspire individuals to take meaningful action and drive higher adoption rates in support of their noble cause.

OUR MISSION

Cultivate empathy among visitors through a captivating narrative and design impactful Call-to-Action physical or digital elements for their experiences at The Marine Mammal Center

HOW MIGHT WE

SOLUTION

Explore the patients’ unique stories

Visitors discover star patients' stories as they click on the bubbles.

They see how The Marine Mammal Center rescues animals through personalized choices in the story flow

The dashboard tablets are touchpoints which are located on an installation which is inspired by the mammals habitat and allows visitors to understand the various reasons why the mammals are admitted to the center and what they suffer.

This “CHOICES” based storytelling aims to build empathy and feel motivated to:

learn about the problems
take individual action
donate/adopt
enter information
engage for longer

Adopt your favorite patients

Feel moved by the story? Consider adopting this incredible animal. Visitors symbolic adoption will profoundly impact marine mammals, just like Bogey, and make a meaningful difference in their lives!

Leave with meaningful takeaways

Upon completing the adoption, visitors will receive warm thanks from our patients and the center.

They can capture photos to share on social media or keep as a cherished memory.

Habitat Installation Touchpoint

An art installation made of real materials are used to showcase the marine mammals habitat.

Location at The Marine Mammal Center

Habitat Installation

HOW DID WE REACH HERE?

Design Process

INTERVIEWS

"we wanted to see what it is like. just like the rescue process and stuff. It’s an educational place and it should enforce my knowledge about this whole marine life thing and their problems”

"when I saw the adoption cards that were hanging on the fence - I flipped over them over and saw the dates when they came into the hospital. some of them were 10-15. One of them was even 20 years ago, but are they still here?”

Key Quotes

"we are trying to reverse what human activity has done and visitors are very interested to see how many patients we treat, their individual stories - how they came to us and how humans caused that so they can learn about what NOT to do.”

We conducted Qualitative and Quantitative research to understand the Visitors and Stakeholders perspective and their understanding about TMMC, its Mission and Goals

KEY IDENTIFIED GAPS

Guidance

Empathy

Donations

There is a deficiency in a certain degree of thematic guidance during the visit, which renders it tough to depart with a profound effect.

The existing storyline hinders visitors in both understanding and feeling a connection

Visitors are open to donating, yet they seek a transparent comprehension of its purpose and impact.

The Marine Mammal Center has a wealth of learning resources. And visitors come mainly for the purpose of learning about marine animals.

Based on interviews and surveys, we identified 3 key pain points

faced by visitors at the marine mammal center

There are several touchpoints in the tour. Each of them has a lot of information that overwhelms the visitors.

Based on the research insight, we explored various solutions to solve these above-mentioned problems in the form of Rapid Prototyping and tested them with 42 participants.

SOLUTION EXPLORATIONS

Pledge Wall

Existing Pledge Wall

Exhibit area

The interactive commitment display acquaints visitors with The Marine Mammal Center's campaign and the ways individuals can contribute through personal efforts, emphasizing its significance.

Make a commitment to enact change in the real world.
Utilize a global map for gathering visitor information.
Boost social media posts following the commitment.

AR Tour Guide

Create an Augmented Reality (AR) tour guide system stationed at different points across the center, enabling visitors to access information on their smartphones.

Enhance the experience with additional in-depth details about artifacts and exhibit items, presented in layers.

Incorporate subtle animations to bring elements to life.
Ensure convenient accessibility to touchpoints, facilitating effortless exploration for learning more.

Live Location

Mammals are installed with a GPS tracker after they are cured and then are released back to the ocean.

A live data of their location adds to the experience for donors as they can track them even after months.

Subtle animations and sounds of mammals to know more about species
Live location of the mammals showing time trail from rescue to release locations

Story Dashboard + Installation

A tablet application showcasing comprehensive details about the patients under TMMC care and their remarkable journeys from rescue to release. This platform will serve as an invitation to adopt these mammals, providing immediate and future assistance.

Utilize real data and authentic information to provide an insightful glimpse into each patient's experience.
Engage users through a call to action, encouraging them to contribute to the well-being of these creatures both presently and in the times ahead.
An installation with the dashboard to adopt mammals and collect donations
Relating mammals with the visitors personas

FINAL DIRECTION

Story Dashboard and Art Installation concept was taken forward based on the following constraints like time and budget.

Based on the research insights, we developed real life stories of mammals and decided to give more info about individuals like Age, Species, Diagnosis, Rescue and Release Locations.

User flow & Information Architecture

LAYOUT EXPLORATIONS

FINAL SCREENS

Based on testing and feedbacks, following points were taken for the final design:

1. Ease of selection of patients

2. Story-telling keeps the visitors interested to know about the patients

3. Impactful and real images will help build empathy and enable visitors to donate

4. Easy payment options

5. Visitors love to share about the TMMC to their friends and family.