Multimedia Installation
2025
Designing for curiosity: making complex history accessible with interactive dual-display experiences
Project Snapshot
The Australian War Memorial tasked our agency, Grumpy Studios, with creating interactive experiences for their gallery redevelopment. I led the UX/UI design for the Peacekeeping Gallery's centrepiece—a multimedia installation pairing a 4m projection wall with a touchscreen to showcase 60 peacekeeping operations across the globe. The challenge was designing for simultaneous passive and active engagement, ensuring both casual gallery visitors and deeply curious audiences could grasp Australia's global peacekeeping legacy. This project required balancing visual spectacle with information clarity, accessibility standards with creative ambition.
The challenge
Designing for glances and deep dives simultaneously
The AWM attracts diverse visitors—school groups, history enthusiasts, veterans, tourists—each seeking different levels of engagement. I reframed these visitor types into two design priorities:
The design challenge was ensuring both experiences felt valuable without duplicating content or causing confusion about how the two displays related to each other.
Design decision 01
Finding the right balance between two screens
When I joined the project, another designer had established a basic user flow. My role was to refine this and determine the relationship between the projection wall and touchscreen—a critical decision that would define the entire experience.
The outcome
Users could engage at their chosen depth—whether a 30-second glance or a 5-minute exploration—and still walk away understanding three core messages:
Australian peacekeeping is global in nature
Australians have served in diverse locations worldwide
Peacekeepers have performed a wide range of roles
Projection versus touchscreen
Design decision 02
Designing entry points that match user intent
Creating curiosity through motion
To draw visitors into the experience, I designed a dynamic attract screen where an idle-state globe slowly rotates, revealing location labels, glowing nodes, and imagery. This subtle animation signals interactivity from across the gallery and communicates scale without requiring any touch.
Ambient motion creates curiosity. Even small animations significantly influence participation rates by transforming a static display into something that feels alive and inviting.
Two paths to discovery
The home screen offers dual navigation—users can spin a 3D globe and tap location nodes, or switch to an alphabetised list view to scroll through conflict zones.
By providing multiple entry points, I lowered the barrier to engagement. Casual browsers could explore randomly by spinning the globe, while purposeful visitors with prior knowledge could navigate directly to specific operations. Flexibility in UX means designing for different curiosity styles.
Design decision 03
Progressive disclosure prevents information overload
Zooming from global to regional
Selecting a location triggers an animated zoom on the projection, highlighting how many peacekeeping operations occurred in that region. The touchscreen mirrors this but adds contextual text and prompts users to reveal operation cards through horizontal scrolling.
This layer bridges the gap between global context and individual stories. Progressive disclosure sustains engagement by revealing information gradually—users aren't confronted with everything at once.
Saying less to communicate more
Tapping a card expands it into a detailed view with operation data, images, statistics, and contextual information. The challenge was presenting this volume of content without overwhelming users.
My solutions
"Read More" button for longer text to reduce initial cognitive load
Generous spacing between elements for visual breathing room
Image galleries kept small with lightbox enlargement option
Key statistics anchored at the bottom for easy scanning
Clear navigation (Close and Home buttons) for easy wayfinding
On the projection, I showed only top-level statistics and a hero image—simplifying content for passive viewers and preventing visual fatigue on a large screen.
Sometimes the most powerful choice is restraint. By saying less on the projection, I allowed visitors to absorb information at their own pace without feeling overwhelmed.
Design decision 04
Creative direction that supports storytelling
I believe conceptually grounded design resonates more deeply with audiences. Starting with UN blue—immediately peaceful, immediately recognisable—I adopted a glassmorphism visual style that mimics frosted glass. This allowed UI elements to sit over the NASA Visible Earth globe without obscuring its beauty, while adding depth and modernity.
Design decision 05
Iteration solved navigation confusion
Throughout the project, I encountered obstacles that required thoughtful iteration. One challenge was navigation confusion between the Location View and operation card scroll—users weren't sure how to move between layers.
Design decision 06
Final UI refinement through A/B testing
As I finalised detailed UI, I noticed my original touchscreen solution—using pop-up blocks for additional content—felt visually messy against the complex globe asset.
Small adjustments at final stages can significantly elevate clarity. This taught me to stay critical of my own work even in late stages and validate assumptions through testing.
Collaboration beyond design
I worked closely with production and technology teams on information architecture and content strategy, optimising designs for the CMS while adhering to AWM's multimedia style guide and accessibility standards. This often meant making trade-offs between creative freedom and technical feasibility—constraints that ultimately strengthened the final solution.
Impact
How I'd measure success in production
Since the installation launched in a physical gallery, traditional digital metrics don't apply. However, if I were measuring impact, I'd track dwell time at the installation, touchscreen interaction rates, operation card views per session, and qualitative visitor feedback to understand engagement depth.
What I validated through design
Dual-display system successfully served both passive and active users without content redundancy or confusion.
WCAG accessibility compliance across all interactive elements, ensuring inclusive access regardless of visitor ability.
CMS-optimised information architecture reduced development friction and enabled AWM to update content independently.
Complete UI kit and dev-ready files delivered for seamless handoff, ensuring design integrity and future maintainability.
Early AWM team feedback indicated strong stakeholder uptake and curiosity, with team members engaging meaningfully with the touchscreen
Retrospective
