At-Turaif Living Museum

Client: NewAngle / ADA Category: Touchscreen Services: UX / UI / Design / Animation

A series of cultural interactive exhibits for this UNESCO World Heritage Site in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to commemorate the birth, growth and subsequent fall of the First Saudi State and it’s capital.

At-Turaif Living Museum was created within the historical precinct of Addiriyah, receiving UNESCO World Heritage status in 2010. Throughout the museum are various galleries, exhibitions, artefacts, with new interactives commissioned to widen appeal to new audiences, particularly young people, families and schools.

Leading the design team to create 9 interactives, including a 12 person touch-table and a 2-player horse riding game. My responsibilities also included the design system and UI for the whole museum, the UX for each exhibit and gameplay solutions, managing the in-house design team and external specialists, plus the complete design screens for some of the key exhibits.

Design System

Taking inspiration from traditional cultural references the design system provided a consistent approach for all galleries and exhibits within the museum that was contemporary, but enriched with heritage. Bespoke assets were created where required for common screen sizes based on the section they were located within the gallery.

Triangular Grid System / UI Animation

The triangle is a prominent shape with rich cultural significance within the Najd region of Saudi Arabia. As part of the design system a triangular isometric base grid was created for each screen size. This grid formed the base for various design elements, panels, masks and animations. Also using the grid was the UI, subtle animation around the core component, connecting the digital contemporary exhibits and the cultural heritage they reflected.

Attractor

The Attractor is the idle state of an exhibit. A successful attractor should be a flexible template that can be used across multiple exhibits, able to reflect the common design theme of the gallery or museum while also giving the visitor an insight into the specific exhibit content. For this project a combination of coloured motif’s, linked to the specific gallery colour were combined with images representative of the exhibit and intricate masking based on the design system triangular gird created a bespoke and engaging animation, unique to each exhibit.

Flowpaths were created for each exhibit to present a high level user journey. The user experience was refined, focusing on the specific mechanics of that exhibit before any more detailed wireframing or design work commenced.

Final Exhibit Screens

The interactives varied from informative maps, detailing the significance of the buildings the visitor could explore, un-covering digital artefacts, creating your own bespoke Nadj door and racing your horse across the desert to deliver a message to the king to name just a few.

At-Turaif Living Museum

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