Communication Design students have been working with Otago Museum.

Otago Museum needed help with a range of problems that required a creative approach and time devoted to them outside business as usual. Students started by visiting Otago Museum, Toitu and Te Papa to observe how visitors behaved and gain insight into the issues.

The students then had 48 hours to research the problems to help generate ideas. In small groups they came up with 36 different concepts for potential solutions. They pitched these concepts to Otago Museum which selected its top 10 for further development over the following weeks. 

Some of the issues and examples of the solutions are:

• How to encourage more cafe customers to visit the museum too: provide '5 minute escape" maps on cafe paper napkins.
  
• How to better use the entrance area for storytelling: use plinths to display objects representing each room of the museum.
  
• How to provide a portable museum experience for the wider Otago area: operate a food truck with themed food.
  
• How to promote Otago Museum on social media: create personal social media profiles for objects.
  
• How to  engage millenials with renegade tour experiences: use an app and augmented reality for tour options.
  

The students' suggested solutions were presented in detail to Otago Museum on 23 April 2018 and are now under consideration for phased implementation.

Three of the students, now a team called Merge Creative Agency , have been invited to spend four months at Te Papa developing their ideas. Read more here.