Start With "Who's It For?", with Liza Rawson

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Recorded09 Jan 2024

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What’s the very first question we should ask — before we start our projects? Should we start designing … by designing? How do we make sure we understand our audience, before we start making experiences for them? Why is prototyping so important? How many of our ideas should we expect to survive the creative process? And what does microbiology art have to do with your sense of balance? (Hint: they’re both topics at a certain well-known venue.) Liza Rawson (Head of Exhibitions, Liberty Science Center) joins Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss why we should “Start With ‘Who’s It For?’” Along the way: Rubik’s Cubes, how to start a museum career at age 14, and Beverly Serrell’s “big idea”. Talking Points: Don’t start designing by designing. Ask questions instead.Start with: who’s it for?What do we want to hear them saying?What do we want to see them doing?What do we want them to feel?What is the “wrap”?What is the “point of engagement”?What do you want them to say when you ask what the goal was?Guest Bio: Liza Reich Rawson is Head of Exhibitions for Liberty Science Center, a 300,000-square-foot learning center in Jersey City, NJ. She provides leadership and creative vision for exhibition development and design and special projects; manages the traveling exhibition program and oversees the exhibition maintenance and animal husbandry teams. Previously she led award-winning exhibition projects for Brooklyn Children’s Museum and the Brooklyn Historical Society and was adjunct faculty for Johns Hopkins University and Bank Street College museum studies graduate programs. From 2010 to 2020 Liza was the managing editor of the National Association for Museum Exhibition’s premier professional journal Exhibition. Her publications include: “It’s About Them: Using Developmental Frameworks to Create Exhibitions for Children (and Their Grown-Ups)” in Connecting Kids to History with Museum Exhibitions (2009). She holds a BA in Historic Preservation from Goucher College, and an MA in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. Show Links: [email protected] on LinkedInLiberty Science Center Projects of Note:Microbes Rule!Wobbly WorldThe BuildingThe Great Train SetDino Dig AdventureSciTechCity Newsletter: Like the episode? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here:https://www.makingthemuseum.com

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