The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, one of the nation’s top museums, preserves and interprets a vast collection of artifacts and specimens to deepen our understanding of evolution, conservation, and biodiversity, inspiring visitors of all ages to connect with science, nature, and world cultures.
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) has asked us to enhance the visitor experience, which has remained largely static for the past decade. By collaborating closely with CMNH, we aim to gather feedback from current patrons to identify successes and areas for improvement, while also drawing insights from interactive experiences worldwide.
We Are Nature
Essential Science
A Cherished Collection
Recognizing that humans are an inextricable part of nature— a powerful yet fragile relationship that has evolved over thousands of years
Illuminating the science and championing the people who help us understand the most pressing issues facing the Earth and its inhabitants
Stewarding and studying the millions of specimens and objects in our care, which together provide the evidence of life and change on Earth over time
Inclusive Perspectives
Courageous Accountability
Pride of Place
Inviting and collaborating with our fellow staff, trusted partners, and diverse communities to enrich and strengthen our interpretation and storytelling
Acknowledging and rectifying the inequities that pervade our past and our present
Understanding, welcoming, and
serving Pittsburgh and the region
The Bone Hunters' Quarry (BHQ), established in 2004, is located in the Age of Mammals exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. It features a sandpit with fossil-like structures, offering children ages 4-10 the chance to "become a paleontologist for a day" using goggles and brushes to uncover fossil models.
We chose BHQ due to its high visitor footfall, especially on weekends, and its potential for educational enhancement. While children engage in pretend play, there is a lack of deeper learning about paleontology and surrounding mammal fossils. Staff observed that it is largely seen as a play area, and parents often view it as a rest stop, with limited educational impact beyond the surface-level experience of digging.
We propose enhancing the "Bone Hunters' Quarry" experience by integrating tangible design elements and digital projection mapping. Our goal is to engage young visitors (ages 4-10) in a more interactive and immersive learning process, extending the paleontology knowledge beyond just "digging for fossils."
Through hands-on fossil discovery and preparation, children will absorb, assimilate, and reinforce concepts by actively participating. Additionally, a gamified element encourages them to find and identify the dinosaur associated with the bones they’ve uncovered, turning the exhibit into an interactive, play-based learning experience.
We conducted five visits to CMNH, spending a total of 10 hours observing the space, along with 10 visitor interviews and 7 expert and staff interviews.
Our research revealed several challenges within the current BHQ space that impacted the overall visitor experience at the museum.
Visitors lack understanding of the fossil models in the BHQ. They assume that all the models present in the sandpit, belong to dinosaurs, whereas, in reality the BHQ contains fossil models of mammals and dinosaurs.
The visitors at the BHQ are very young- and owing to the literacy limitations, they interact mainly with the fossils on display rather than reading the information cards present under every fossil. This passive interaction with static displays with no experiential interaction leads to minimal to no understanding of the history and the story behind the fossils.
Visitors don’t know the whole process of what paleontologists do, and courtesy of the experience at the bone quarry they assume that paleontology refers to solely ‘digging, and fossil finding’.
Recreating the paleontological process as a play-based learning experience with tangible interactions
to foster discovery and build association with museum exhibits.
On December 9th, we held a demo day to showcase our design and its development, drawing a large crowd eager to experience a preview of our work.
As an extension of the project, we wrote a pictorial that provided a deeper explanation and understanding of the work.
Three design principles of 'guided, flexible, and phygital' were kept to make a coherent experience.
The experience is divided into four main sections as followed:
Onboarding - Bone Hunting - Bone Identification - Bone Matching.
In each space, children can learn about paleontology and dinosaurs through three key interactions.
In paleontology, excavation involves more than just digging for bones; once fossils are uncovered, they are wrapped in burlap and plaster for transport to labs, where details about the fossil’s age, species, and body part are revealed later.
Our research into play-based learning led us to extend the BHQ experience beyond the sandpit, incorporating “bone identification” and “bone preparation” alongside the digging activity. Tailored to children aged 5-10, we introduced tangible artifacts, like dinosaur teeth, in the sandpit, allowing kids to dig and then move the fossils to a bone identification station for further exploration.
‘Bone identification station’ provides a multimodal experience of learning about ‘what fossils have been discovered, what animal it is, the habitat it lived in as well as fun facts such as what it would eat. As visitors move the bone along different circles on the interactive table, they learn about the fossil through a step-by-step process. The interface for the station was designed on a collaborative interface design tool and was brought to life using digital projection mapping and Unity, a real-time development program.
Bone Identification & Preparation
The Bone identification experience leads our young visitors into the Bone preparation station, where they are guided through a step-by-step tutorial projected on the table on how to wrap a bone and submit it to the paleontologists at the CMNH for further studies. The goal behind adding a “Preparation” station is to orient users to the process of transporting the delicate fossil to the lab and studying more about it.
Our goal was to extend the BHQ experience and enhance engagement with the museum's exhibits. At the end of the experience, staff give visitors a plaque with a fossil cutout, encouraging them to find the corresponding missing piece in the fossil exhibit. This activity promotes learning through association, as children match the cutout to the fossil shape.
Upon finding the correct fossil, staff provide the missing piece, and when it’s placed into the plaque, an audio clip shares a fun fact about the animal. The plaque serves as a souvenir, reinforcing the learning experience.
The visual identity is designed to be child-friendly and reflect the "bone quarry" theme, with colors inspired by nature—soil and plant hues. Illustrative elements are created to appeal to children.
We found the limitation of the current site of the bone quarry, staff saying that it’s too adjacent to the age of mammals, kids playing around is dangerous to the bones.
Bone Hunters' Quarry in the Mammal Section
Based on feedback and limitations from CMNH staff, we reimagined the Paleo Lab to create an opportunity for more active engagement with the space.
Paleo Lab
Working with a real-world client and gaining insights from them was an incredibly valuable experience. During the mid-project review, we were asked to clarify where the reimagined experience would take place and to provide details on the logistics of how it would unfold. With this feedback, we focused on addressing the needs of the museum staff as well as the target audience—children and their parents—to ensure the experience truly met their expectations.
At the conclusion of the project, we showcased our work during Design Week at our university, inviting museum staff, faculty, and students to view what we had created. The feedback we received was invaluable, offering insights on how to improve the experience and evolve the concept into a more concrete and impactful museum experience.
