The Challenge

Our client tasked us with bringing museum visitors into the complicated story of the CIA's hunt for Osama bin Laden. Not only did we have to tell the real story, much of which is still classified, we needed to help visitors think like CIA analysts and feel the weight of uncertainty when world-altering decisions must be made in the moment. Lastly, we needed to create a substantially sized group interactive - a seven person game - while making it meaningful and navigable for individual users.

The Process

We conducted paper prototyping from the beginning to nail such a difficult concept. How does one think like a CIA analyst? What do people know about 9/11?

To build out the concept, we iterated on the choreography: where to look, when to make personal choices, when to share a communal moment.

Throughout, I led our collaboration with the client as well as key stakeholders, including CIA and military advisors.

This ambitious 8-minute interactive brings visitors into the urgency of a crucial and complicated moment in history as it's unfolding.

The final design balances a linear narrative with individual user choice: 7 players make choices on their own touchscreens while collectively watching a large video on the wall and a 3D model with projection mapping.

The complexity of both the topic and the the multi-screen setup required an intricate choreography of storytelling to make it feel seamless. It allows participants to focus on feeling like a CIA analyst in the midst of an epic moment.

The Impact

"This may initially seem like an exciting, exotic kind of adventure...but the substance is quite powerful."
- Trip Advisor review

In this dramatic experience, visitors hone their own critical thinking skills by thinking like a CIA analyst. Ultimately, they feel the real weight of making world-altering decisions.

Awards

American Alliance of Museums:Bronze, Onsite Digital Experience
Muse Creative Award: Experiential & Immersive