The Bank of England Museum wanted an update for their existing exhibit. Wide Sky created a concept that explores and expands on the “consumer shopping basket” model used by the Office of National Statistics. While interacting with the exhibit, visitors gain an understanding of consumer price inflation (CPI) and that it can change over time.

Our concept was very simple: visitors take items from the shelves, “scan” them using embedded RFID chips and answer a series of multiple choice questions relating to that item using a touchescreen display linked to a RFID scanner. Once they have answered at least one question correctly, they are able to see a graph showing changes to the rate of inflation for that item over time. A final screen poses a question based on that item to provoke further thought.

A simple, fun design with eye-catching colours and a playful look and feel for the basket items ensured that the main thrust of the exhibit was as exciting as possible for visitors of all ages. Fast, smooth animation between scenes ensured that new UI elements were easy to find and transitions happened quickly without feeling rushed or disruptive. Tactile RFID cards made the exhibit very quick to use and the UX flow encouraged visitors to experiment with different items.

Credits

Exhibit creative direction, fabrication design - Chris Parker

Developer - Rob Presland