Carnegie Mellon University Special Collections

CMU Special Collections

1. Carnegie Mellon Univesity’sSpecial Collections
Clubhouse
Silvia Shin & Tara Modi

2. Goal
A journey for members to discover new precious
treasures on a journey exploring CMU’s Special
Collection.

3. Objectives:
Foster
discovery and learning through a clubhouse atmosphere &
interactive installations.
accommodate areas for storage, research, exhibition, and instruction.
Transform
the space within Posner to attract students & other people on
CMU’s campus who may not be familiar with the mission of
CMU’s Special Collections
create spaces dedicated to various purposes/cores.
Exhibits
themes of
exclusivity
preciousness
community

4. The current space
is not very obvious.
is not accessible to unfamiliar audiences.
cannot accommodate larger groups of people.
does not have dedicated spaces for each core;
the current space is cumulative.
Observations
Many people are unaware that CMU has an area
dedicated to the Special Collection
People do not know the mission.

5. Insights
Make the space more approachable for
people who are casual visitors.
Create intention spaces that satisfy
each of the cores.
Make the space exciting and unique to
promote engagement.
Create a community with extending
impact to encourage multiple visits.
Guiding
Questions
How do we attract new unfamiliar visitors to
visit Special Collections?
How do we incorporate all core areas?
How do we make our concept engaging and
unique?
How do we inform visitors about the mission
of Special Collections?
How do we promote discovery?

6. Moodboard

8. Book Bar

9. Research Decks

10. Interactive Table

11. Booklet + Stamps

12. Conversation Booths

13. Booklet + Stamps
Red: Angry
Purple: Joyful
Blue: Sad
Green: Joyful

14. Screen

16. User wants to
learn more about
a book/artifact
Cue: User sees their stamp,
where they can then send it
to the peak. The stamp will
then be projected on the
screen
Action: After finishing
research, user stamps their
booklet on the table
Action: User
approaches the “history”
peak and searches the
book/artifact
Cue: User sees the
information
Operation: Table finds
information about the
history of the
book/artifact
Operation: Table
detects the stamp and
digitizes it
Move: Table displays
information about the
history of the
book/artifact
Move: Table projects
stamp onto the table
User
Table
Cybernetic Diagram

18. Interactions Cores

20. User Scenario
User walks into Posner Center and notices a large glass bookshelf with openings. They
curiously peek through the glass.
They enter the Special Collections and recieve a Member Pass booklet.
Within the booklet are pages for the upcoming stamp interaction and information
about the artifacts and spaces.
They see people doing private research, people studying at a book bar, people
interacting with a large research table, and people conversing and reading in booths.
They walk over to the research table and request a book on the catalog.
They pick up the book at the book bar.
They return to the table and approach the “Content” peak to research the book’s
contents.
After learning, they pick up the green stamp at the stamp station to represent their joy
and stamp their booklet.
The table projects the fresh stamp onto itself and the user sends it to the peak of the
“Content” mountain.
The stamp is sent to the collective screen and their journey is digitized.

21. Key Scenarios