I've got a bunch of questions about the design process for interactives. We're trying to refine our process, and I'd love to hear how others get what they need. What are the bottlenecks and pitfalls? Got any war stories or success stories?

If you're a museum or science center, do you buy interactives from an exhibit company, develop your own interactive components in-house, or some combination of the two? What sort of process do you use to determine the need for a new interactive? How is the thing defined, developed, designed, produced, tested, and evaluated? Who's involved in the process, and what skills do you think are necessary?

If you're in the business of selling interactives, how do you work with your clients? How involved is the client in the design process? How do you estimate how long it will take to create a brand-new component? How do you determine what you charge your clients? What about multimedia--do you do it yourselves or farm it out?

Please reply to me off-list, and please pardon the cross postings.

Chuck Stout
Exhibits Design and Development
Denver Museum of Natural History
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