CAC offers architectural and cultural experiences in Chicago
Chicago boasts significant architectural heritage and a vibrant cultural scene.
Chicago Architecture Center, is an organization dedicated to showcasing this legacy through iconic boat tours, docent-led walking tours, the Open House Chicago initiative, & exhibits. These experiences vividly narrate the story of Chicago's rich architecture and culture.
CAC needs to attract a younger audience to diversify its customer base, which is predominantly composed of boomers.
Creating new architectural learning experiences on the streets of Chicago that expand beyond the reach of current offerings and attract new audiences.
Designing new member experiences that make membership more meaningful and diversify the CAC audience.
Existing offerings do not resonate with the target groups aspirations & needs, while multiple friction points deter engagement.
Misaligned Offerings
A lack of understanding of the target audience and offerings that failed to resonate with them.
Limited Awareness
Lack of awareness about CAC’s offerings.
High Prices
Price point not being inclusive of all types of audience.
Long Pre-booking
A pre-booking timeline of 2 weeks.
Inconvenient Location
The audience have to travel to the CAC at Wacker Drive to experience any offering.
Affordable Access
Ensures a broader audience can
enjoy CAC offerings.
Meaningful content that engages & connects the customers is essential
People are looking for digitisation that immerses them, educates them but doesn’t take away from being present in the moment.
Novel Experiences
Offer the audience fresh, enriching
content & anticipation for what's to come.
Thoughtful Digitisation
Digitisation that augments but does not take away from the rich analogue experience that exists.
Meaningful Immersion
Experiences that leverage immersive technology to educate and are meaningful.
Remote Accessibility
Eliminate travel barriers, boosting CAC's
visibility and attracting new customers by
reaching them where they are.
Personalized Tours
Flexibility to discover Chicago uniquely,
tailored to individual preferences.
Affordable Access
Ensures a broader audience can enjoy CAC offerings.
- Interview Participant, 28
" I don’t like walls of text, (...) forget audio guides, give me AR that brings stuff to life! Imagine seeing dinosaurs walk around the field museum with your phone! "
- Interview Participant, 17
" I just want a well-designed exhibit that tells a compelling story. Maybe some interactive elements to keep kids engaged, but don't overwhelm me with flashing lights & gimmicks. "
- Interview Participant, 36
CAC App
An app that augments the existing and new offerings & enhances customer experience.
Neighbourhood of the month
A novel signature experience that invites people to discover the soul of Chicago city, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.
CAC app offers personalized, affordable, and enhanced experiences anytime, anywhere in Chicago
Access from Anywhere
The app enables customers to access and start the CAC offerings from anywhere anytime.
Digital Augmentation
Digital content enhances the physical experience by showing content that is otherwise not possible / available in the physical experience.
Tailored Experiences
Being able to tailor a tour based on their preference, the customers are able experience Chicago uniquely.
Inclusive Pricing
Digitising makes it possible to scale services thereby making it possible to offer it to customers in bite sizes and at affordable prices.
Scan and Experience
Scanning a QR code at a culturally or architecturally significant site to listen to a narration and gain insights into its significance.
AR Experience
Augmented reality integration enhances storytelling, elevates existing experiences and provides avenue to create new experiences.
Look up feature
A bite size content is shared and users are nudged to "Look up" upon crossing an iconic cultural or architectural spot.
Through a rotating monthly exhibit followed by docent-led or self-guided tours, visitors will delve into the history, architecture, and cultural essence of a featured neighborhood every month.
Partnerships with local establishments within neighborhoods will enhance the experience, further offering cultural immersion. This initiative will create an engaging learning experience for all that makes them come back for more.
Neighbourhood of the Month offers novel & affordable experiences anytime, anywhere in Chicago
Access from Anywhere
The app enables customers to access and start the CAC offerings from anywhere anytime.
Novel Experiences
Digital content enhances the physical experience by showing content that is otherwise not possible / available in the physical experience.
Tailored Experiences
Being able to tailor a tour based on their preference, the customers are able experience Chicago uniquely.
Inclusive Pricing
Digitising makes it possible to scale services thereby making it possible to offer it to customers in bite sizes and at affordable prices.
Neighbourhood of the Month Experiences
Business Value for CAC
Added value for Members
The neighborhood of the month provides opportunity to members to exercise their membership more often in the year.
Repeat Visitors
The Neighbourhood of the month holds a promise of a new discovery every month, which will lead to people visiting the experience more than once, creating a larger pool of repeating engagement
New Customer Base
Establishing and utilising partnerships that exist within the neighbourhoods, this concept helps attract new customers from various entry points.
Increased and continuous app engagement
Added features like ‘Look up’ would ensure engagement while digital experience would ensure more utility to the app thereby increasing engagement.
CAC App and Neighbourhood of the month increase the offerings by CAC and enhance exisitng offerings
This adds more value to the existing membership while offering experiences that the target group (age 18-44) need. Thereby, increasing CAC's membership base and expand its outreach funnel and enhance its customer experience.
DESIGN PROCESS
Secondary Research
Cultural centers and museums are using technology, especially AR and VR, to create and enhance visitor experiences
Cultural centers and museums are increasingly using technology to attract and engage visitors. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of augmented and virtual reality, offering more reasons to visit. This tech integration creates new experiences and enhances existing ones.
Primary Research
Observational Research | Straight Interviews : 6 | Contextual Inquiry : 2
Target group needs captivating and inclusive experiences that foster meaningful connections, regardless of age, background, or tech comfort.
CAC aims to tailor its offerings to appeal to a diverse audience aged 18-44. This group seeks captivating and inclusive experiences that allow meaningful connections with the story, regardless of their age, background, or comfort with technology.
Analysis + Synthesis
Target group needs captivating and inclusive experiences that foster meaningful connections, regardless of age, background, or tech comfort.
CAC aims to tailor its offerings to appeal to a diverse audience aged 18-44. This group seeks captivating and inclusive experiences that allow meaningful connections with the story, regardless of their age, background, or comfort with technology.
Ideation + Prototyping
Target group needs captivating and inclusive experiences that foster meaningful connections, regardless of age, background, or tech comfort.
CAC aims to tailor its offerings to appeal to a diverse audience aged 18-44. This group seeks captivating and inclusive experiences that allow meaningful connections with the story, regardless of their age, background, or comfort with technology.
Testing
Target group needs captivating and inclusive experiences that foster meaningful connections, regardless of age, background, or tech comfort.
CAC aims to tailor its offerings to appeal to a diverse audience aged 18-44. This group seeks captivating and inclusive experiences that allow meaningful connections with the story, regardless of their age, background, or comfort with technology.
Experiment 1
Assumption: Users will be able to spot the QR code and be willing to pay for CAC’s services.
QR code led experience was tested on streets of Pilsen.
Participants interacted with the qr code kiosk to scan and learn about the iconic spots in the neighbourhood.
15 Participants
" I would definitely be a member at the CAC for experiences like this as long as it is priced reasonably since I would only really use it if my family or friends came to visit! "
Participant #9
" As a real estate agent showing people different spots in the neighborhood is very important and having an experience like this would definitely help in terms of saving time and me not being there always. "
Participant #8
" Its a very cool experience, I think more people should be doing this. This helps our neighbourhood become more visible, it helps share with others about our culture and traditions and ensures it lives on. "
Participant #15
Experiment 2
Assumption: People are interested in learning about and visiting various neighbourhoods.
A prototype exhibit was placed within the Chicago Architecture Centre featuring content of the chosen neighborhood of Chinatown (chosen for its recent fall in tour engagement)
The exhibit had an interactive element that visitors could interact with to display their interest in a particular spot in the neighborhood.
59 Participants
48 Visitors | 7 Members | 4 Staffs
" I wish my city, (Montreal) had this exhibit since we have a Chinatown "
Participant #3
" Oh man, I wish I had one of these when I visited Chinatown last month "
