MappyPuzzle is a learning tool designed to convey topographical and historical content through a playful puzzle format. Serving as a universal concept for museums and exhibitions, it aims to present learning content in a highly comprehensible way while creating engaging interaction points. Specifically, the project illustrates the history of the four-sector city of Berlin between 1945 and 1990, the division of its 23 districts, and the course of the Berlin Wall.
The primary design challenge was addressing the widespread neglect of persons with disabilities in museums and exhibitions. The goal was to transform complex geographical and historical information into an accessible format that guides users rather than confusing them.
This project was designed as an inclusive exhibition object catering specifically to marginalized museum visitors. The target user groups include:
_ People with visual impairments: This includes individuals whose colour perception is reduced to grey scales, such as the roughly 2400 people in Germany affected by colour blindness (achromatopsia).
_ People with memory loss: Individuals dealing with conditions like dementia, Alzheimer's disease, or various forms of amnesia that cause a loss of memories, contexts, and images.
The user experience is rooted in a multi-sensory approach, allowing users to explore the world through touch and hearing as effectively as sight. The system relies on:
_ Accessible Visuals: The interface design reduces text to the essentials and uses simple English language. The colour palette deliberately avoids red-green combinations, instead utilizing primary colours, light blue, and strong light-dark contrasts so people with colour vision deficiencies can distinguish the pieces.
_ Tactile Feedback: The puzzle relies heavily on haptic perception, using distinct surface textures, Braille, and voluminous shapes to help users navigate the map and subconsciously associate textures with historical contexts.
_ Tactile Surface Structures: The puzzle pieces feature four simple, geometric surface structures that help users quickly find matching pieces and indicate which district belongs to which of the four sectors (American, British, French, and Soviet).
_ Accessible Typography & Braille: Text elements are clearly arranged and paired directly with their Braille translations.
_ Ergonomic Puzzle Pieces: The pieces are voluminous with unique shapes, avoiding sharp edges to ensure safe and easy haptic exploration.
_ Magnetic Guidance: A wooden frame and built-in magnets make it easier for users to fix the puzzle pieces into the correct geographical locations.
_ Orientation Aids: The board includes a compass and a numbered legend system that maps directly to numbered tiles on the puzzle pieces.
The outcome is a highly inclusive, universally designed exhibition tool that allows users of all abilities to successfully complete a geographical and historical puzzle. By carefully considering color contrast, haptics, and simplified information architecture, MappyPuzzle provides an empathetic, multi-sensory learning experience that bridges the accessibility gap in modern museum environments.