My presentation focused on ways the Minnesota Zoo could improve its visitor experience in order to attract and educate people more effectively.

1. MN ZOO
TECHNOLOGY
Stuart Urback

2. Who am I?
 Carleton College Sophomore
 Game Player/Designer
 Potential: Studio Art, Physics, or Interactive
Design Major

3. SCVNGR
 Why am I here?
 Mobile Gaming Platform SCVNGR.
 Trivia Game for the Cellphone.
 It fell through.
 No one wanted to spend time staring at their
cellphones…
 To be honest, we don’t like that idea much either.

4. Purpose
 Role Expanded
 Visitor Experience Goal
 Visitors will experience interactive (potentially
gameplay) media that will add either another
layer of information and/or an extra experience
that they could not otherwise access. The
goal is aimed at getting visitors to do things
they would have otherwise been unable to do.

5. Research
 SCVNGR reviews
 Online Museum Conference
 Spoke with Woodland Park and National Zoo
 Conference with Minnesota Historical Society
 Watched Lectures and Listened to Podcasts
by important Interactive and Game Designers
 Looked at other Zoo Websites

6. Ideas
 Social-Generated Content
 Text-Based Cellphones
 Smartphones
 Groups and Events
 Other

7. Social Content.

9. Notes on Flickr
 Tags are important!
 Link to Animal Sponsors!
 Accessibility is important!
 http://www.flickr.com/groups/mnzoo/pool/

10. Cellphone

11. FAQ
Text your questions to the zoo… While you’re at
the zoo.
Example:
To: #####
Text: Why does the bear swim back and forth?
Does he feel cooped up?
stuarturback@gmail.com

12. Activity
 Borrowing from Disney’s Playbook…
 Text based notifications of “activity”

13. I PLEDGE TO...
TURN OFF THE WATER WHILE I BRUSH MY
TEETH
DRIVE THE SPEED LIMIT ON MY COMMUTE
PICK UP LITTER
TAKE A WALK IN THE PARK

14. Tram Game
 Poll Based Question and Answer
 Example:
 What continent do the Bactrian Camels come
from?
 Text your answer to: #####.

15. Smartphone

16. GPS Map
 Find Out what’s
nearby.
 Easily Navigate the
Zoo.
 Make suggestions
about paths to take
based upon time.

17. Mobile Applications
 Sustainable Seafood App
 Idea: Green Activities
 Idea: Put a slightly more complex tiger game
on the cellphone.
 Reference Back to the Zoo.

18. Groups and Events

19. LARP/Puzzle Hunt
 Live Action Role Playing
 School adventure where kids
role-play as
Animals, Poachers, Humans,
and Volunteers
 Puzzle Hunt
 Findthe animal or item.
 Played over an hour or
months.
 Popular
 Meaningful/Special

20. Other
 RPG For Animal Sponsor
 Get to “play” through e-mails as if you were a
growing animal (the one you just sponsored!)
 Simplified to just send interesting updates, or
specifically for babies to sponsor, get sent real
life updates.

21. Connections
 Advertise
 Wolfquest
 Other Zoo’s Websites
 The more connections there are the more
integrated the zoo experience will be.

22. Final Thought: Happiness
1. Satisfying work to do.
2. Experience of being good at something.
3. Time spent with people we like.
4. Chance to be a part of something bigger.

23. Thank You