Project: Telling Hidden Stories

This project, titled Objects and Narratives, challenged us to design an engaging, imaginative way to communicate the stories behind historical artefacts from the Science Museum Collection. The goal was to create an experience that reconnects audiences with the meaning of these objects, transforming passive observation into active engagement.

I chose to focus on a group of six amulets from the World War I era — small tokens once believed to bring luck, protection, or healing in uncertain times. These objects often go unnoticed in museum displays, seen briefly before visitors move on. My aim was to make their stories resonate, especially for younger audiences, through storytelling, interactivity, and design.

Title: Amulets During World War I
Medium: Interactive museum experience
Audience: Children and families visiting the Science Museum
Core Idea: Turning a quiet display into an engaging “Create Your Own Story” exhibit

The six selected amulets were:

1. Woollen doll amulet

2. Shamrock amulet

3. Amulet, hand of King Edward

4. Shell fragment used as an amulet

5. Black cat brooch amulet

6. Bronchitis amulet

Each of these carried a deeply personal story of belief and protection. My goal was to help children not just see these objects, but imagine the people who once held them, like soldiers, families, and civilians navigating the uncertainty of war.

Because the Science Museum attracts a large number of young visitors, I designed an exhibit that invited active participation instead of passive viewing.

The Display:

• The amulets are placed in a child-friendly glass case at a low viewing height.

• Next to the case are iPads with a simple “Create Your Own Story” game.

Through the game, children can:

• Learn about each amulet’s origin and symbolism.

• Choose their favorite object and imagine who it might have belonged to.

• Write or draw a short story inspired by it.

At the end, their story is printed as a souvenir, turning a fleeting museum moment into a personal memory.

I created digital visualisations using Sora-generated imagery to illustrate the proposed display. These included:

• Three design variations for the amulet exhibit, exploring different layout and lighting approaches.

• Gift shop concepts, where replica amulets could be purchased as tokens of luck or inspiration, extending the storytelling experience beyond the gallery.

This connection between the exhibit and the gift shop reinforces the idea that artefacts carry emotional as well as historical value.

To further immerse visitors, I developed a short interactive story with audio narration and a walkthrough video.

Visitors begin by hearing an introduction to the amulets’ history, then continue exploring at their own pace. 

Watch and listen here.

i) How might museums surface lesser-known aspects of their collections?
By using interactive storytelling: short games or digital layers that reveal personal, emotional, or hidden dimensions of objects. The exhibit could include a “What else do we have in our collection?” button, linking visitors to related online artefacts, making the collection more discoverable.

ii) How might audiences be encouraged to share collections?
By making displays social-media friendly and experience-based. Interactive exhibits, tactile elements, or personalised souvenirs encourage visitors to share photos and stories, broadening the museum’s digital reach and making history more relatable.

My design process combined:

• Research on Edward Lovett’s amulet collections and wartime folklore

• Exploration of museum storytelling principles (MuseumNext, Science Museum Journal)

• Sketching multiple exhibit variations for layout and interaction

• Experimenting with AI-generated visualisations to prototype display ideas quickly

This project was about humanising history through design: turning small, easily overlooked artefacts into meaningful storytelling tools.

Designing for children pushed me to think about accessibility, imagination, and emotional connection. The “Create Your Own Story” activity not only deepens engagement but allows visitors to contribute to the museum narrative bridging the gap between artefact and audience.

Ultimately, this project explores how UX thinking in museum design can transform static displays into immersive experiences where visitors don’t just learn about the past, but take a piece of it with them.

• Efram Sera-Shriar, The Magical Amulets of Edward Lovett (2023)

• Science Museum Group Journal (2021), A History of Amulets

• MuseumNext, Why Do Stories Matter to Museums?

• Science Museum Group Collection Online — Amulet Artefacts (2025)