Building Connection with interactive exhibits during the Opioid Crisis.

Opioids Don't Discriminate is an interactive experience looking

to break down stigma around those dealing with opioid misuse.

Why Opioids? Statistics at the time of the exhibit indicated that 11 people per day in Canada and almost 2 people in Alberta die daily from opioid misuse. Opioids have become a health crisis, in part, because they are increasingly available, powerfully addictive and incredibly deadly. No community is untouched by this crisis because - simply put - opioids don't discriminate.

The crisis is big enough that it needs a multi sector approach. Of course health care practitioners and first responders are aware of the complexities of Opioid misuse - but schools and employers are seeing the impacts of misuse. It is like a ripple. One individual is impacted by opioids and that ripples out their friends, family and that "friends and family" ripple impacts our community. So what's to be done?

Educating the public is critical. Combining information and empathy is an important first step towards raising awareness and tackling stigma.

In the fall of 2018, I worked as part of a design team assembled by Strathcona Family and Community Services to design and present Opioids Don’t discriminate: an interactive exhibit. The public exhibit was staged in a 4000 square foot Community Centre public space and was to open to the public for 5 days, running from Nov 4 to 9.

With human centred design at the heart of the process, I found that getting good content, designing a process with humans at the centre and checking our assumptions as key to making an impactful exhibit. The content was harvested through a listening campaign lead by Strathcona County with members of the community with lived experience. We met with family members of and those living in recovery of opioid misuse to hear their stories and understand how to empathize with a community in pain.

I was given a framework for 3 complex composite characters named Max, Natasha and David who represent 3 journeys that were authentic and relatable but not a biography. After doing an empathy map for each of them to understand the character's hopes, dreams, and fears. I started creating their story world, figuring out how they would interact with each other and the secondary characters in chosen settings in world like ours. In order to make their stories relatable, the characters would be facing situations and making choices that were logical and understandable. Each location, moment, and discovery would push the story forward, impacting the character emotionally, pushing them toward their crisis point.

While working through the narratives I knew we needed to translate and articulate the narratives in 3D dimentions that could bring the participant on a literal journey following the story. We started working with Clay Lowe and Alex Stewart - designers for the exhibit and (based on our museum experience) ideating the exhibit layout with story elements, settings, motivations, and data points so that form followed narrative function.

Clay and Alex took the ideas to drawings, to spacing, and building it out. While this was happening, I and Strathcona County staff took the narratives I'd written back to the community with lived experiences and asked if the stories still resonated and rang as true to what they might have experienced. We also tested the narratives with doctors, and first responders to confirm their representation (as supporting characters) was also appropriate.

Our creative team was really lucky to have the opportunity to test our design assumptions and in October of 2018, we set up a rapid testing session at The Action Lab in Edmonton. We brought 4 design assumptions with questions to the group of “strangers” to help us make sure we were heading in the right direction. We received affirmations as well as new ideas that we took back to the design studio.

While construction continued on the exhibit story panels, I began to literally set the stage for our characters. Because of the economy of space, cost and nature of the exhibit the few "props" we chose needed to serve the story by heightening the emotional impact or relatability of a character, and reinforce the understandable choices being made. These “found items” items were chosen to quickly establish mood, setting, or person.

As example, for the character Natasha - I knew where she worked, her personal life, and the complex life she lives and I chose specific items to explain her - her "to go" coffee cup, high heels, gum, and a mom's day planner.

A similar process was used to design the setting locations - we chose images and “props” to explain the space - red solo cups, bean bag chair rather than high tables and martini glasses communicates the type of party Max was attending.

There were a few convergent nodes we worked towards in the narrative that I chose because of them being “drop in points” where the exhibit visitor would find moments of relatability. Called the School node, Healthcare node, and Crisis node, they were places that allowed observers to make a connection to the characters through behaviours anyone might see in theirr neighbours or coworkers. So with Natasha’s story, she was getting behind in work, having to take time off, - behaviours anyone might see and now having an empathetic mindset make the choice to ask better questions to help her.

Each character finds themselves at a crisis, the moment when all is lost. For our characters that was a car crash, and an overdose. These were significant moments where the issue was no longer hide-able as law enforcement and health services were now officially involved and their worst fears of being stigmatized become real. The crisis node broke the mold - it was not character or information driven but purely emotive and sensory. Participants had to walk through the audio whispers and a maze of stigmatizing thoughts and shames that isolate people impacted by opioid misuse.

While we worked on the exhibit to create certain emotional tensions, it was done knowing full well that there would need to be a certain amount of resolution for the participant. In order to ensure we continued a conversation only half of the space was dedicated to the exhibit - the other half is what we called the "nourishment zone". We had comfortable spaces, food, tea and coffee and FCS volunteers and counsellors, to help with any questions, referrals, opportunities to debrief. It was our ethical duty to make sure no triggers or harm done.

We chose to let the participant write Max, Natasha and David's endings - where different choices could be made. We invited a call to action wtih iInteractive spaces for reflection and feedback, a place where people could share thoughts, ideas and feelings.

In our evaluation we found that:

82% of respondents reported an increase in their Knowledge about Opioid misuse and resources available after going through the exhibit.

Many of respondents reported feeling “ a greater understanding that Opioid addiction doesn't just happen to “other” people because of bad choices” and 56% of respondents agreed that they felt “more compassion towards people struggling with Opioid Addiction“.

6 /10 people agreed that during the exhibit “I shared the characters feelings”.

Many respondents shared ways they could take this experience forward by talking with friends and family and actively modelling compassion

94% of respondents agreed this “exhibit was important”

This exhibit has been shared around Alberta and is being rebuilt so that touring will be sustainable. the crisis is far from over and the need for increased empathy and reduced stigma of those struggling with opioid misuse continues.

I am honoured to be a part of such an important project that will change lives. It was an intense process with a great design team and I look forward to bringing my museum knowledge to new disciplines and collaborate on meaningful work.