The Last Journey museum exhibit

In 2021, I led a small group of grad students at Northeastern University to design a provocative museum exhibit and public awareness campaign tackling the taboo around death in the US. The goal of the project was to provide fair and equal access to education and resources that help families prepare logistically, emotionally, and spiritually to experience death with dignity.

We began by researching various aspects of what it is like for individuals and families to endure and be exposed to death, and what helps foster dignity throughout the process. Our research included a literature review; semi-structured interviews with patients, families, and health professionals; a competitor analysis to identify current gaps in the system; and a survey. I led several interviews, and oversaw the synthesis of our results, which we presented at the university, through a variety of reports including patient journey maps, stakeholder maps, and other key findings. Our conclusion that there is a huge need for education around death, and for people to become more comfortable talking about a taboo subject in order to be able to prepare for it, was wholeheartedly supported by the reviewers.

We refined a concept statement for an educational museum exhibit and identified key exhibit features, based on insights from our research. Finding a balance between provocatively pushing people outside their comfort zones to frankly learn about an uncomfortable topic, while creating a safe and meaningful learning and reflection environment emerged as a key consideration. We sketched out two experience journeys, which led to an exploration and later focus on using sensory experiences to guide an emotional journey. Incorporation of light and shadow, nature and water, physical touch, changes in elevation, and meaningful conversations, all added deeper emotional resonance.

Mapping the exhibit layout and touchpoints – before, during, and after the experience – allowed us to focus on what key experiences we wanted visitors to accumulate in order to gradually become more and more comfortable thinking and talking about death. Drawing on people’s sense of curiosity and appreciation for beauty and gradually building to more provocative spaces for personal reflection and education about the biological realities of death were identified as key strategies to ease people into a challenging subject. We also fleshed out the entryway as a slightly mysterious, dark, earthy passageway that is warm and safe and opens into a peaceful, central reflection garden in the main exhibit.

As I laid out a service blueprint, additional considerations arose for us to address to ensure positive short and long-term emotional and educational impacts, as well as addressing practical feasibility and other concerns. Training staff to be prepared to support the emotional needs of diverse exhibit visitors and reactions emerged as an area of particular importance.

Our efforts culminated in designing an experience prototype, in the form of a short video, illustrating key elements of the exhibit and their impact on potential visitors:

Although the museum exhibit was never physically realized, the work and presentation inspired a several-year research project about death and dignity by Dr. Miso Kim at Northeastern University.