Collaboration
RCA x Tate
A group service design project that ranked first in the collaboration review.
RCA x Tate / Service Design Research
Bringing FamiliesBack Into the Gallery Experience
From a look, do not touch rule to an experience where children, parents, and art actively interact.
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- RCA x Tate
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- Family research
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- Ranked first
Project Context
Institution
Four UK galleries
Tate operates four galleries across the UK, with families identified as a meaningful target audience.
Goal
Increase family engagement
The brief asked how gallery visits could become more shared, playful, and memorable for parents and children.
The core challenge
Kids get bored just watching
When kids lose interest, parents have to stop enjoying the art and start managing behavior, which affects everyone nearby.
The starting mindset
Look, do not touch.
Secondary Research
Why STEM started to feel easier for families
Families now prefer spaces where kids can actively do things. The difference isn't the topic, but the interactivity.
Pattern
STEM Museums
Art Galleries
Primary Research
Evidence from the family visit
Our research showed the same pattern: kids weren't just distracted. The gallery wasn't giving them enough feedback to stay engaged with the art.
Shadowing
Parallel visits
Parents and children are often doing separate things.
Parents and children are often doing separate things.
Interviews
What success sounds like
“Success means we were actually talking to each other.”
Behaviour chain
Boredom becomes a service problem
Without something to do, kids find their own ways to be entertained.
Five Design Outputs
The Tate study becomes five portfolio outputs.
We turned our research into five design outputs: spatial analysis, user flow, visual system, media interface, and service blueprint.
Family engagement service blueprint
Every cell is a real service action: visitor behavior, staff support, backstage logic, and institutional proof.
Family
4 momentsGallery staff
4 momentsBackstage
4 momentsInstitution
4 momentsStakeholder ecosystem
Touchpoint chain
1Plan
2Arrive
3Engage
4Take away
User Understanding
Four ways a child reads the room
The design task changes once children are treated as different participants, not one generic family audience.
Journey Map
When attention drops
A family visit isn't a straight line. It starts exciting, drops when kids just watch, but recovers if they're given something meaningful to do.
Service Opportunity
The opportunity is not to make art galleries louder.
We need to create low-pressure ways to interact, where kids can play, parents can join in, and art sparks conversation.