The creative team at Second Story developed interactive touch-screen experiences for visitors to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, US. Narrative and engagement were at the centre of the design to engage visitors with the exhibits.

The 135 selections from the “365 | Design Effectiveness 2011” competition exemplify the most effective current work in communication design, as chosen by a distinguished jury of design peers. The overriding criterion for inclusion in the show is excellence as the successful pairing of effectiveness and aesthetics.

Interactive kiosks included in each major section of the exhibition allow visitors to examine change in habitats over time, explore relationships among different groups of mammals, learn more about the morphology and behavior of the animals, and quiz themselves about mammalian biology. The displays and interactive media seem quite effective at conveying information. Even those who have never had a course in evolution will probably find the phylogenetic tree of mammals easy to understand. As an educator, I was encouraged by watching children between the ages of 6 and 12 work on a topic at a touch screen until they had figured out.

In sharp contrast to the ancient specimens, up-to-the-minute interactive kiosks encourage visitors to do on-the-spot research about mammals on display, compare them with other animals or tap into the museum's database.