Project Background

The “Smart Service System Design for Shenzhen Bay Cultural Plaza D/BAY” project aligns with national exploration into new models of intelligent public cultural services. It aims to create a user-experience-driven research report for a smart museum service system design. Leveraging the cultural industry advantages of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the "academia-industry integration" talent development concept, the project uses Shenzhen Bay Cultural Plaza D/BAY as a case study. It designs a smart service system that enhances the efficiency of public cultural services by integrating user needs with intelligent experience designs, thereby increasing public satisfaction and overall quality of life.

Vision and Objectives

Shenzhen Bay Cultural Plaza D/BAY spans 182,000 square metres, comprising the North and South Pavilion complexes, the Shenzhen Creative Design Museum, and the Shenzhen Science and Life Museum. The Creative Design Museum is recognized as one of Shenzhen’s top 10 cultural facilities. This project focuses on the smart service system design for Shenzhen Bay Cultural Plaza D/BAY, applying a "people-centred, precise service" top-level design concept. It analyses the needs of stakeholders within the system to identify key pain points and insights. Through the implementation of a smart service system, the project aims to enhance the user experience for future audiences while ensuring safety, efficiency, and collaboration in venue management. The project also developed a Smart Venue Service System Construction Guide to support urban renewal initiatives.

Project Process and Challenges

Shenzhen Bay Cultural Plaza is a landmark art and design museum, not only for Shenzhen but for the entire nation. Its vast scale presents significant challenges for complex system design. To address these issues, the project team employed service design thinking to break through conventional constraints. Current smart venue construction often focuses on equipment-driven approaches. However, the core of a national-level smart design museum lies in building "people-centred" intelligent systems. To achieve this, the project team conducted comprehensive preliminary research rooted in local context. This included analysis of over 90 policies, review of 107 academic papers, field visits to 15 cultural venues, and detailed examination of more than 30 smart systems. This ensured that every outcome was practice-based and theoretically supported.

The research methodology for the project involved case analysis and literature review to establish an indicator system and identify the service characteristics of the target user groups. Based on extensive user interviews, data analysis, and literature studies, the project produced a Smart System Service Design Handbook for Art and Design Museums. This handbook includes components such as data visualization design, touch-point interface interaction design, and application guide demonstrations.

Project Outcomes

Smart System Service Design Strategies

Systematic optimization of front-end audience experience and back-end management efficiency.

The transition from a traditional museum to a smart museum fundamentally involves leveraging digital tools to enhance museum services and usage scenarios. The core challenges lie in the digital transformation of museum organizations and the reengineering of processes.

The project focused on an in-depth analysis of two primary stakeholders: museum audiences and museum operations management. Through layered discussions centred on smart services and smart management, the team developed service design strategies based on smart systems. These strategies aim to achieve real-time connectivity and responsiveness between audience services and venue operations, ensuring that smart systems are effectively applied to deliver intelligent services.

Smart System Design

Creating an exceptional visitor experience

The smart system integrates modern technological tools to manage and showcase venues. By utilizing technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and big data analytics, the system integrates functions including venue management, exhibit presentation, and visitor engagement. This enhances venue management efficiency while providing visitors with a superior and seamless experience.

The mobile app enables seamless connectivity across various exhibition halls within the venue, integrating exhibition information and offering a wide range of services.

The user interface (UI) design of the interactive screens prioritizes ease of operation, enhancing accessibility and usability for diverse audience groups.

Conclusion

The successful implementation of the D/BAY smart system exemplifies the deep integration of academia and industry, aligning educational resources with industry needs. This PBL project provided students with valuable opportunities for practical learning while offering replicable solutions for professionals and researchers. It serves as a vivid example of the transformation of educational outcomes into industry applications and the feedback loop where industry needs inform educational development. Moving forward, the D/BAY smart system will continue to be refined and upgraded.