Challenge
Samsung and Google partnered with leading museums to shift visits from passive observation to active exploration. Museum attendance had declined by 20%, and 64% of Gen Z reported they found museums rather uninteresting. These younger audiences who have been raised on platforms built for instant curiosity and conversation, struggled to connect with static placards and silent galleries. Museums were facing irrelevance not due to the lack of interest in culture itself but the format through which it was delivered in the museum setting.
Approach
Samsung and Google reimagined the museum visit as a conversational experience. Using Samsung Galaxy devices powered by Google’s Gemini Live technology, static exhibits became interactive points of dialogue. Visitors could ask questions out loud and receive real-time, spoken responses—turning artifacts, statues, and historical figures into active storytellers.
Samsung’s agency Cheil brought me in to run strategy for a custom app that would assist visitors through the curated experiences. The app lived on a tablet and was used as a tool for varying museum exhibition ‘stations’ that were undetermined at the time of ideation.
The app guided visitors through the curated experiences and included a gamified layer to the journey, rewarding exploration with points and badges to encouraged deeper engagement. The team considered that some guests may had never used a Samsung phone or engaged with generative AI. With this top of mind, I strategized the app experience to be as simple, intuitive and accessible as possible with minimal onboarding and consistent tooling. Users would login, be provided a linear approach to the overall app use, and be able to track their progress.
Working closely with the creative and development team, I built out user journeys and wired screens to define edge cases and meet the needs for different age groups and demographics. As the app experience became defined, I managed a junior strategist as well as provided feedback on the overall approach of the visual ui.
These experiences were deployed across four major institutions: the Natural History Museum, the Intrepid Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the NASA Johnson Space Center. The AI-driven personalization enabled guidance was accessible in more than 20 languages for museum-goers.
strategy • wireframing • journey mapping • ui design • template design
Outcomes
The initiative generated more than 2 million interactions between visitors and exhibits. The custom app captured 7,500 email sign-ups, extending engagement beyond the physical visit. Visitor feedback highlighted the shift from reading to conversation, describing the experience as intuitive and engaging. Institutional leaders noted that visitors were able to explore collections in ways not previously possible, signaling a meaningful shift in how museums connect with digital-native audiences. The Samsung x Google Gemini Museum Tour won a Webby Award for Best Immersive Technology Innovation.
I had the pleasure of working with Christine, who led the strategy side of our project. She learns quickly, brings positivity, and naturally blends into any team. Beyond her strong UX strategy skills, she sees the bigger picture and helps the team stay focused on what really matters. Christine is a thoughtful collaborator who values diverse viewpoints and knows how to bring things together. She also excels at communicating with both internal design teams and developers. Working with her was both inspiring and enjoyable, and I would highly recommend her to any team!
Dongju Lee UX Designer at Cheil
