Museum of Science & NASA Educational Site

STEM doesn’t have to be rocket science.

planets-stem.org

We made engineering and technology educational materials easier to navigate.

  • Experience Strategy

    We evaluate internal perceptions, user goals and best practices to find that “special sauce” that drives an actionable roadmap for your future experience.

  • UX Audits

    Conducted by seasoned experts in the patterns of human behavior, these assessments create a tailored roadmap of suggested improvements to your user experience.

  • Design Thinking

    Infuse empathy with an iterative approach that places the needs and perspectives of the users at the forefront of the design process.

  • Visual Design

    Through imagery, messaging, color and typography, we deliberate over pixels, consistency, readability, contrast, accessibility and creativity.

  • Responsive Design

    We design for the future on today’s devices. Every element is considered for every size display to create an ideal experience for all users.

  • Design Systems

    Good design will translate to a good design system — and vice versa. Build your brand with well-defined styles and components at the heart, and it will grow and breathe well.

  • Prototypes

    If a picture is a thousand words, a high-fidelity prototype is the entire story. Bringing the user experience to life with a fully-interactive artifact is a low-cost, high-value way to iterate without the investment of code.

The Challenge

It turns out, ZeroDegrees has a few things in common with NASA. One of them is our ongoing relationship with the Museum of Science’s PreK-12 division, which NASA is committed to supporting.


NASA gave EiE and their partner Northern Arizona University a grant to develop materials using NASA data and imagery to help teach students STEM—by navigating space hazards or using remote sensing techniques on Mars. While the lessons sounded incredible, the site to deliver them was ready for an extra boost of rocket fuel.

Activity pages got an upgrade—with real NASA imagery, quick links for each audience type and accessibility throughout
Activity pages got an upgrade—with real NASA imagery, quick links for each audience type and accessibility throughout

Our Approach

Using UX best practices and a few decades of design experience, ZeroDegrees evaluated the STEM programs that had been developed. While the material was very cool, the site experience to navigate the modules and lessons was ready for an upgrade—EiE had updated requirements, and lessons learned from the existing site that would require a design change.


After an efficient Information Architecture session, it became clear that…we simply needed to be clear. We decided to pull from our e-commerce expertise and make the interactions more like shopping online, so it would be as easy as possible to get to the good stuff.


First, we clearly delineated what was for students and what was for teachers. Then, we created different card designs, with different calls to action, that logically organized the information being presented. This helped users create a mental model of what’s offered.


Now, caregivers and educators can easily understand the different sections and learning modules. Best of all, we were able to wrap it all in great NASA illustrations that truly elevated the entire experience.


Throughout the process we kept accessibility top of mind to ensure this other-worldly content could be enjoyed by everyone here.

Unit cards surface compelling imagery, easy downloads and scannable learning objectives.
Unit cards surface compelling imagery, easy downloads and scannable learning objectives.

The Results

Ultimately, EiE asked us to help put these great educational resources in as many hands as possible. By making the experience smooth and transparent, we’ve helped open STEM to a whole new universe of learners. Visit the site at planets-stem.org.