Have You Ever Visited the Museum of the City of New York?
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Silvia Alejandra Ramírez Granados
Silvia Alejandra Ramírez Granados
May 6 2025
As part of the Digital Design for Museum Learning course, our class had the opportunity to visit the Museum of the City of New York and meet with Sarah M. Henry, Deputy Director and Chief Curator. She welcomed us and shared insights about her work, the museum’s evolution, and the thinking behind its design process. I wanted to share a few reflections and takeaways from that day. Not only for fellow museum lovers, but also for designers, educators, and anyone who’s ever walked through a gallery and wondered:
How did they do that? Or better yet, how could I create something like this?
Pictured: Students from the Digital Design for Museum Learning course with Sarah M. Henry, Museum of the City of New York Deputy Director, and professor Barry Joseph.
During our conversation, we asked about the museum’s goals and how they measure impact. As designers, we’re trained to think in metrics—to track, assess, and optimize. But what happens when your goal isn’t tied to a number? What if the purpose is to spark questions and ignite live conversations around something as intangible and dynamic as the city?
With a dose of humor, Sarah explained how curatorial and learning goals often drive different design decisions. On one hand, the museum wants to reframe how visitors experience content and foster deeper, open-ended engagement. On the other hand, it’s competing—not just with other museums—but with the city’s endless entertainment and consumer offerings. “We compete with Century 21,” she said, laughing. “You’ll see people walk into the museum with shopping bags.”
That moment stuck with me: How do we design for abstract, reflective learning in a world that often values quick, high-impact experiences? How do we invite visitors into a shift in epistemology—how they know, understand, and question the world—while still needing to attract foot traffic, stand out in social media feeds, and compete with blockbusters? Is it possible to design with intention and depth without turning every exhibit into a hit performance?
This is where the magic happens, when curators, architects, interactive designers, and a full creative team come together. The exhibitions at the Museum of the City of New York aren’t passive. They aren’t just about architectural spectacle or rare artifacts—they’re about the story, and how that story is experienced.
Take, for example, an exhibition about dance. We might expect to see ball gowns, photographs, and music. But the real challenge lies in creating something immersive, something that surprises. It’s not about adding digital components for their own sake. Simply transferring what’s on the walls into a screen isn’t transformation. It’s like saying that moving your paperback to a Kindle automatically deepens your reading experience.
Still, digital design offers something powerful: the opportunity to tell stories in new, surprising ways. The real question is: What do we want to communicate? What does this tool allow the visitor, the learner, the user to do or feel? What kinds of conversations am I helping to create? What kinds of questions will they walk away asking?
As Sarah said, “Everyone can be their own editor.” And maybe our job as designers isn’t to give answers, but to build the conditions for people to cut, remix, reframe—and play—with their own.
If you're interested in designing experiences, museum learning, digital artifacts, and how to create meaningful conversations through design, this is the class for you. I highly recommend Digital Design for Museum Learning with Professor Barry Joseph. It's not just a course, it’s a space to explore, question, and reimagine what learning can feel like.
This reflection was originally written in Spanish and translated into English by the author with the support of AI tools, including ChatGPT (GPT-4) and Grammarly, for editing and clarity.
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