Improving the User Experience of a Science Fair in Mexico

Science fairs are one of the most effective ways that educational institutions have for reaching out to society as a whole. In Mexico one of the largest public universities has been organizing for almost three decades a science fair focused on children from preschool to high school, which has become the main event of its kind in the state and one of the biggest in the country. Ever since its conception the operation of the fair has had few modifications: for a couple of days the entire main university campus is open to the general public, and hundreds of workshops in every field of sciences and humanities are offered. However, the use of information technologies for managing and experiencing the fair has been quite limited. We believe that embedding IT in a purposely designed user experience will significantly increase the impact that it can have on visitors (whether they are physically present or in a virtual manner).