The CSA Immersive shopfront, lit up with blue and green neon signage reading Question Everything

Fictional spy agency immersive experience

Company
SPYSCAPE
Role
Project Manager, UX

Bright Little Labs (backed by Warner Media) uses storytelling to teach STEM skills to children aged 6-11, through the fictional Children's Spy Agency (CSA).

In the CSA unit in KidZania, London, kids have to stop a hacker group from shutting down the power supply to the entire facility. For this experience, I was tasked with enhancing the interior design of the space as well as improving the journey into the other CSA products.

After the changes, the activity went up to be the 5th most popular activity competing with brand units like Lego, Nintendo and Just Dance.


A block-coding puzzle: infect the laptop with a virus that shuts down power in 7 minutes unless a deactivation code is entered
Two people mounting a warning sign to a dark panelled wall inside the unit during installation

Role

The CSA unit opened in KidZania 2 months before I joined Bright Little Labs. I was assigned to analyse the performance of the activity, the design of the unit, and propose changes to improve the experience wherever necessary.

Among my main tasks were setting timelines and deadlines, research, putting forward concepts for changes, sourcing materials and managing communications with KidZania. I worked closely with the visual lead designer to create final designs and then managed and took part in the installation of the new items to be added in the space.

After my initial review, I concluded that the activity already created a fun and engaging experience so my focus shifted towards improving the ambience of the space and slightly tweaking the end of the experience to increase online user conversion.


Original unit design

The unit's exterior at a shopping centre location, with visitors queuing outside A group of children sat around the interactive round table during a session, led by a member of staff A CIA Gadgets display locker next to a cabinet holding an agent vest, lit in red and green

Final designs

The unit's exterior at a shopping centre, daytime, with the Question Everything signage lit up Interior view of the room showing the interactive round table, gadgets board and warning doors A wall-mounted screen showing a live CIA HQ broadcast, next to a code letters and recent recruits board A scrolling LED sign on the exterior bench reading The Secret Box Contains A Secret
An interactive sensory box lid warning visitors not to insert their hand The sensory box in full, marked Do Not Insert Your Hand In The Box
Wide interior view of the room, showing the round table, stools and gadgets locker
A small pixel-art skull icon

Thankfully, kids always remove the virus on time, and help KidZania stay safe from the hackers' constant attacks.


Collaborators

  • Kate Holden / Creative Associate

  • Lucy Burns / Lead Visual Designer

  • YeeMun / Head of

  • Naomi Boner / EA

  • Sophie Deen / CEO, Author and Creative Director


Similar projects