Look what I found at the Smithsonian.

We spend a lot of time these days on the siteMighty user experience. We are constantly asking ourselves how we can make something easier, simpler or more compelling. The answer is almost always don’t tell the user what to do, show them. In other words, use pictures more than words.

Last week I was in D.C. making the usual touristy rounds, when I happened on something very 2.0 in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. It was a diagram of how flying works. The museum had incorporated into its experience interface a how it works graphic. The graphic was posted at the entrance to the How Things Fly exhibit.

What’s interesting is that apart from the temporary American History Museum exhibit, How Things Fly was one of the few installations that I completely walked through (count as a conversion). Maybe some old dogs can teach us a few things about new tricks in 2.0.