This richly layered online exhibition from the Exploratorium—San Francisco’s museum of science, art and human perception—uses current research in human development as a case study for exploring the ways that scientists use evidence in their work. It’s a multi-user, multi-lingual application that engages visitors by allowing them to examine how they construct knowledge about the world.

At the heart of the site is an intuitive interface that organizes content into two main areas of inquiry that provide different perspectives on scientific evidence, ranging from a “user’s guide” for assessing the scientific claims to following the processes of the scientific method.

The query begins with a statement that can be defended or refuted by chronicling real life learning experiences; the comments can be categorized and weighted by the user to produce a visual reference tool of personal content that can be stored, retrieved and revised. The application also collects minimal personal profile data (scientist/non-scientist, gender, age), opening avenues of inquiry into how people in diverse professions or stages of life might interpret perceptions differently.

• Content includes 27 short videos; 26 in-depth articles; 3 podcasts; an interactive Web widget/science news RSS feed; a downloadable fold-up booklet; an interactive community tool; and 8 integrated interactive features.

• The site was built in Flash 9, integrating content into a dynamic user interface from multiple sources, including a streaming Flash media server, dual language text and graphics from XML and porting files into PHP pages for low-bandwidth users.

• All articles, interactives, and video transcripts are available in low-bandwidth—including handheld devices and ADA-accessible versions—in both Spanish and English.

• Including research and development, the site took 3 years to complete using the in-house skills of more than 30 staff members led by a core team of 8.