Hawaii Keiki Museum launches energy-literacy design challenge using Hawaiian Electric data

Dana McLaughlin, founder of the Hawaii Keiki Museum, asked designers and meeting participants to help craft an interactive exhibit that teaches preschoolers and their caregivers about household energy use.

"We wanna create this house...it's got the refrigerator, it's got the stove, we've got the washer and dryer in there," McLaughlin said, describing a playhouse-style exhibit under development. She asked attendees to design a clear, relatable data representation that shows how the home’s switches and appliances consume energy.

McLaughlin said the museum focuses on "island science" and wants visuals that connect with local audiences rather than generic bars or red‑green gauges. "We want something that local Hawaiians recognize...something really out of the box," she said, noting the exhibit should be accessible to very young children and informative for caregivers such as parents and kupuna.

She offered examples of island science stories the museum aims to teach — from humpback whale migration to agricultural changes — and described the exhibit’s behavioral goal: to encourage small changes at home (for example, "turn off my air conditioner a little bit and turn on my fan instead").

The meeting moderator said this presentation was "HAP's first challenge from the Island of Hawaii" and credited Hawaiian Electric with supplying the data for the challenge; files and links will be posted on Slack for participants. McLaughlin invited interested designers to continue the conversation on Slack after the meeting.

The presentation provided a project brief and program goals but did not include funding details, a project timeline, or formal procurement steps; those practical details were not specified in the meeting record.