Five Minutes with Mel Huang

In 2021, the National Communication Museum (NCM) embarked on an ambitious project: to create a kind of curated internet exploring the huge topic of human communication. The idea being an interactive chat and a tactile connection between objects and ideas that you couldn’t get on Wikipedia.

From binary code to quantum computing, human computers to mind uploading—and everything in between—these concepts come to life through a suite of seven custom-designed interactives. Featuring dual-screen, "choose-your-own-adventure" interfaces, they house over 50,000 words of original, human-created content and are displayed within bespoke desks showcasing more than 150 objects.

But how does a team bring something like this to life from scratch? NCM’s Curator, Jemimah Widdcombe, sat down with the brilliant Mel Huang—interactive designer and developer behind many of NCM’s interactives—to offer a behind-the-scenes look at the creative minds making it all happen. This is the first in a series of interviews introducing the collaborators who help shape NCM.

Five minutes with Mel Huang

JW: You’ve been a part of NCM’s incredible family of collaborators for about four years now. Could you start by telling us a little more about yourself? 

MH: Sure can! I’m an interactive designer and developer for the arts and culture sectors collaborating with institutions such as Powerhouse Museum, NGV, Art Gallery NSW, Science Gallery, Dark Mofo and The Australian Ballet.

In addition to my freelance practice, I am also the Academic Fellow (Art and Computer Science) and Lecturer at The University of Melbourne.

Put simply, I get to design and write code to create things like data visualisations, interactive design, websites and live performance for artists and museums, and I can’t get enough of it!

Put simply, I get to design and write code to create things like data visualisations, interactive design, websites and live performance for artists and museums, and I can’t get enough of it!

JW: What are some of the key projects you’ve worked on for NCM?

MH: Oh boy, where do I begin?! I had the absolute privilege of joining in the early days as the museum was taking shape, which meant I got to be involved in so many projects. But the biggest ones I worked on were the Conversation Desks, which are choose-your-own-adventure chat interfaces woven through the collection, and the AI Machine, where you can generate your own collection objects using an arcade-style button console.

I even got to contribute some vintage computers and tech from my personal collection! Keep an eye out for the Commodore PET computer and the orange Videosphere playing footage of the first steps on the moon.

JW: How did you approach the initial brief for NCM’s Conversation Desks? MH: It was a while ago now so excuse my hazy memory – but I believe it started with this beautiful museum style guide which featured a fictional storyworld about 'The Building' as not just a place but this network/exchange/conduit that was in dialogue with the visitor directly. It had references to things such as GERTY 3000 (Moon, 2009 film), Tokyo Noise (2002 documentary) and Susan Kare’s icons and Cairo font (1984) which really sparked so many concepts and interfaces these museum experiences could be.

My brain started immediately swirling with ideas of operating systems, vintage sci-fi communication devices, point-and-click and text-based adventure games and choose-your-own adventure novels.

My brain started immediately swirling with ideas of operating systems, vintage sci-fi communication devices, point-and-click and text-based adventure games and choose-your-own adventure novels. It was really fun to explore all these personal interests of mine and colliding them with my professional interests. It was really a dream brief!

JW: Could you walk us through your design process? What were the biggest challenges and breakthroughs?

MH: The hardest part for me was choosing ONE direction. I think a lot of the team were excited about many directions, which I guess is a great problem to have. We ended up finding a reality where we could merge some so we could make as many of them happen as possible which is how we ended up on this half file system, half text-based adventure map alongside this chat interface. I’m so happy with how it turned out.

JW: ... Highlights?

MH: I think coming in at an early stage, every brief I was a part of felt bigger than a single stand-alone project. I really appreciated being part of those initial discussions about what the museum could be as I felt like it really helped inform a lot of my design concepts and decisions later on. It’s not every day you can say you were involved in creating a brand-new museum – especially not one that is so close to your own personal interests!

It’s not every day you can say you were involved in creating a brand-new museum – especially not one that is so close to your own personal interests!

JW: A lot has happened since you and NCM started building these desks... A global pandemic, the release of LLMs and the rise of Gen AI to name a few minor footnotes. How do you see the future of technology enabled communication and design?

MH: I’m not sure what the future has in store for us but I think we’re at an interesting time in the technology timeline. Let’s see, I guess?

JW: How do you manage to find anything good on the internet now?

MH: By trying not to doom scroll too long on things that actually don’t interest me haha!

But in all seriousness, I think if you take the algorithm seriously, you can find a great balancing point where my Instagram feed turns into one giant scrapbook of artists, designers and coders that inspire me. I think being able to connect with other creative practitioners around the world that are interested in the same niche topics has been invaluable for my practice especially being so far away from most things in Australia.

I think if you take the algorithm seriously, you can find a great balancing point where my Instagram feed turns into one giant scrapbook of artists, designers and coders that inspire me.

JW: Is there anything further you would like to add or chat about? MH: Not really but as a closing statement, I have been thoroughly enjoying seeing the AI collection objects that visitors have been generating! They’re so deliciously absurd, cute and disturbing all at once. They bring me a lot of joy!!

JW: Let's talk more about those next time : )

Mel Huang is an interactive designer and developer for the arts and culture sectors collaborating with institutions such as Powerhouse Museum, NGV, Art Gallery NSW, Science Gallery, Dark Mofo and The Australian Ballet. She is currently the Academic Fellow, Art and Computer Science and Lecturer at The University of Melbourne. Spanning works across data visualisation, interactive design and live performance, Mel is passionate about the creative applications of technology in the arts and an advocate for multidisciplinary projects and practices. She is the co-organiser of Creative Technology Melbourne and proud board member of Chamber Made. Website: melaniehuang.com

Jemimah Widdicombe is the Curator at NCM.