Brief
Design a way for residents to imagine Southwark in 2030.
Team-mates
Jumleena Bhagawati, Devin Wang, Weiting Chi, ChiaLin Ma (Jolin)
Date
17/02/23 - 23/02/23 (Week 3)
Welcome to week 3 of Macro UX.
Recap: Previously we showcased how we tried to experiment with different materials and see if we could include flexible modeling in our design method. We carried out a set of experiments and user tests where people were given materials ranging from modeling clay to framed photos of locations and were asked to create an object or recreated the image 7 years in the future. It was clear that the enthusiasm for the art session was more than the clay session. However, the atmosphere was a little lackluster. Not everyone was comfortable drawing and people doodled on the pictures without much engagement. Nevertheless, we gained some valuable insights: It seemed it was easier for people to visualize their own future than think of the future of a community as a whole (why?). In some instances, participants focused more on creating an overall aesthetic outcome and less on drawing out how they imagined the future to be. Lack of drawing skills also sometimes hindered their confidence in being able to effectively communicate their concept through rough sketches.
Thus, we started exploring other alternatives and constructed a concept for an interactive design system that would generate curiosity and increase engagement as well as encourage people to think of the future.
- Timeline -
There were 5 stages in our overall design process which we overcame to complete this brief.
The five stages are represented below in the timeline.
- Generating Ideas -
Brainstorming
We started the week diving head first into a brainstorming session where we started deliberating every single idea we could come up with. Each idea was elaborately discussed and dissected carefully to examine the pros and cons of the approach. It was safe to say every possible topic of human and non-human interaction under the face of this earth was discussed in the process and for me, the eagerness to develop something unique, the openness to conflicting views, and the genuine curiosity that we shared in each other's ideas made this session one of the most stimulating sessions of my life, for which I am extremely grateful.
Concept: Order the future.
Devin's concept of ordering the future stood out to us for a variety of reasons. For starters it was interactive, secondly, it gave people something to take away from the experience and thirdly, the concept was bound to draw attention as it was a weird interpretation of a fast food diner's self-service kiosks but instead of food, you get to pick your future!
However, we agreed that it did have some visible drawbacks. For one instance, the interaction could only best benefit the individual's wants and needs for the future rather than the community as a whole. The concept would have a very deterministic approach, eg: if a person responds by stating that they want to improve their health 7 years into the future, it will recommend all the fitness and mental health programs going on in the area. But then, we have to question, even if someone's biggest hope is to be healthy in 7 years, are they looking to find a solution through the interaction? Do we really need to have a big screen on the road to tell us where to find the nearest gym? We do have Google for that. It was also product, not an experience, and so far it did nothing to spark a sense of wonder and bring the residents to imagine 7 years into the future of Southwark. And last but not the least, the biggest drawback of all was, how on eath will we install a giant screen on the road?
But then even with its constraints, this concept gave us a lead in the direction we needed to follow. We went ahead by planning to stay true to the fashion of self-service kiosks and our "Order your future" tagline for the time being and decided to deconstruct the "product" and create an experience out of it.
Creating the experience
Previously we gathered that there was a lack of sufficient engagement of the younger people with the council in regards to their expectation of the borough in the year 2030 (20-30 year old's, especially youngsters belonging to minority ethnic group are our target audience).
What we want to keep: The concept "Order your future" and the reward system.
What we want the experience to be: Going to the diner or fast food restaurant and ordering a takeaway.
We made a rough sketch of the flow of the experience and brainstormed on different ways how the interaction could work. With a direction to head on we shifted our focus onto researching different ways to make the experience valuable, enjoyable, and exciting.
- Research -
- Constructing the Vision -
Goals
To create a visually stimulating and playful interactive experience that can catch people's attention and encourage them to participate in imagining the future of their locality.
Key wants
For our immersive installation, we envisioned it to be a giant life-sized kaleidoscope acting as an audio-visual menu.
We wanted elements of a real fast-food diner/restaurant. Hence, we wanted to implement elements of role-play to attain a more realistic experience.
Something to take away.
Based on the above key wants we created a list of essential design components.
The Three Concepts.
Our physical pathway was directly influenced by our emotions which directed us to find shelter/warmth in order to thermoregulate our body in the freezing temperature. It made me realize that our pathway, the temperature, and our emotions were very much interlinked with each other, and in a way, it dictated our entire experience through the marshes. Now how on earth are we supposed to create an experienceable journey centering on the concept of thermoregulation?
Concept 1:
Concept 2:
Concept 3:
We developed Concept 3 by combining elements of concept 1 & 2 embodies the special traits of both Concept 1 and Concept 2.
- Prototype Design -
While designing the immersive installation we wanted to focus on finding an easily doable yet efficient method that would require us to utilize inexpensive materials to create the experience. However, the first part was to determine how the installation would work. So for this week, along with the concept we decided to figure out the workings of the immersive installation and create a small prototype of it to showcase during the mid-week review.
Experimenting with shapes and materials
We realized that constructing a long hollow structure and lining its insides with mirrors would create a nice visual experience when there is light projected onto the roof. We started experimenting with mirror papers held into place as a tall cuboidal structure.
Testing
Finalizing the design
- Presentation -
This week our goal for the midpoint review was to have a solid concept to propose during the presentation as well as come up with a prototype for the first component of the concept: immersive installation. The presentation went as planned, with us elaborating on our idea and leaving with some valuable insights about how we can improve upon our model.
- Evaluation & Feedback -
The feedback session went great! With all the project partners scrutinizing the presentation the nerves were definitely flying everywhere. Our Concept 3 (which is a cumulation of Concept 1 and Concept 2) was the most well-received out of the three. Overall they really liked our concept, however, there were a few doubts.
The idea to use Dall-E as our AI artist definitely split the group of project partners into two halves. One side really liked the idea of incorporating AI into the process other half did not think it would be necessary.
They really liked that there was a reward system to attract people. Our project partners mentioned that they appreciate how we designed a concept that could draw in people without making them feel like we want anything in return from it. However, feedback was provided how on the takeaway gift could be made to have more significance to the experience.
The project that we were about to take up was a little ambitious. The project partners were curious about how big the design would be, structurally, what material we could use, and how we would accomplish it within the remaining 2 weeks. Since the vision for our prototype was quite clear it was easy to navigate through the feedback session and explain the nitty-gritty of the plan to the best we could.
Lastly, we were encouraged to come up with a way to simplify the components while still staying true to the experience we are trying to create.
- Reflection -
As mentioned earlier, the project that we were about to take up was a little ambitious. However, by that point, I could visualize the whole experience in my head and it was playing over and over again. It was one of those moments where could already see the design, all that was needed to crave it out and give it life. That is why the feedback session, I believe was so valuable. Some of the loopholes within the concept were bought up and while the interaction kept playing repeatedly in my head like a broken recorder, it was easy to visualize the shortcomings of those loopholes and analyze what small changes could be done to enhance the experience by not changing it radically. The vision was clear:
we had to first address the overcomplicated 3 component experience and simplify the interaction,
rethink the reward system (an alternative to using DALL-E),
material testing for the main design,
come up with an appropriate schedule with strict timelines to stick to in order to make sure our project is completed on time.
- Reference-
Debord, G., 1955. Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography. Paris: s.n.
Fiona Shipwright, 2016. KOTTBUSSER TOR: 2008, 2010, 2014 . Berlin
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