Wk 7 + 8 – Part 3 – Examples of thoughtfully designed user experience

1. Sensel Morph

http://www.frogdesign.com/portfolio/interaction-evolved.html
Sensol Morph, User Experience, Examples of design

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1152958674/the-sensel-morph-interaction-evolved/description (to see the film) 

What I like about this product and its user experience is the flexibility using the same technology for different purposes. The product is a good example on how to convert physical practices into the virtual in a very refined way.

2. Nintendo Wii 

I find Nintendo Wii  as a good examples of User Experience Design as at the point it came out It was a breakthrough in technology and how to interact in games.

One  thing I also find good about this product was its flexibility in different games using the same technology for different  purposes.

3. Rejseplanen.dk 

rejseplanen3rejseplanen

rejseplanen2

I chose Rejseplanen.dk which is a danish navigation/trip-planner app because it is an app I am usually very dependent on in my everyday life and a good example of a very user friendly and reliable app. When I am travelling this is the app I miss most.

 

Wk 7 + 8 – Part 2 – Screen-based Experience – Ideation

This post reflect three chosen ideas for a screen-based experience

Idea 1 – Silhouette Walking 

The idea behind the silhouette walking is to show how different people move through the city each day. This means both showing the flow of people passing each day and how the also do different activities on the way. By using silhuettes it is anonymous who the specific people are but instead focusing on their behavior through movements and make it explicit to other people who pass each day.

Idea1, silhouette walking, screen-based experience, User Experience
Idea1, silhouette walking, screen-based experience, User Experience

The scene or location of the screen-based experience could be in the MRT or other long walkways (Marina Bay Sands)

Technology Ideas – Inferred sensors, other motion sensors, temperature sensors (body temperature) which change into silhouettes on the screen

Type of user experience
Public art

Idea 2 – Let the buildings speak 

The idea with Let the buildings speak is to tell the user something about a place or building through sounds, stories and music which relates to the given place.

Idea 2, Let the building speak, Screen based experience, User Experience
Idea 2, Let the building speak, Screen based experience, User Experience

The scene or location in general around the city

Technology Ideas – Google maps technology combined with recorded sounds, music, stories – which can be changed over a period. This should be driven through and app to mobile devices and by using the camera and somekind of recognition technology to specific places.

Type of user experience
Learning/Exploring
Refresh mind of a place at a given time

Idea 3 – Interactive graffiti wall 

The idea is to make the city picture be a bit more playful and colorful by allowing people to spray graffiti on a screen wall by using their phones or devices as spray cans. They will also have different options of colors and brushes. This allows the user to interact with other people by message or paints.

Idea3, Interactive Graffiti wall, screen-based experience, User Experience
Idea3, Interactive Graffiti wall, screen-based experience, User Experience

The scene or location
Public places in general

Technology Ideas
Phone recognition of the screen and different sensors to allow painting with the phone as controller

Type of user experience
Public art
Gameplay

Wk 7 + 8 – Part 1 – Future World + Reading

Future World 

Monday 18 September we went to the exibition Future world – when art meets science, made in collaboration with teamLab.

The exibition was very interesting in the way new technology possibilities makes it possible to combine and create user experiences both including physical objects and screenbased interface.

One thing I took with me from the exibition was how you can navigate the user through an experience by using visual elements, light, sounds. In a way this is a way to control what you should observe, hear and thereby also what kind of emotions the person is intended to have. Still, there will be factors which is hard to predict as designer.

Another point is that I discovered that the different installations we went through you need to observe and learn how to interact with the media.

Future World, Exibition, Fieldtrip, User Experience
Future World, Exibition, Fieldtrip, User Experience

Sometimes it wasn’t that obvious how you could interact fully with the installation, for example if you touched the butterflies they would even disappear or change in another way.

Future World, Exibition, User Experience, Fieldtrip
Future World, Exibition, User Experience, Fieldtrip

It is interesting to think of what comes first; the technology or the user experience idea  – and what has the most impact on each other in the design phase.

Future World, Exibition, Fieldtrip, User Experience Design
Future World, Exibition, Fieldtrip, User Experience Design

Some of the main points I took with me from the exibition was that it is important to be aware of the learning process in the experiences, and also how you adjust the user experience design to the physical world (surroundings, existing structures, technology etc.). On the same time it also made me think how you can use the different techniques and technology which were used in the installations so it is not only used for art and different game designs but also can be used in a more practical way in the everyday life!

Reading: “Designing for Digital Age – How To Create Human-centered products and services” by Kim Goodwin

This week’s reading by Kim Goodwin is the first chapter from the book and is about how to define different kind of design disciplines and how to differentiate them from each other, design tools, design process. The chapter introduce briefly the terms stated above.

The text also seek to describe how you can use a Goal-Directed Design approach. Kim Goodwin argues that with the right framework, experience and knowledge, good design – both products and services – can be designed.

Questions

Q1: How do you determine what kind of design tool which is best for the given design situation?

Q2: (Future World) – When becomes things more “artistic” than meet basic needs?