Author Archives: Melody Quintana

About Melody Quintana

TA for Public Interfaces, Fall 2014

Week 8 News

Class recap:

Effy, Sam. C and Dami gave their technology presentations, and we spent the remainder of the class discussing each group’s first prototype iteration.

Assignments: 

  1. Continue developing your idea.  Next week, Michael will meet with each group to discuss the following items. Please document your thinking in a blog post, file it under Final project – week 2, and get it up by Sunday 11/2.
    • Test second prototype: If your group has already tested out in the field, try your next prototype in the studio. To allow enough time for interaction and analysis, prototypes should be installed by tomorrow (Thurs, 10/30).
    • Define your user
    • Write a creation myth
    • Define your intervention: as thing, base sense, content delivery (in other words, think of it as an object, something that makes light sound or you touch, and think about how it communicates information)
    • Propose two new interventions: Diverge based on your findings and and propose two new interventions
    • Start thinking about your 6-week development plan
  2. Technology projects. Next week, we’ll here from Jeff, Mini, Hanna, Amy, Michie and Mike.

 

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Prototype #1 — Team MALM

Concept Recap

Check out our project tin cans slides

Prototype

When we thought about prompts for our tin can phones, we wanted to test a range of prompts:

1. Playful + open ended

Kid

2. Playful + instructive

playful-inst

3. Serious + open ended

Screen Shot 2014-10-26 at 5.14.54 PM

4. Serious + instructive

Screen Shot 2014-10-26 at 5.14.43 PM

5. Game

game

6. Visual icons

visual icon

 

Method

We tested different locations in the park, which varied in crowdedness and activity. We tried passively placing some on benches and actively giving some to people.

Learnings

  • No one participated when cans were passively placed — only when we actively invited people:
    • indirect hinting
    • direct invitation
  • People did not read the prompts — they only observed them after the interactions were over
  • We had to inform people about technique of pulling string taught
  • Young kids were fascinated because they hadn’t seen anything like this before
  • Older people found it nostalgic, and multiple said they used to do it when they were kids
  • Some people liked it, others were more disinterested
  • Of the people that did try it, the majority had positive, engaged reactions
  • When people were using it, the string instigated different interactions itself:
    • Some people tripped or walked into it without realizing it was there
    • Some kids were playful and tried doing limbo with the string
  • Each conversation consisted of at least 5 exchanges
  • People on lawns seemed more open to participating. It was also a better environment for the tin cans, since they involve people walking, standing at a distance, and pulling them taught
  • Conversation topics were very basic introductions:
    • What’s your name?
    • Where are you from?
    • Where do you live?
  • Confusion about who was listening and who should be talking
  • Some skepticism and surprise when devices worked
  • When people who used it knew each other, conversations were more engaging and deeper
  • People watching other people participate garnered interest

Opportunities for next prototype 

  • Creating some kind of stand/display and signage to draw more attention to the prototype
  • Simpler prompt
  • 2 versions:
    • Open-ended platform where any 2 people can talk
    • Booth where one of us is there, and individuals can talk to us, kind of like a live “Ask Me Anything”
  • Lowering the barrier to entry: make it easier for people to just sit and talk without having to worry about walking, pulling it taught, etc.

Lingering thoughts:

  • What’s the takeaway? Sometimes, people just want to have someone to talk to. (Old man story)

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Week 7 News

Class recap:
Hope everyone enjoyed our guest workshop! It provided a way to enrich our understanding of personas by embodying their attitudes, concerns, and interactions through improv.

Assignments:

  1. First prototype – Time to put our first project iterations out into the wild! This can be a paper/rapid prototype with your choice of content, medium. Please post documentation by end of day Sunday 10/26 under the Final project – first prototype category.
  2. Tech research – Next up are Jeff, Mini and Hana. Since we didn’t have time for Dami, Effy and Sam C. last week, we’ll try to squeeze in all 6 next week so please be prepared to present.

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Team MALM Elevator Pitch: Tin Cans

Here’s our elevator pitch!

– Melody, Aastha, Leroy, Michie (MALM*)

*This is a MALM bed from IKEA:

Screen Shot 2014-10-18 at 8.44.34 PM

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Week 6 News

Class recap:

We gave our final 49ers presentations, and Leroy, Luke and Trent gave their tech research presentations. Michael made the following announcements:

  • Office hours: While there aren’t official office hours, you should feel free to reach out to Michael & arrange a time during the day. Michael’s office is really close by.
  • Guest lecture: Next week, we’ll have a guest lecture from a friend of Michael’s who works at IDEO and has a background in improv.
  • Final assignment: We’re now beginning the final assignment! The goal is to come up with an idea for a public space, and find something to do in that space that you can test in rapid iterative design fashion. Groups are:
    • Leroy, Melody, Aastha, Michie
    • Nga, Dami, Sneha, Hana
    • Luke, Effy, Amy, Sunnie
    • Sarah, Mike, Matt, Trent
    • Sam C, Sam W, Jeff, Mini
  • Tech research projects: If you haven’t sent Michael your topic already, please do ASAP. Technology is defined by a system that involves input > processing > output.

Assignments

Dami, Effy and Sam C. will present their tech research projects next class.

For our final assignment kickoff, please complete the following in our new groups of 4 (listed above):

  1. Choose and document a third place. Go back to original third place or find a new one (if you are choosing a new one please email Michael by Wednesday to confirm). Document actions or review your previous documentation to find actions. Highlight moments of intervention opportunity, dream up some unexpected nuggets of delight (what if I saw…, what if I heard, what if I thought I was, what if I could…)
  2. Plan and prepare for your first in situ prototype. In order to do that you must first develop goals and parameters, do preliminary market research, define users, and focus on one single element of a goal to rapid prototype around. Elevator pitch with prototype iteration 1 proposal to present in class. G&P, Users, Market research to be posted to the blog.

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Week 5 News

Class recap

We took a field trip to the LED Lab and 330 Hudson to see and discuss some of Michael’s work. Fun times!

Be sure to check out the partner links on the right side of the LED website. Interesting people. Here is the information for tonight’s event. It is free for students but you have to get a ticket.

Assignments

1. Technology research projects

  • Step one: Email Michael to let him know which technology you want to do your project on by tomorrow, Wednesday 10/8 so that he can OK it or give you some suggestions.
  • Deliverable:  Please put together a google presentation and email Michael the link before class.
  • Schedule:
Class 6-10/13 Class 7 – 10/20 Class 8 – 10/27 Class 9 – 11/3 Class 10 – 11/10 Class 11 – 11/17 Class 12 – 11/24
Leroy, Luke, Trent Dami, Effy, Sam C. Jeff, Mini, Hanna Amy, Michie, Mike Sam W, Sneha, Sunnie Aastha, Matt, Sarah Nga, Melody
  •  Calendar events: I’ve sent everyone a calendar event for your individual due date. You will also get an automatic reminder 1 day before your project is due. Please let me know if you don’t have the event!

 

2. 49ers final presentations

Everyone now needs to start shutting down their diamond and putting together a 10 minute presentation (strictly ten minutes or less). It should show a bit of the design arc (research, goals and parameters, creation mythology) and then present the idea from the perspective of the user experience. Please post this under the 49ers Final Presentation category.

 

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49ers UX Map — Melody, Effy, Sunnie, Amy

In our creation myth, two teams of football-playing robots were vying for victory at 49ers stadium when suddenly the power went out. Fans then realized they could clap their hands to power the robots, thus collaborating to achieve a goal together. This made the overall experience more joyful for everyone involved.

Moving along from the myth, we laid out some goals and parameters that reflect 2 core values our story emphasized — the strength of community and a sense of delight.

As a starting point for what this experience might look and feel like, we began by identifying the 2 main touch points: spectators’ phones (input) and the jumbo screen at the center of the stadium (output). We’d like each fan to have the opportunity to feel like they can control some element of a game on the big screen, working with other fans toward something bigger.

Screen Shot 2014-10-03 at 7.06.11 PM

We thought about when this game would take place, and how many “rounds” it might have. Here’s a quick map of the relationship between 49-ers game time and collaborative fan game time:

Screen Shot 2014-10-03 at 7.06.25 PM

 

Fan game time will take place during sufficiently long breaks, such as commercial breaks and halftime. Each break will consist of one round of play, for which a different award will be granted. Everything will culminate to a final round, where the reward will be most appealing.

What are the rewards? We brainstormed a few delightful experience-rewards that could be beamed to the phones of fans on winning teams, taking full advantage of the stadium wireless technology:

  • Fake Selfie Generator — Snap a selfie and watch it magically transform into a photo that looks like you & your favorite 49ers team member. Post your bragging rights for the world to see!
  • Jumbotron Victory Dance — The faces of various winners will appear on the Jumbotron atop vibrant, animated bodies of dancing football players with #12 jerseys. (Think: Elf yourself)
  • 12th Player Facetime — Winners get exclusive chance to Facetime with the team while they huddle during halftime.
  • Go-Pro Point of View — An exclusive chance to view the game from the perspective of the players themselves. Footage streams from cameras strapped onto players’ helmets to the phones of lucky winners.

 

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49ers Goals + Parameters — Melody, Effy, Sunnie, Amy

Background

Recent studies suggest that during an NFL football game, the average amount of time a ball is in play on the field is about 11 minutes. Things like commercial breaks, replays, timeouts and beyond add hours to the game.

Goals

Goals

Our design exploration is two-pronged:

  1. How might we turn all this downtime into an opportunity for delightful interaction among fans at Levi’s stadium?
  2. How might we utilize the stadium’s built-in technologies to foster an environment of community for fans in the stadium?

To achieve both goals, we’d like to design some kind of collaborative game that fans in the stadium can play during downtime.

Parameters

Here are the parameters we discussed:

Parameters

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Week 4: Platform – product continuum

Class recap

During class, each group discussed their creation myths and research, and we all dove into the technology that Levi’s Stadium is equipped with. We then shifted our focus on the platform vs. product spectrum, completing an in-class exercise to better understand where our own projects might ultimately fall along the spectrum.

Michael also made the following announcements in class:

  • Class will be held offsite next week (keep reading for details).
  • Going forward, we’ll have to post major part of our HW assignments by Sunday night.
  • Flu shots are out! Get one 🙂
  • Diamond process model, spotted in the wild – Michael noticed his colleagues felt better knowing where they were in the process.

Assignments

How do you get people to make choices with the lowest level of entry, can you leverage an existing action or give people an excuse to do something that they always wanted to or had never even thought of? How do you teach a new action that results in something that makes it worth it?

  • Based on your preliminary research and creation myth, write goals and parameters and post them by Friday under “49ers – G&P” category
  • Based on your Goals and Parameters come up with the first iteration of your idea. Represent it as a diagrammed user experience and post to the “49ers – User Diagram” category.
    Think about:

    • Ways to get people engaged and to educate them before they get to the stadium or before they “sign on.”
    • How people take the experience home with them?
    • What other technologies or platforms within Levi’s Stadium that can be leveraged in your experience?

Off-site class meeting next week – Oct. 6

Class will start promptly at 6pm, meeting at the LED Lab which is located at 475 Greenwich St. [corner of canal & watts in Tribeca]

At 7:30pm we will be at 330 Hudson St.  for a review of that site. We will be walking between the two (7 minutes) so bring necessary walking paraphernalia.

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49ers Discovery Research – Melody, Effy, Sunnie, Amy

Here is our discovery research deck!

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