We when out to Union Square and 3rd Ave to interview people and collect media, pictures and video. Our goal was to collect information from each area to influence the content we are making within the subway.
Area right by the 3rd Ave. stop.
The north end pavilion in Union Square.
Patterns and color schemes for 3rd Ave’s subway stop.
Patterns and iconography for Union Square.
Possible Audio:
3rd Ave’s subway stop: 3rd Av
Union Square: 14thUS
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Filed under Uncategorized
Our focus over the week has been using projection to display content. During IxD open house, we projected pictures of people within the IxD space and let others participate by tagging their photos of IxD via Twitter and Instagram. We curated the pictures and then projected them onto the wall. Fun stuff. This helped solidified that content is what truly connects us and opens us to engage in it.
Then we wanted to show specific content surrounding the area of a stop. We chose the N/R stop on 23rd under the Flatiron building and next to Madison Sq. Park. We put together a looping deck of Flatiron and Madison Sq. Park imagery and then projecting that on the subway’s walls as people passed by.
Sadly, the battery to power the projector failed on us before anyone could engage with it.
Setting up.
Right before the battery failed.
But here are some concepts of what we would have liked to happened …
Filed under Uncategorized
We want to engage in a few touch-points within the subway to give riders a better sense of the actual place at a stop while riding underground. This week we plan on tackling two of the touch-points, the subway walls via projection and screen display signage.
Here is two user journeys plotted out that give examples to each on the same trip.
Filed under Uncategorized
Users
We identified three core user experiences of the NYC subway system. We aim to make all of them experts of the space.
Aware
This is the user who has traveled the MTA many, many times. They are well-informed on how to navigate the system. Their experience can be enhanced through the discovery of unique qualities of the neighborhoods they pass through but never visit.
Example: West-coast transplant living in Sunset Park, who works in Midtown and has never been to Jay Street.
Familiar
This user has traveled some of the lines of the MTA, but still gets lost or feels uncertain when navigating to a new place. Their experience can be enhanced by giving them more and more context as to where they are.
Example: Resident of Stonybrook who comes into the city on weekends to hang out with his friends. He knows how to get to Penn Station, but after a night at the bar, he has trouble making it to the Lower East Side.
Exploratory
This user has never visited the city, and is still trying to figure out how to navigate the city while underground. They are easily disoriented, but also want to explore and get around on their own. Their experience can be enhanced by developing comprehension of the subway system.
Example: A couple from South Korea who are staying at the Ace hotel, and want to explore Central Park, the Lower East Side, and Williamsburg. They can identify the grungier, downtown neighborhoods from their favorite film, Cloverfield.
Defining Our Intervention
A multimedia display that resides on the subway platform for both users who are on the platform as well as those users within the subway trains. In order to honestly reflect the dynamic landscape of New York City, we are pulling media content from social media feeds that are geo located. By doing this we can create a non-narrative means of conveying information about place.
Studio Prototype
New Intervention
Our next steps are to define the borders of our chosen four stations, from there we’ll collect photos that are pulled from social media from within those boundaries (Flickr) and also pull from our own explorations. Once we have the content we will be testing this media within the constraints of our space (subway) in controlled environments (IxD studio), aiming to develop a visual language that evokes a sense of place for each subway stop.
Creation Myth
Why is there such an immense sense of wonder within New York City? The neighborhoods, the shops, the sights, and the people that form all of it. Each place within NYC is distinct making the city a living and changing organism of places.
Imagine that sense of place under city where we travel. The subway.
A family from Texas are visiting NYC and they’re on the subway looking for to eat NYC food, but have no idea where to go or what to do. As the train stops at Union Square, the family hears from the train that there’s a famous market here. With their interests piqued, they decide to get off and check out the market.
Sitting across from the family is a lady from Brooklyn who really never goes anywhere besides home and work. Suddenly, she see beautiful imagery of Union Square blazed across the station. Taken by the imagery, she decides to get off to see more of what’s going on around this stop.
Standing and holding on to the rail next to the Brooklynite is a young man from Queens, who is looking a little bit confused. Turns out he’s a little bit lost, because he rarely, if ever, comes down to this area of Manhattan, but he wants to check out the skateboarding scene. However, he can’t seem to remember the name of the place, but does kind of know what it looks like from photos from social media circles. Getting off the stop at Union Square, he heads over to a display showing him photos of the surrounding area from social media sites. This confirms that he’s at the right spot and he leaves the station to see Union Square for himself.
Our subway is made up of points, but New York City is made up of places.
Our subway is now made of places.
6 Week Plan
Week 1 Final Testing, Content Strategy, and Finalize User Journey
Week 2 Content Generation/Gathering and Finalizing Medium
Week 3 First Implementation and Refinement
Week 4 Second Implementation and Refinement
Week 5 Final Implementation and Documentation
Week 6 Create Additional Mock-ups and Finalize Presentation
Filed under Uncategorized
Sarah, Mini, Trent, Sam W.
Understand Levi Stadium
Levi stadium is introducing a comprehensive wireless experience, with a stadium that can handle massive bandwidth and an app…”that will enhance your gameday experience with features including mobile tickets and parking passes, mobile ordering of food and beverages, wayfinding to navigate around the building, and a “game center” for high-definition video replays.”Initial thoughts on the game and the 49ers
“It is a turf war”
Making symbolic hay here, but the 49ers used to play in Golden Gate Park on the corner of Haight and Ashbury Street. Those days were really cosmic. There aren’t even parking lots around the stadium. Steve Spurrier, their quarterback for 9 years in the mid 60s and 70s, used to park in front of some hippies’ crash pad before games. Characters, he said, “you couldn’t figure out with a slide rule.”
In 1970 the team moved to Candlestick from Kezar Park. It’s interesting to note the 49ers have never had their own dedicated stadium until now.
That the stadium has moved from Golden Gate Park to the south side of the city, down to Santa Clara is something to pay attention to. The SAP tower has a view out the back to look out over Silicon Valley.
Expert Interview
Levi’s stadium is introducing a comprehensive wireless experience, with a stadium that can handle massive bandwidth and an app…”that will enhance your gameday experience with features including mobile tickets and parking passes, mobile ordering of food and beverages, wayfinding to navigate around the building, and a “game center” for high-definition video replays.”
Our team spoke with Ran Henry, football aficionado, journalist, and author of the upcoming book, “Spurrier: How The Ball Coach Taught the South to Play Football.”
Top Level Insights
List of User Activities
Initial thoughts on the game and the 49ers
“It is a turf war”
Making symbolic hay here, but the 49ers used to play in Golden Gate Park on the corner of Haight and Ashbury Street. Those days were really cosmic. There aren’t even parking lots around the stadium. Steve Spurrier, their quarterback for 9 years in the mid 60s and 70s, used to park in front of some hippies’ crash pad before games. Characters, he said, “you couldn’t figure out with a slide rule.”
In 1970 the team moved to Candlestick from Kezar Park. It’s interesting to note the 49ers have never had their own dedicated stadium until now.
That the stadium has moved from Golden Gate Park to the south side of the city, down to Santa Clara is something to pay attention to. The SAP tower has a view out the back to look out over Silicon Valley.
(Side note: Jerry Walker is the curator of the new SF’s 49er museum at Levi, and we can get in contact with him if need be.)
Full Expert Interview
Can you take me through a typical game day? List as many details as you can.
It’s a huge difference in my experience, if you have tickets or if you’re out scalping. It must be stated immediately that it’s a huge differential. If you have plans to tail gait or not is also a huge variable.
It’s just unbelievable what people bring to the area around the stadium—kitchen utensils, cooking gear.
Territoriality is a huge concept here—who gets to park closer to the stadium? There’s a pecking order among fans.
The ticket scalping experience is all about getting close to the action, and tailgating experiences are the same.
Think about the hotel situation—the tiniest room in a holiday inn will rent for $400-$500 on game day.
I don’t know how those tailgating spots work out—-but there about to spend about 14.5million dollars to tear up the concrete and install grass around the stadium at the University in South Carolina.
There was one couple that was really upset about being moved back from the stadium 70 yards or so in the new configuration, after years of tailgating.
Once the team starts to warm up, the more hardcore fans head into the stadium. The starting quarterback might be based on how the warmups happen. That’s about 20 minutes before kick-off.
It’s a full day—people show up with their slow cooker. There’s a lot of football actually being played…from ball passing to full games. Families are there with kids.
And the jerseys…people are in team jerseys. They’re wearing shirts by the players they identify with. They’re taking on the qualities of the mascots.
There’s something soulless about representing cities.
How do people relate to being a 49er?
I guess the whole thing with them was the gold rush. If you haven’t seen A View to a Kill lately, you should.
The incredible power of your rival is that they are the mirror image of you. The chomp and the chop…UF and FSU. But back to those rituals…everyone knows the chants and the cheers…it’s the group assimilation idea. Spurrier is always saying that football is the ultimate team sport.
Take the Florida fans—they are so loud when the other team has the ball…humming out Ommmmmmmmm. And it’s quite loud. The crowd can get so loud, the player’s helmets will rattle. But when the home team has the ball, its pin quiet.
The idea is that the fan in the stands can indeed influence the outcome of the game. Like in Louisiana, they’re just loud there.
I think NFL fans are a little bit more bloodthirsty. There’s what, 2,000 jobs in the NFL in the full-time squads? The guys that make it are incredible athletes. The hits are harder, and it causes your average spectator to celebrate a major collision between two human beings. You can’t downplay that. All those weekday frustrations find an outlet. That’s a fact.
All NFL stadiums sell alcohol, and I’ve seen some serious dust-offs. If you wear a jersey of a visiting team, you’re going to get some serious talk back.
What about during the game?
To elucidate the idea of fans—there’s always some schmuck who will try to kick a field goal for $25,000, and they always fail. Fans get to cheer, and jeer. That’s become a game day staple. And the subwoofer—it’s mind-bending how low and subsonic that can get. There’s gotta to be something going on every minute. For example, South Carolina put in a giant
In Candlestick, they had to change the wind patterns with screens. The projector was pretty antiquated. You’d think it would be the opposite.
Of course, now at Levi you get to watch on wifi. But you’re at the game??
What’s the value?
The replays have a different camera…but really, it’s savoring those great moments. Football is a hard game to watch. Most people might just know the quarterback got sacked, but there’s so much set-up going on.
What about looking at a phone versus a massive video screen?
You can’t under-appreciate the way the NFL induces communities to put huge resources into these stadiums and the big carrot there is the Superbowl. How much is Levi paid for by the Valley versus the 49ers?
Spectacle of the video screen?
I’ve never spent a game looking at my phone, so I don’t have an emotional connection.
I snuck into the Superbowl in 1989 and the half-time trick was to turn the seat cushions over in synchrony. The idea of spectacle can’t be leaned on too heavily. This whole idea that people will be looking at their phones versus a video board would be radical.
I do notice the people I’m around though, and one thing about phones is that everyone has to know about scores, even from other games…particularly the ones that affect your team. Phones are a conduit to knowing and in that I’ve seen a lot of people on their phones. The idea that phones being used to keep up with the game right in front of you, in Levi Stadium, that would be a new thing.
What’s your understanding of how the fans fit into the tech vision
I don’t know that they do. The locals at Candlestick were the arbiters of legacy, but I don’t where they fit into this new stadium. The locals are going to affect the demographics of the people in the stadium.
At Candlestick it was not hard to find people wearing old jerseys. Where are the people who watched when the games were at Kezar?
And the hardcore fans who would travel? Their tech experience is lower. I wonder what the pricing structure is different from Candlestick.
I didn’t talk to anyone at Candlestick who would pay $500 for a sushi meal at Levi. Not one. It’s a different breed of person.
How vociferous will these new Silicon Valley folks be versus your hardcore fan?
How much is this a TV experience? How does the stadium look on TV?
What would people want in their new stadium?
I just don’t think that for the average football fans that amenities are that big of a thing. Like think about aluminum slates versus having chair backs. Something as simple as that would work for the hardcore fans.
What about food?
I think to junk food out is their goal…to go back to that idea of the weekend release. It’s very primal—nachos, big slices of cheese on your hamburger.
I sense very strongly that Levi stadium would be the antithesis of that.
There’s some sociological import to food selection. Certainly. The traditional stadium fare couldn’t be more elemental.
Tell me a bit about Candlestick Park. Was there anything about it that stuck out to you? Or seemed unusual?
Yeah, those video screens were tiny. Again, the whole idea of bringing the TV experience to the stadium. And the bleachers were designed to be reconfigured for baseball. The stadium didn’t fully look like a football stadium. Stadium design matters in influencing the crowds ability to be right on top of the action, and to have an impact on the game. At Candlestick it was the other side of the field, the visiting team’s side, that the baseball configuration matters. Fans were more removed from the game.
What would you expect to be able to experience in the new Levi’s Stadium, based on your experience in Candlestick?
Any fan would say, first and foremost, just a great seat. The closer you are to the game the fewer distractions there are, but the further up you get the more distractions you need, because the players look like ants down there. Configuration matters there.
How is watching a game at an arena different than watching with a bunch of friends at home? What are the key activities?
The commentators are typically ex-athletes, and it’s an entirely different experience when they’re not there. Another aspect of the arena experience is that people will wear headsets to get that auditory experience. They can’t watch the game without it. Maybe that’s where a phone could come in. The announcer is nothing like a TV commentary.
I feel when I watch with friends that I haven’t really watched a game. There’s less focus. That’s a definite. Friends are distracting and football is a hard game to watch. There’s 11 different battles going on in each play. There’s a camaraderie but you don’t get as much of the game.
What about groups of people at the arena?
Season ticket holders are the same people week in and week out in the same section. To me it’s probably a huge social thing, but they’re less focused. The number of season tickets at Levi would be something to look into, and how they apportioned those tickets would be a big deal. These are your real fans.
They’re rowdier. They bring a lot to the stadium experience. They’ve had those same seats for years and decades.
What do you during downtime between plays while you’re at an arena?
There barely is. The advent of the hurry-up offense is a big factor here. The number of plays has gone up over time. There’s always something going on. Great care and choreography is taken to not have a second of downtime. At the very least you’re going to hear a snippet of a song.
What about while you’re watching with friends at home?
That’s the commercials. At the stadium you feel that. That the game gets dragged on because at home they’re seeing more commercials. In the bigger games there’s more downtime because there’s more commercials being sold and you can definitely feel that.
The commercials definitely do take you out of the game. There has to be at least three and a half to four minutes of commercials per break.
What get the fans in an arena most excited?
I would say some kind of highlight clips that perhaps recount the first half. Other than that it would be something on the field. Highlight clips generally have slow-motion. “Did you see that hit!” They have amazing production values considering it just happened. And never forget, there’s that camera on the field now, and it feels like a video game. It can see what the quarterback sees and it can swoop around very quickly.
I would be very interested in how the advent of video games has affected multiple aspects of the game, even the training aspect.
Do you have any stories about a bad time you had during a football game?
Losing. The air goes out of the building. Neurologically and biologically, a man’s testosterone goes up and down 20-40% based on whether the team wins or loses. That’s a big part of it. People screaming? For four hours? And in a pro football game, the teams are so damn good that teams lose all the time. And there’s no comparison between winning and losing in a pro stadium. And home field advantage is going to be an interesting thing to watch at Levi.
People are talking about the small details. There’s vicarious experience and everyone’s an armchair commentator or quarterback. There’s a great manly code being expressed.
If you could collect any kind of information on fans at a game, what would you collect?
This is something I’ve thought carefully about. It’s just that rare, incredibly unfiltered random outbursts. Where the truth cannot be contained. What we all look for in literature—that raw emotion and how people express that.
In 2008 a fan stood up at a Carolina game and yelled, “Jesus himself couldn’t coach this football team.” The game in some way empowers people to have a Howard Beale moment. “I’m mad as hell and I’m just not going to take it anymore.”
Here’s an example of one fan’s thought about the University of South Carolina losing on a Saturday night to Missouri:
“I’d been fooling myself the last three or four years. I thought I’d finally matured as a fan and had moved beyond the ugly days of screaming out loud, huffing and puffing, pacing, fuming, cursing and generally behaving like a serial killer during Gamecock games. After all, I’m 41 years old now. It’s been two decades since I was a student at USC. I patted myself on the back after the Texas A&M debacle for watching quietly and saying things like “It’s a long season, let’s just let it play out,” perhaps forgetting that I’ve always handled blowouts better than nail-biters. There’s also the fact that we just haven’t lost many games over the last few years. I simply haven’t had too many opportunities to implode. Well, we reached Full Implosion Mode on Saturday night. Let’s just say that there was a lot of yelling, enough that our neighbors may be making plans right now to have me evicted. When our last-ditch, final fourth-down pass fell incomplete, I ripped off my shirt and hurled it against the wall, overcome with such fury that I felt like one of those werewolves in the “Twilight” movies (I’m sorry to say that this actually did happen). All the while, my girlfriend glared at me with one of those “I’m strongly contemplating packing your stuff and putting it out on the sidewalk” looks. You never want to be on the receiving end of those. All in all, I had the worst night of anybody, even worse than the offense. “
Findings
Creation Myth
Sports connect us in a myriad of fashions, playing, entertaining, teaching, and communicating. More than three-fifths of U.S adults claim to have a relationship to sport activities*. Sports empowers our lives.
What about the space the sport is in, could that place provide direct access and a more meaningful experience to the qualities that sports gives us?
With Levi’s Stadium, we are going to do just that. This stadium will remove barriers that get in the way of why you’re here. But here’s the real kicker, it’s all under your control. Getting your tickets, parking passes, ordering food, stadium’s map, and never missing a moment on the field will be at your command with just a tap. You do all this and more under our new app for your mobile device.
You are now connected to everything around you and using it to your needs. Giving you the ability to focus on what you love most, the game.
*2010 USADA commissioned a survey of 9,000 Americans
Filed under 49ers Diverge (research)
Coffee, Juice, or Kale-Ginger Detox Smoothie. We are getting our drinks to go because we are so busy here in the city.
We get our drink. Walk to the subway. Wait for the train to come for 5 to 10 minutes, if not more. By that time your drink has settled and isn’t the way you had it originally. And that’s why I’m introducing the Subway Stirrer.
See the presentation here.
It can be a conversation piece between your fellow subway traveler, but more importantly it stirs your drink properly giving you a satisfying drink and a great subway experience.
Filed under Quick Indie Project
The concept of having a “third place” speaks directly to me. As a kid, and now as well, my local comic shop was usually the only place for me to discuss with others on the then nerdy subcultures of comics and gaming. There was really no place for that type of discussion anywhere else in my life, sadly even to my closest friends.
In Oldenburg’s, Our Vanishing “Third Places”, he discusses these effects for neighborhoods. I think that concept can easily be expanded to our “passions”. Being connected to many others because of your like-passions is one of the main reasons why I came to New York.
New York, to me, is the epicenter of tight knit communities, and only continues to grow.
As Oldenburg mentions, discourse is key. It’s the glue to all of this. Every week there is a symposium on comics, which is housed between Parsons, SVA, and Columbia. There are panels and presenters who gather a small group of people to discuss the past, present, and future of the medium. The diversity of range from professional to just a reader at the symposium allows unique ideas and questions to be in conversation. This extends to my own understanding as well.
Photo: Connie Sun
Knowing that there is a location that holds a forum on the things I connect to, makes me feel more connected to what’s around me.
Filed under Readings, Third Places
