The Eames Store - Interactive Design

In case anyone was wondering that wasn't in BFA last semester, this is the project we did for The Eames Store that Gary had mentioned today in class. We made slides of our images, as well as a video that pretty much described how the interactive wall kiosk would work. This is the final product of a two-week design concept we came up with while working with a few HCI Students. Overall it was a lot of fun and we came up with a really great design!

I hope this helps! - The Eames Store

- Heather

Class Reflection 2.6.2013

Some key elements we all need to consider for our Personas:

• More space between elements - breathing room and more legible 
• Break up information - break down info graphs further and/or create variety
• NEED: Life motivations and goals for the product - two separate elements must be on the Persona by the time we turn in our process book 
• Consider use of color 
• Include likes and dislikes 
• Include more text - avoid the baseball card amount of information (info too little) 
• Time spent throughout the week (M-Th, F-Sat, Sun) 
• Additional photos to create more of a narrative for the persona 

Consider levels of information:

• Photo/Name (quote maybe?)
• Big text/data/quote(?)
• Info. Graphics
• Biography/text
• Formal and aesthetic qualities
• Life motivations and Goals related to the topic

For Midterm, we have to start building our book and discuss with Gary. The Midterm will be on February 25th and they will be individual meetings (one-on-one). The book doesn't need to be bound together, but needs to be thought out in spread designs. The concept map needs to be thought out as far as how it will be displayed in the book (CD, foldable, fits within the book, etc...). We also need to write about each step (Matrix, concept map, persona, and system map) in our process book and talk about key data points drawn from each step. These can be pulled from your blog, notes, or influencing things/ideas/pictures from outside of class. 

Also - the area show work is due Feb. 25th...

After the persona critique, we talked about the next step in our process: The System Map (or Experience Model) - DUE NEXT WED 1/13

We will use the concept map as a database to create a user experience with the information. This will explain how they will interact with your design. Some key questions to consider are:

• How will you provide a tool for them to interact with and where should the tool be located?
• Where does it make sense to use this tool and where is it MOST EFFECTIVE?

Think about: WHERE THEY ENCOUNTER THE BRAND. This could be multiple places and all should be explored, however, one or two should be chosen and talked about more in depth. These two areas are to be mapped out further, similar to the concept map style that we previously worked on. Think about what the system is that creates an experience. 

Also consider:

Input of the user - What are they required to do? 

Output of the devise - What is the result?

 

Input can be as simple as walking by the kiosk device and the output would be a shift in scale on the screen. We did a project last semester, The Eames Store, that is a good example of what this is talking about. 

Which can be seen here: The Eames Store

The video at the bottom of the page is a great example of how our project worked. 

At this point, don't think of the aesthetic design of the final product... but the interactive design. How did those subjects interact with the wall kiosk? When they walked by, the panels expanded/contracted, making them aware that it was an interactive devise and attracting them to interact. They can touch and move panels by clicking certain features with their fingers and pressing buttons. All this information is required to be worked out on a larger scale, preferably hand written to focus more on content rather than design. Some people in class have large maps drawn out on their wall space, and this is exactly what Gary wants for next Wednesday. 

Another thing to consider is "to what end?" does your interactive design conclude to? Are there loops in your design that direct you to other topics in your subject. Is there a big reveal of information or smaller revelations learned throughout working with your product? You want the user to gain knowledge as they interact with your design. 

If your graph is seeming too linear, think about why it is linear. Is it okay that way? What is missing that may connect one subject to another? Connections in your Concept Map may be interactive connections in your System Map. 

After discussing the System Map, Gary drew out a diagram describing Flow in a simple way. I thought this was very useful. Here's the chart:

The black dots resemble a user, while the red dot resembles where they would move within the Flor Chart. We want to challenge our users to learn about our product and progress further up the flow chart. The user should learn as they move along with the product, thus learning new skills that allow them to attack harder tasks with more ease. This keeps people from falling in the bored or anxiety areas and keeps them interested in a product. This falls under how many choices are you giving them (agency). Are there too little of options (such as Facebook) which is considered little/low agency, or are there too many options (such as the old MySpace) which is considered too much/high agency?

System Map is due next Wednesday 1/13 

It needs to be larger scale and preferably hand written. It will appear to look similar to the concept map. 

Drawn on brown paper (or something similar) that is provided in BFA Room

Post-it notes work well too 

VERY LOOSE - Ideas may change when explored further

Online Reading for Monday 

Donella Meadows - Thinking in Systems - Parts 1 & 6

Think of how it relates to Graphic Design and Interactive Design

Bring 3-4 questions on small pieces of paper