Week four Design workshop 'Interactive Model'

About the Design

This week our team focused on putting our skills and acquired knowledge from the previous workshops together in order to produce an interactive model. This model did not specifically have to be a master design piece, rather show and input leading to an output and the reason for these sequences.

After much collaboration on last weeks class and building further more on the idea of designing for a gambling environment our group came up with an idea to re design a roulette table. This table would directly interact with the user and give them feedback as to how well their individual bet was going.

Similar to the table demonstrated in the video above, our goal was to incorporate a noise experience, taping into the users emotions such as anxiousness and excitement. However this idea was quickly scrapped as we began to understand that the interactive aspect had nothing to do with the user actually causing the interaction. Therefore we went back to the drawing board and explored one of our initial ideas in terms of the user environment.

Public spaces

This particular environment provides opportunity to design an interactive product that can fill in time and add to the way everyday people interact within public spaces, in particularly pedestrian crossings.Our group decided we wanted to add something to the void of time people spend everyday waiting at traffic lights. The interaction between complete strangers doesn't happen often therefore we decided to introduce a game that you can compete against any random in the street. Simply the input is the individual person punching, kicking or using any kind of force to hit a surface which will the measure speed and strength. Simply the person that wins will be shown where the output of the green or red man is to cross the road. (For more information refer to final video at the bottom of this post).

Here are some images from the process that our group undertook in the building stage of our model.

 Reflecting on the Model

The model came together nicely and surprisingly withstood a lot of pressure for numerous amounts of people testing it within a public space. For now i will provide the link to my gorup presentation as I am having trouble uploading it.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bwskb6a0Nubda0pEcTBrY1lubms/edit

Week Three 'Product Deconstruction'

Design Workshop

During this week the design for our individual model began. Concept development began through an initial brainstorm as a group. As in the previous weeks we decided to start the workshop deconstructing another product.

Initially we thought deconstructing the Panasonic head unit would result in discovery of potential mechanical elements that we would be able to incorporate into our design. However much of the system was technical chip programmed, extensive manufacturing as well as expensive design intent. In saying this the one input I discovered on a more personal level was the interaction with the turning nob on the front. As i mentioned in my previous blog the current state of interaction with majority of technical products is the swipe of a finger on a touch interface screen. Do you remember the old school ways of stereos and the crazy emotional connection between the turning of a nob that rotates elegantly to output a sensory emotion of music or altercation of the technical device?

The objective of the exercise above, (mind mapping) was to analyse the type of environment we wanted to design for. By doing this we clarified in our minds exactly what design intent could be produced. Casinos and public spaces stood out as both environments that offer a possibility to design for a unique user experience that any one can enjoy.

As an interactive process we began to experiment with various inputs and out puts. These we not necessarily final ideas more built exploration on the previous weeks workshops.

Basic programming was used to achieve these results, and from this an idea generated for a possible model exploration. Based from this and the in workshop discussions through group collaboration we decided on a possible design. Throughout the gambling industry interactive design has sky rocketed, the implementation of sensory experience has added value to machines such as pokies.

From this video you can see how the machine is engaging the user to keep on playing and feed money into the note acceptor. Although this specific machine has a negative impact on society the design is continually changing and interactive creativity within the soft interface is continually adapting and competing.

Week Two 'In The Workshop'

Learning outcomes resulted in possibilities for the project and a greater understanding of Interactive Design.

The learning outcomes our group achieved through the deconstructive process was fantastic! Materials and even functional elements such as speakers, buttons and vibrational motors (circled above), may come of use in the weeks to come as these parts formed the beginning of our parts selection for the project. The team interacted with mainly a pump, this pumps function was looked upon closely and tangents helped to understand the possibilities of the input and output the product produced. As Industrial Designers we picked apart the pump to find a functional possibility that may serve a purpose in potentially another product. The input of the pump is the compression of air therefore the output may be linked to buoyancy and self floatation incorporated into products specifically for the ocean.

In the reading 'The inmates are running the asylum' Cooper refers to the notion that the corporate businessmen of the world have let the IT specialists have to much of a say in the development of modern day products. This is evident through the example above of exactly how products have all fallen due to the age of computers. As Industrial designers it is our job to bring back the possibility of how we interact with products through the way we touch, hear and even smell. Modern day technology encourages us to be drawn to these high pix-elated screens and non reflective titanium cases. But not only that, advertising through social media has contributed drastically with more and more companies going online and more people (even the elderly) caving in. Change through the way consumers interact with products is the key to a greater and more fulfilling design. Such a process needs much hands on work and research into the market, in regards to the consumers and exactly what they need and how they need it!