I hope this is true…

Paul Graham’s Startup Survival Guide For The Coming Nuclear Winter: Be a Cockroach

Degree Show

So sitting here at the degree show and feedback has been pretty good. i thought it might be hard for people to guage the concept as essentially what we are sowing is a very abstract concept of a proposed medium of communication – not that easy for people to get at first… but it seems to be going ok. The posters explaining the concept have been particularly well receieved, with the external examiner in particular saying that at the private view someone in particular said that was just how someone piching an idea to the bbc might do it. I was happy because they took me a LONG TIME!

The animation was also well received… so hooray…

Feedback into the Iterative Design Process

It has become clear to me that the feedback given from the user testing and user research is the most important aspect of the whole usability field. It doesn’t matter how good your user esting r research is, if its is not fed efficiently and clearly back into the design process, it is pointless.

That is why after every test I think I should create a feedback form highlighting findings and making recommendations to the design – will do this tomorrow.

yeah…

Results of Initial User Interviews

Initial Scenario

I have created a scenario situation for our device to conduct a “paper prototype” of situations it may be used in:

Target user couple:

John is from Canada & Sarah is from California. They met at NYU where they were both studying degree’s in digital media. Tony has decided to go and study his masters in London at the London College of Communication, Sarah really wants to go but she has got a job offer with an advertising agency in San Francisco, she going to really miss him but they are determined to stay together.

Before John leaves he gives Sarah a bracelet that is designed to always be able to feel the others presence.

First few months:
John & Sarah are in constant contact with each other. They speak to each other via skype every day, though they find the time difference a problem – evening for John is the middle of the working day for Sarah. Sending text messages is very expensive so they also exchange a lot of emails and write on each other’s facebook walls a lot. These methods of communication are great for exchanging news and sharing media and information but they are also quite generic and don’t really give a lasting feeling of togetherness. Therefore they use their “olympos” bracelet to gain a feeling of presence with the other partner, this is especially important during those ‘weak moments’ that are all too common at this stage of the separation.
Before they left, they agreed to use the bracelet every time they thought of the other one.

What would you react to feeling warmth on your wrist when your girl / boy friend is interacting with their bracelet?

After a few weeks:
Both John & Sarah have settled into their new lives and now don’t call each other so much as they are busier then ever. However they communicate more and more with the “olympos”. They understand that each has their own lives and are busy but with this device they can feel that they are still experiencing things together.

Would you find this is comforting or intrusive?

If you could communicate with this device using patterns & colours to display emotion how concerned would you be of the discreteness? i.e. would you be embarrassed about something like this happening on your wrist?

After a few months:
As John and Sarah spend more time apart they become more comfortable using the “olympos”, they increasingly understand what each other is trying to say more they have found it fun way of actually saying things.

Can you think of a way that you could convey actual feelings or thoughts using colours and temperature?

Making Things Talk

Just started reading “making things talk” by Tom Igoe. What a really great book, everything you need to know about sensors, microprocessors, processing… from beginner to advance.

I was having real difficulty conceptualizing how this device we want to build might take shape but am starting to understand it better…

Change of Direction

After just a few interviews and an attempt of trying to write a scenario for the project I came to a sudden conclusion that a clasping, touch style mechansim is wrong. I think it is too mechanical, too short-lived (as in the action is over with instantly) and not personal enough. I also think it misses the main point of a device like this which is to provide a passive form of communication that can be interpretated in many differernt ways by the users and can also provide a possibility for playfulness but above all is for “reassurance”.

We were thinking that perhaps devices that incorporate colours or temperature could be more emotive, i think timescale is a big factor too.

We went back to one of our original idea’s of having a device that displayed colours dependent on how hard or how long you squeezed a corresponding bracelet…

Another idea would be to have the bracelet change colour continuously dependent on the heat (electrical conductivity) of the correseponding bracelet, the idea to give a constant yet passive feeling of presence with your partner. Though this then does leave out any form synchronous communication but this could be added…

First Concept

Ok so we have our first first concept based on the concept of “weak moments”. We are searching for ways to broaden its appeal though:

e agreed on two “levels” of concept:

At the high level:

An interactive wearable communication device to allow a couple to share their presence with one another whilst apart.

On a slightly more specific level:

An interactive wristband that uses haptic technology to allow a couple to share experiences and communicate in a quiet, subtle and intimate manner.
The haptic technology in question could be ambient light, pressure or an alternative comforting action… tbd.

For now… our next steps:
Frederik – research technologies – identify what method of display would be effective given the physical limitation. Also investigate possible methods of data transfer from device to device.

Imran – research gestures and physical parts of the body associated with comfort, also look into more existing projects… err i’ve forgotten the rest

Maria – look inot pm techniques and software, go through everyones roles and develop initial devt plan.

Dan – look into users, develop scenarios.

Weak Moments

We have identified in LDR there are certain times when one will need comfort from their partner, perhaps they are at the doctors or waiting for a job interview…

It is not really viable to call and the situation does not a realy require that level of engagement with the other partner but idealy the partner could send comforting a message. This could perhaps be done with a bracelet that clasps slightly to give a comforting a feeling.

The question here though is this a viable way to comfort someone?

Similar bracelet based device:
Sense
This device is based on heartrate and skin temperatue and lets the somone know how their partner is feeling. However it is asynchrous – it does not allow for feedback. There is no physical action.

Embrace
Quite complicated bracelet with lcd screen, camera etc but interestingly does use bluetooth