Blog of Nikki Veldhuis

Last Wednesday most of our class had our mock exam. There we had to present our progress, stance and achievements in our project, both practical and theoretical. Making a presentation takes a lot of your time, so I spend most of it working towards my mock exam. In this post I will look at my results of the mock exam, but first I’m gonna look what I have done before it (I didn’t update my blog for two weeks I think). Below my chronological progress what I have done the past weeks.

Photo collages

I gathered all my research I did from the surveys and the photo documentation from the users television environment. I ‘documented’ the results in my sketchbook and in some folders in my laptop, but didn’t apply any decent structure in it. For the presentation (but also for myself), I’ve made a collage of pictures that explain the main conclusions of my field research. The goal of it was to apply this conclusions in my next step, building a testing environment and the object design.

resting positions remotes

Persona’s

During my progress I was figuring out how important persona’s are for my project. My target group could be everyone that uses the television (except of course far extremes like disabled people). In the end I thought it was better to make persona’s, just to understand the target group better. I based these persona’s on the people I visited during my field research. I’ve made one central one and two extremes (one technical user and one technophobe).

three persona's

Testing room

A while ago I arranged a place to build my test room. During that time I gathered some second hand stuff for decoration, thought about how to do the video documentation and alternative set-ups for testing. With alternative set-ups I want to test how the setting has influence on the user experience, according to the embodied interaction theory. Thats why I want to use different seats, like a couch, fat-boy and crappy chair. I also did my first test, but I will come back to that later.

observation and testing room

Research set-up

Before I wanted to test users and objects in the test room, I decided to put my observation goals on paper. That’s why I’ve set up an observation document. In this document I’ve thought about my goals, expected results and observation structure.

Sketches and low-fidelity prototypes

My goal was to start with very simple objects, only primary shapes and simple interactions with it. With each iteration I want to define the object(s) more in detail. I’ve started with sketching simple shapes. Secondary was the feedback within the object itself. I thought about simple feedback, like a weight that moves or the characteristics of an object (like softness, form, warm or cold). I bought some stuff from a toy store and DIY shop to make these objects. In the observation document I defined what the expected results would be of each object.
In the mock examination I got some comments on this process, which I will come back on later.

Low-fidelity prototypes

observation room first test

The next step was to test these objects with users and I started with fellow students. I did this through narration (an IDEO method card; a way of testing). This comes down to giving simple commands and let the user think out loud. My main goal was to find out if my set-up worked and some first comments on the objects itself. I was really happy how the testing went, so this is a good basis for future testing.

Supportive Narrative

Last but not least, I also worked hard to get a nice draft for the mock examination. I started with finding useful snippets from other papers and books to get a good basis. What also took a lot of time was the outline; structuring my paper relevant to my own project. Writing the first chapter in English was harder than I thought, but I think this will be manageable for the rest of my paper.

Mock exam and feedback

The mock presentation went well, but I went over the 10 minutes, so next time I have to shorten the presentation a lot. After a stressful period of waiting I got the result: a disappointing orange (you get red-orange-green as an indicator). In short, the comments where that I was on the right trajectory, but I have to adapt my end goal a bit and focus more on the object design. Although I wasn’t really happy with the result, they teachers told me I don’t have to worry to much because it are relatively small adjustments.

At the moment my process is mainly research: I want do define my object more in detail through each iteration. It’s a research driven progress. The comments where I have to be more of a designer, so I have to go deeper in the object design. That means defining the form, feeling and interaction more in detail before each iteration. Some examples are choice of materials, form and function. What is central is the interaction with the object itself, so the ‘feeling’ and expectations is most important for the device. I have to build a clear continuum of forms, material selection and feedback. I have to focus on tangibility of designed objects and tested experiences.

With this I have to go to workshops to get some inspiration or guidance. I have to improve my artistic standard, so I have to go more crazy with ideas. I have to apply the same form of research (and use of results) I did for my field research.

My original planning was to work towards a functioning prototype. I could get some help from Aduen, who is an expert on physical computing. The comments where that instead of working to a functioning prototype, I have to make a proof of concept video. This is because of the limited time, and I could focus more on applying the research and concept ideas.

So the first thing I have to do is adjust my end goal (through my planning) and beginning with detailed sketching of the remote object. I can get some help from people in my environment, who are more specialized on this area than me.

Work work!