Project process

This is an overview of the whole design process. It shows the key elements we have been through and the order in which they appeared/we executed them:

• Choose design domain
• Field research 1
• Brainstorm
• Personas
• Cultural Probing
• Field research 2
• Interaction Relabelling
• The first BlogBook
• Mock-up session
• The LogBook
• Storyboard/Video prototype
• Video presentation

Video prototype

We have now shot and edited our video prototype explaining both the concept and context of our design product.

The scenario is the result of our field research, data analysis and design
proposal.

You can download or see the video here (avi) or here (wmv). (Download: right click and “Save Target As…”)

If you have problems viewing these file formats, download VLC-Player.

Or watch the video from YouTube. (very poor quality and speed)

3rd visit: Mock-up sesssion

Today we went to the Peder Lykke Center (PLC) to see how the elderly people would react to our ideas we had for our blogging device. We started the day home at ITU where we prepared the interviews and finished some different mock-ups. When we arrived at the PLC the elderly people were quite hesitant and (again) we had to explain to them that they weren’t to be tested, they couldn’t fail and it wasn’t about IT or computers in particular. (The next time we’re going there we will try to avoid interviewing the elderly in the context of this class, as it’s an IT class for beginners and they consider us experts in that field.)

Finally one of them volunteered and immediately after we had four interviewees. We interviewed them two by two and video taped most of it. The first couple of interviewees were very chatty and we had spend quite a lot of time making them forget about computers, and when we finally introduced our blogbook they were very keen on the idea. One of them told us that she preferred hand writing to type writing, but needed to use the editing possibilities that the computer provides for her family history research. But they liked the idea of putting information back in a book since they were used to navigate and find information that way.

The next couple of interviewees proved harder to get to play along, but one of them was very fast to pick up the book and use it as intended, although they couldn’t come to terms with digital aspect of the book and were concerned about today’s technical limitations and how it would conflict with our idea. Though they didn’t quite understood the potentials of the blogbook one of them would have great use of a blogbook, as most of her grandchildren live abroad, and she uses e-mails and small books sent by mail to communicate with them.

All in all the interviews gave us some new data and inputs to work with, and made us more confident that we’re moving in the right direction with this project.

Talkr

Talkr allows you to listen to text-only blogs on your iPod.

Talkr provides a service that allows you to listen to your favorite text-only news sources rather than read them. If you can point us to an RSS, they will convert that feed from text to speech.

Talkr can also provide you with a podcast of your favorite news sources. This means that you can plug your MP3 player into your home computer once a day and Talkr will provide you with hours of audio content with no additional work on your part. Talkr will keep tabs on your feeds and send audio to your computer as those audio files become available.

Cultural Probes: 1 edition

The result from our Cultural probing session came back not all as hoped for and expected. From this we learned that everything from our background to the exact words we use, have a great effect on the result.

All of the pictures we recieved from the elderly people contained artefacts of technological character. We hoped to get a more realistic and natural view of the lives of elderly people, but it is clear that they wanted to show us excately what technological and communicational equipment they can operate and use.

It was not all a waste, but we are planning to execute yet another cultural probing session – this time with a more precise assignment.

Presentation

Today we presented our project work so far. The response from both our professors and fellow students were very positive. The feedback given to us will be used as input and inspiration in our further process.

The Power Point presentation can be downloaded here:
Præsentation5

BookBlock

The foundation of the idea grounds in an artefact already well known to the elderly people. A book.

In using an analogue technology we can take advantage of the familiar understanding and interaction. By doing this we break down some of the barricades holding people back from using certain technologies.

The concept:

• By flipping the pages of the book you can navigate through the blogs – back and fourth as in an ordinary book.
• The pages are E-Ink technology – allowing the content to change digitally.
• With an electronic-pen you can write directly into the pages of the blogs.
• Audio-feedback will provide sound effects as when turning pages of a real book.
• A small speaker in the book can read the content of the blogs aloud.

Blog Folder

The Concept:

• You can read through blogs by turning pages.
• You can write comments and posts to a blog with a pen.
• You can add blogs by physically inserting a new page or set of pages into the folder.
• You remove blogs by physically removing the blog page or pages from the folder.

BlogTree

The idea is to create a technological experience or concept by using objects somewhat familiar to elderly people. By doing this we hope to break down technological barriers that might keep them from these experiences.

Plants are both very easy to work with and pretty to look at. So what if a plant or tree was a tool for blogging? Could that make blogging easy to work with and pretty to look at?

The concept:

• The branches on the tree indicate the number of blogs. The thicker and longer branch the bigger blog.
• The number of leaves on the branches indicates posts in a blog.
• The colour of the leaves identify how old a post is. Light green is a new post. Brown is old posts. The colour varies over time.
• You can shape the tree (as a bonsai tree) by picking of leaves/blogs that you don’t like.
• “Water” the tree with information?

Interaction relabelling

Interaction relabelling is a technique which allow us to look at random artefacts and our ideas from a whole different perspective. The idea is to flip the use of the artefact upside down and come up with new ways of interaction:

BloggyBag

• Made from intelligent fabric.
• Display on the front of the bag.
• Navigate by turning the bag around from the right to go to next page and fron the left to go back to previous page.
• To view a blog you need a block!!!
• To go to the next blog you must shake the bag and another blog will appear on the front of the bag at random, like in bingo… “Shake the bag!”.
• Every month you get a catalogue of the newest blogs which you can then subscribe to. You will get your new blogs (blocks) in the mail.
• May have a small blog-pocket on the inside to put the block currently being displayed in! (Similar to the sewn-in pockets on the inside of handbags to keep valuables in)
• Write on to regular paper and put in scanner-pocket to input content to your blog.