Our world is becoming ever more digitised and the need to interact with others in the physical space is being less of a priority. The impact of less physical interaction with others can have a negative effect on our emotional wellbeing and ethical understanding of others. It is important to bring the best of both spaces together to create a mixed reality interactive experience, which emphasises the importance of building relationships in the physical space, but embracing the benefits of the digital space.
User research, user journey mapping, interviewing, user personas, wireframing, user testing
Hardware programming (processing), Adobe Illustrator, Invisionapp
HMWe indirectly connect in social spaces without social media?
I did a field study in a local coffee shop to observe how people interact in a social space. The space had a diverse range of people from different ages, gender and race, which gave a more natural observational results. It was interesting to see how individuals and groups acted in with their surroundings and also with other people.
My field studies extended to observing the users movements in the physical coffee shop space. From when they enter the shop, during their stay and when they leave the shop. This observation will make it easier to find points of entry where I'm able to bring in experiences to achieve my goal to connect people together in a physical space.
While doing an observational field study I conducted a small questionnaire with some of the users at the coffee shop. The users came from a diverse range backgrounds, which when combined with the observational study a clearer image of the users was be easier to define.
The field study and questionnaire gave me a clearer view of who I need to focus on as my core user. With the gathered resources I was able to create 4 personas that reflect the general type of users that you will meet on a normal day at the coffee shop. Each of the personas have key points that have been given based on the questionnaire results, this makes the persona tangible.
The blending of physical and digital spaces has been around for a number years and people have implemented their own philosophy on how we can create a mixed reality space to enhance our wellbeing. An exploration of products have reviewed to see different implementations, what effect they have on our environment and users.
The first hand and second hand research that were collected from the beginning stages of the project helped to broaden the scoop of possibilities that can be created from blending spaces together. Furthermore, helping me to think of ideas that go beyond the typical messaging methods of communication i.e. social media, phone calls and video streaming. It was important to have elements of interaction that provide a tangible experience for the users.
Developing an application that would be able to be used with a physical input device i.e. interactive table would provide to be crucial. The application is the glue that would help to connect users who are located around the same table or over distance. Therefore, the development of the interface needed to be high quality to make it self explanatory with guiding the user through the journey.
A user testing session for the application prototype was done with 4 users who have similar profiles to the user personas from the research stage of the project. For the user testing sessions I assessed the users ability to understand the context of the application, able to navigate and also to simulate the physical interactions needed to make the digital experience work.
A user testing session for the application prototype was done with 4 users who have similar profiles to the user personas from the research stage of the project. For the user testing sessions I assessed the users ability to understand the context of the application, able to navigate and also to simulate the physical interactions needed to make the digital experience work.
The table was developed with the intention of being small for demo purposes. This would help to accommodate for the small screen being used. Sketches and 3D mock ups were created to give the opportunity to rapid prototype ideas and to visually see where extra physical aspects.
The table was developed with the intention of being small for demo purposes. This would help to accommodate for the small screen being used. Sketches and 3D mock ups were created to give the opportunity to rapid prototype ideas and to visually see where extra physical aspects.
The project has given me the opportunity to experiment with research methods to learn more about the users that I wanted to assist. Furthermore, I was able to experiment with mixed reality techniques by using new and old methodologies.
The final outcome was not able to completely accomplish the main aim, as it focused too much on the digital experience and physical interactions appear to be an after thought. My initial ideas began with a strong focus on the physical experience, but due to my lack of ability with coding digital experiences I my focused shifted. A project of this scale requires more time and further research, therefore I plan to continue the project in the near future.