Week 6

Theme: "Concept Generation"

Introduction

This week we had concept bomb tasks which involved each classmate performing rapid sketching and ideation. These concept bombs were "probes" to get the class thinking about ideas for the semester project. There were three different concept bombs each with a specific brief. In addition to the brief, three interaction design factors were emphasized from last week, these included, object, behaviour and scenario.

Concept Bomb Task

The first concept bomb was all about information on the go. The concept needed to be a portable device which operates through gestural and tangible interactions in order for the user to sense and transfer news or information.

The second concept bomb centered around a theme of 24/7 communication. The concept needed to be designed to help people connect to each other while doing daily activities.  

The third concept bomb focused on the idea of information awareness. The brief stipulated that the design needed to help users be 'aware' of developing news in particular areas of interest. 

Concept Bomb Exhibition
The concept bomb exhibition was a great way to see other classmates ideas. It was also a great means of learning the different techniques and styles used by classmates. During the exhibition, classmates were required to go around and mark which of the three concepts they believed met the brief and the one with the most potential. Images of the exhibition and classmate's work is displayed below.

Selection Phase 

The selection phases required our team to analyse each of our concepts, in particular the ones which received the most marks. The team then deliberated on the chosen concepts and identified selection criteria to determine how well each concept addressed the semester project. The criteria involved how the design suited gestural movements and how well the design address the scenario and context of use. 

The two concepts which the group identified as being the best ideas was Phillip's LED interactive glass and Alex's glove concept. These concepts were identified as the best due to their strong link with natural human interactions and gestural movements. Phillip's LED interactive glass was a notification system for office workers to track the progress of outstanding projects and their deadlines. Users simply interact with the glass display through hand movements. The LEDs are colour coded to represent the different levels of hierarchy and to prioritize relevant information.

The idea behind Alex's glove concept was enhancing the relationship between employees and their managers or bosses. The glove would bee worn by both employees and managers for greeting purposes whereby information is transferred from the manager to employee such as tasks, schedules, timelines, working drills and relevant store updates.

The team decided to combine both concepts together and use the idea of gestural hand movements from Alex's glove concept and the lighting hierarchy idea of Phillip's LED interactive glass concept. Our group believed using these two ideas would strengthen the overall concept and reinforce its purpose and link with the scenario and behavioural factors which had been previously emphasized in week 5.  

Concept

The team came to a final agreement on a design direction for this semester's project. Our concept will provide the means of displaying information in a hierarchy for users such as managers who need to organise their daily activities and tasks. The concept would also have a priority system which allows users to focus on urgent tasks allowing them to stay stress free.