Week 5

Theme: "Presentation Week"

Introduction

This week each team presented their final human interaction concept along with a prototype of their design. Each group prepared a small exhibit showcasing their design and the different types of input and output. There were some groups who had difficulty with the Arduino programming but overall the two week project proved to be highly insightful. I was able to expand my current knowledge into the way we as people interact with our surroundings and how products can be designed to improve these experiences. 

Presentation

There were a few concepts developed by classmates which I found to be truly inspirational and remarkable. The concepts presented by each group are documented below and accompanied with images. 

Interactive Retail Display Concept:

My understanding of this particular concept and its purpose was an architectural display panel that creates an atmosphere and develops emotional connections in places and outdoor spaces. Today, most spaces lack presence and are seen as dull or uninviting. The idea is that these Multi-LED display units would be placed around major communal precincts such as shopping centers while it detects the movement and number of people and subsequently emits different colours and patterns. People are able to interact with the display by moving back and forth and congregating around it. 

The reason why I appreciated this concept was because of its design approach. I am not concerned with its technology or overall aesthetics but rather the group's decision to create tangible spaces and meaningful places through the application of light and "people power."

Tempered Chocolate Cooking Concept:




Group Collaboration "Buzzer" Concept:

Heating Element Cooking Concept:




Child Care Behavioural Control Concept:




Marathon Running Concept:


DJ Water Pump Concept:

This concept is an interactive device designed for DJs to allow them to emphasis the rhythm and beat of a particular tune through hand movements or gestures. The device works by detecting a DJ's hand movements and their relative proximity. Depending on the proximity of the DJ's hands different volumes of water is projected up into the air. This design is able to amplify the audience's experience while giving the DJ an added means of connecting with the music.

I admire this concept because it is unique and innovative. Whats more is that this design could have numerous applications and be used in a variety of different environments. I also appreciated the fact that this design allows DJs to experience a visual representation of thier music and view the different levels of tempo and beat that are usually unseen.  

Interactive Alarm Concept:




Trolley Game Concept:

Interactive Lighting Pillow Concept:




Child Sleeping Concept:




Interactive Teddy Bear Concept:




Traffic Light Display Concept:


Motion Analyzing Concept:

The format of the presentation was great as it allowed students to walk around and talk about their ideas in a informal "group discussion" format. This format allowed us to take the time to interact with each group's concept and gain a better understanding of the design intent. Due to the fact that there was no time restrictions it was possible to have a lengthy discussion with the other groups about their concept and learn about the different techniques they used to design their prototype. 

As a side note I would highly recommend conducting these informal presentations or round table discussions for initial concept pin ups. They offer classmates the opportunity to provide instant peer feedback and encouragement.

Brainstorming

Next week our team will be concentrating on developing initial concepts or concept bombs for the semester project. Before our team gets started on next week's tasks I wanted to complete my own research around the topic of 'sensing the news' and what defines news. 

My definition of news is publicised information that is delivered through multiple platforms. News is an information source that is highly sought after and valued as a means of learning and knowing what is happening. Furthermore, it is my belief that news is subject to people's individual interpretation and can therefore take on many different meanings. Just like the game of "Chinese Whispers" information seems to always become either distorted or simply incorrect due to people's different interpretations of the information.

Lecture
The lecture this week focused on three key areas of interaction design, these included, object, behaviour and scenario which relates to Bill Verplank's "Do, Feel, Know." In order to clearly understand the importance and relevance of these three factors I decided to make my own analogy to interpret this information.

My analogy is as follows: a user interacts with an object through certain behaviours in a particular scenario. The user goes through three phases, engage, feel and learn.

The most important phase I believe is the learn phase, also called "know", because it is when the user is able to make sense of what they are doing. It is also the stage that allows the user to make a connection with the product on an emotional level. This connection creates value for the user.

Reading
Bill Verplank states "a novice needs a path, a learner needs a map." Bill Verplank is referring to the different types of behavioural learning patterns. After reading this extract I was able to identify how people with different levels of experience or knowledge learn through mapping and conceptual models.

Verplank talks about how simplistic interactions require only knowing one step at a time. This is known as path knowledge. People are also able to benefit from map-like knowledge which are known as mental maps. These maps are a user's conceptual model which they use to understand how to interact in certain situations.

He goes on to say that "good interactions are the appropriate styles of doing, feeling and knowing plus the freedom to move from one to the other". Therefore, when users interact with an object it should be intuitive and free of ambiguity.      

Week 4

Theme: "Model Mania"

Introduction

This week our team finalized our input-output concept for the week 5 presentation and began to work on prototyping our interactive model and finish the Arduino programming. Whilst collaborating and discussing our concept with the tutors we were able to identify that our concept lacked purpose and was not specific to a user's natural behaviour. However, we still understood that the focus of the task was not to design a product but rather use the interactive model as a vehicle to demonstrate the 'design intent' showing how human interaction with products affect people's behaviours and subsequent actions. As a result, we started to investigate alternative avenues and different applications for our design.

The previous concept focused around a prison as the context and a confrontation or fight between inmates as the scenario. We soon discovered through a closer analysis of the product that it did not effectively mimic or relate to the 'natural' behaviour associated with prison inmates who were either arguing or fighting. This previous concept was designed using predetermined knowledge about prison inmates and how they would react to a threat or danger. The team brainstormed numerous actions that a prison inmate would most likely use. These actions include, but are not limited to, yelling, stamping, punching, pushing, kicking and grabbing. The team cross linked these actions with various input systems such as microphones and how they relate to a specific behaviour.   

I decided to look further into human-machine interaction to see how our concept could be applied in alternative situations and for different user groups. Rachel Cummings from 'The British Psychological Society' discusses the interaction between humans and technical system components and how systems must be designed in a way that supports an operator's behaviour and does not comprise their safety (Cummings, 2000). This reading proves our group's previous concept was obsolete and required different behavioural input signals.    

Due to the fact that the device was designed to record noise and detect pressure, we asked ourselves the question, does our design suffice a user's natural behaviour? We asked ourselves this question to understand how our product provides prison inmates with a natural means of alarming security personal. Our team came to the conclusion that our concept needed to be developed further or applied in a new context, as it did not suffice a natural human behaviour.  

New Concept: Childcare centre 

After collaboration with tutors and having team discussions, we were able to achieve a new mind set and focus on a new application while building on our current input-output behaviours and the related technology. In order to elaborate on our previous concept, our team gathered some preliminary research on how people react or respond to danger. In our research we focused on diverse user groups and not just prison inmates to gain more knowledge and a broader understanding of human-machine interaction and related tenancies. 

The new context which our team decided to look into was a childcare centre and in particular the safety and supervision on children. Children learn through playing, curiosity and interacting with their surroundings. This type of learning may present danger to children causing them to injury themselves. Therefore, we have taken this knowledge and applied it to help maintain children's learning through limited disruption and ensuring they are safe from harm. This concept ensures children move around safely as well as making sure they do not make too much noise and disrupt others. 

The child wears a wristband which sends feedback to the parent or carer that they are moving away from them. The wristband also detects noise and alters teachers or supervisors to attend to the child and address the problem. 

The design team also came to the realisation that our concept needed to have an "emotion sending signal" which is relayed through light and sound. Linking with the idea of alerting parents that their child is moving away from them, I believe it would appropriate to place a LED light on the wristband to also alter the child they are distancing themselves from their parents. The light may flash red to symbolise danger to both the child and parent.  

The team also discussed the use of an accelerometer which detects motion and the rate of movement which then sends a signal to teachers, supervisors or the children's parents / guardians. The accelerometer would detect any unnecessary or dangerous movements by a child an subsequently alert teachers or parents.

Model Workshop
Our team continued to program with Arduino and make minor adjustments to the configured code on blackboard to customise our concept and interactive model. Our main problem came about because we were unable to find and successfully program a microphone. As a result, our group spoke to Yasu and he was able to lend our group one. Due to the fact that we were able to obtain a microphone we were able to test its capability and determine how it would fit the user's behaviour and how it would be used in a context scenario.

Context Model Design

Nick Kallinicos designed and built a context model for the presentation to help the viewers better understand our concept and how the overall system works. The images of this model are displayed below:

The team also successfully completed tutorial 7 on blackboard in order to better understand how an accelerometer spins an RC Servo through motion and tilting. We have uploaded a short video demonstrating this function. Our team used this tutorial as a basic platform to comprehend the fundamentals and to achieve more complex functionality such as changing the intensity of an LED.

Reading

The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman, 2002.

Chapter One: The Psychopathology of Everyday Things

Image sourced from: http://www.google.com.au/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbm=isch&tbnid=TDCYbmS78SVAwM:&imgrefurl=http://vtidstudio.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html&docid=_QYRgyqTd_Kw5M&imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aXMJ8Zi5paA/THlF77fIqI/AAAAAAAAAAM/aLuHyaWhH1c/s1600/designblog.png&w=445&h=681&ei=8M4xUNSDK4SSiAfHv4HwBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=667&vpy=125&dur=915&hovh=278&hovw=181&tx=145&ty=195&sig=102860521753329437055&page=1&tbnh=155&tbnw=101&start=0&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:85&biw=1366&bih=667

Kenneth Olsen, the engineer who founded and still runs Digital Equipment Corporation talks about the various frustrating situations experienced by people using everyday products such as microwaves, washing machines and digital watches. Olsen asks the question, "But why should it take me hours?". This question is referring to the hours of explanation needed to successfully operate simple, everyday products. Kenneth Olsen deliberates why people put up with being irritated and disappointed.

He goes on to explain how the human mind is tailored to make sense of the world and its surroundings. It we are provided with the slightest clue we are able to understand, explain and rationalize. Olsen states that well designed products are easy to understand and interpret meaning they are intuitive to use. However, on the other hand, products that have been poorly designed are difficult to use and have a high degree of ambiguity.

A key note outlined in this extract is this idea that poor design predominates and the result are devices that will lead to error. If we analyse this statement further, it is evident that through poor design we will only end up with errors and costly mistakes. Change is needed to redirect the mindset of designers and reestablish a standard of acceptable design.      

Presentation

The team discussed our idea for the presentation and we unanimously decided to separate the different input and output functions to show how they individually work. We will take short videos of each system working and then compile the videos together to show how they would work in a real life scenario. In regards to our interactive model, we have decided to build a relatively basic form to show how the product suits the context and user's behaviour.

In order for our group to complete the project on time and efficiently, each member was assigned a specific task to do. I was in charge of the presentation, collecting of images, filming and editing the videos. Nick Kallinicos was in charge of building the demonstration model which contextualizes our concept and shows how the system works. Alex Garrett was the programmer and electrical engineer. Lastly, Phillip Pappas documented the project and completed necessary research to support our concept.

Due to the fact that our concept uses multiple forms of input and output, I separated the videos into four different phases to show how each task is performed. Due to the size of the Arduino board our team was unable to build a prototype and relied on providing detailed information in the final video.

Final Concept

Our group's final concept is a system that teaches children good manners and provides careers with a means of monitoring children's behaviour. Careers are able to feel confident that their children are safe and out of harms way. The children wear a wrist band which is able to detect sound and alert both the child and career through light or sound if there is excessive noise. Therefore, careers are able to monitor children's behaviour and help reduce disruptions in class.

The other application for this concept is a motion sensor which detects if a child is engaging in excessive running or jumping. Both the careers and children are notified if excessive movement is detected and are subsequently alerted through sound or light. When the light is green it indicates safety but when it begins to flash yellow and red it represents danger.

The main principal behind this concept is the idea of interaction and allowing kids to learn through association and natural behaviourisms. More importantly, both careers and children are able to receive feedback regarding their actions.

The final movies and introductory slides are displayed below. The music used is in the presentation is meant to symbolize children's enthusiasm and curiosity to explore and play.

As a part of the presentation our group decided to brand our work and create a team logo. The name of our company is Childhood Learning Corporation. The logo represents a home which symbolizes safety and comfort. A face is also depicted in the logo to give it a personality and an icon that the children can recognize. A soft blue colour is used because it represents calmness, serenity and freedom.

The final movie is displayed below:

Video One: Motion input to audio output.

Video Two: Motion input to light output.

Video Three: Voice input to audio output.

Video Four: Voice input to light output.

References: APA

Cummings, R. (2000). Division of Occupational Psychology. Retrieved from
http://dop.bps.org.uk/public/careers-qualifications/human-machine-interaction$.cfm
  

Week 3

Theme: "Behaviour and Interaction"

Introduction

This week our team focused on designing and conceptualising an input-output device that responds to user interaction and their associated behaviour. Our design team is required to demonstrate our final concept using an interactive model. This interactive model will be exhibited and tested in class for peer feedback and formal assessment. This task is not about the design of a product or an object, rather it is focused on the design of behaviour and human interaction.

Reading

Inmates Are Running the Asylum, The: Why High-Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity, by Alan Cooper, 2004.

"Interaction" Versus "Interface" Design

The theory discussed in this section of Chapter 2, analyses the consequences of isolating design at the interface level and the idea of postponing design until after programming when it becomes too late. Interface design is believed to be exploited by programmers as a means of 'dressing up' an existing behaviour. Alan Cooper goes on to state that although interfaces provide the user with rich, visual feedback and reduces visual clutter on screen, it is far from sufficient in terms of its significance and functionality with the product. Cooper uses Microsoft as a prime example of a company which invests millions of dollars in interface design, but neglects the design of their products, leaving them universally unsolved. 

Cooper builds on his argument that the term "interface" design gives the impression to programmers that only the interface can answer the user's needs by stating that, behavioural design tells how the elements of the software or interface should act and communicate. In my opinion, behavioural design tells software engineers and programmers exactly what functions and displays to apply to the interface without just 'slapping' it on after.  

The text discusses the role of an interaction designers and how they work from the outside in, starting with a user-centred approach and establishing the needs of the user. Interactive designers also consider the macro environment in terms of the business, the capabilities of the technology, and the component tasks. 

The most interesting section of this text is the statement made by Cooper about conceptual design. This theory considers what is valuable for the users and determines what their underlying goals and priorities are. The interface design is able to be customized or otherwise made specific to the user's behaviour without unnecessary functions being added.  Cooper ends his discussion by outlining the three stages interaction designers pass through. These include, conceptualisation, behavioural design, and finally interface design.

This reading enabled me to finally understand the necessity and importance of studying user interactions and how we as designers can take this knowledge and apply it. Interactive designers are able to enter the world of the user and determine how and more importantly why an interface does what it does. Furthermore, I strongly believe in the design process of starting from the outside and collecting data relevant to the market, user, technologies and competitors to best meet the user's needs and support the business's overall goals and objectives for the project. 

However, the main idea that I took away from this reading was to analyse a user's need and behaviour in order to determine the products functionality. Therefore, I will now be able to apply this new knowledge and make educated justifications.

Week 3 Task

As discussed earlier the task this week was to start initial brainstorming using sketching, photos and preliminary research to create a concept that uses an input-output function based on a user's interactions. 

Each group member brought in different electronic devices to gather extra resources and parts to help build and eventually prototype our design. In the salvage process the group focused on collecting speakers, microphones, LEDs, wires and any type of buttons as the primary interactive components. These components were selected as they provided a wide variety of different design solutions and means of user interactions. The pictures of these deconstructions are displayed below:

The team's final concept was a security system for prison guards to help control and reduce violence, damage and disruption in prisons. The device is placed inside each prison cell and it monitors noise or changes in volume/pitch and alerts the prison guards through sound and LED lights. Therefore, the input is sound and the output is sound and light. The device would alert security personal or prison guards when a certain level of volume or decibels is reached in the prison cell. 

The idea behind this concept was to instil confidence and safety for both prison guards and other inmates by offering them an alternative to cameras and motion detectors. The device also provides prison guards an added means of reducing crime and improving conditions for staff and other employees.

I decided to make a vector based map to contextualize and illustrate how the system works and the different means on input-output and human interaction.

In regards to the semesters project of 'sensing the news' i continued to look for inspiration for idea generation and to give me a better understanding of what technologies are already on the market. 

Video One: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOvQCPLkPt4

I was intrigued by this concept as it did not directly focus on a specific technology or a commercialized product, it actually analysed a foreseeable futuristic concept that could improve tablet interfaces. The video discusses how modern day touch devices allow people to interact with virtual objects and immerse themselves in new worlds. However, it has been identified that there is still a substantial delay between when a finger moves and when the display responds. As a result, Microsoft researches have built a laboratory test system that allows us to experience the impact of different latencies on the user experience. The results help us understand how far we still have to go to improve touch performance. 

Viewing this video made me realize information that is delayed can have a tremendous impact on the user's experience and uptake of the product. Users who have difficulty interacting with a device or display and receive limited or no feedback can become frustrated and annoyed. This poor experience could result in a drop in purchases, a rise in complaints and a subsequent decrease in market share. I believe it is important to consider this when designing a product that is sending and receiving information, especially when information is represented through colour and images.

Week 2

Theme: "Making Interactions"

Introduction

Each team was requested to bring in small electronic devices with different technologies, applications and context of use. These devices would later be deconstructed and critically analysed. The aim behind this session was to pull apart the internal components of each device and make an input-output behaviour whilst salvaging useful parts. The electronics which were identified as beneficial and suitable included resistors, electrical wires, speakers, push buttons, slide buttons, LED's, motion detectors and temperature sensors. The process and investigation of the deconstruction projects are well documented with images and data which is relevant to each team member. In addition, the team also decided to collaborate and deconstruct an educational learning tablet for children in order to understand the basics of Arduino, an open-source single-board micro-controller and to conceptualize some ideas for the main project. 

Leap Frog Educational Learning Tablet

The Leap Frog tablet teaches children ages 2 and up, storytelling, phonics skills and the alphabet. Children are able to engage with the tablet through tactile buttons, animations, LCD screen, voice overs, in-built speakers and musical sounds. Children are also able to connect to the internet and personalize certain features such as songs, emails and stories. 

During the deconstruction process and with the aid of various tutors, numerous interesting components were identified as useful parts including a thin touch sensitive membrane which acted as the input and a small speaker and LCD screen which acted as the output. From here the group collected the speaker, various electrical wires and started going through each of the tutorials for programming with Arduino. The team did some initial brainstorming exercises and came up with a device that is used by lifeguards or emergency personal which detects the ambient temperature and relays the data through a speaker.

Arduino Programming
I started the Arduino exercises by finding scrap parts and other broken electrical devices to use their internal components and wiring. The main parts I was looking for included buttons, switches, wires, speakers and sensors. I then began by going through each tutorial to understand the terminologies and the fundamental principles of our products work. Below are images and short videos which show the process and configuration of each tutorial.

Tutorial 1: Digital Outputs

 Tutorial 2: Digital Inputs

 Tutorial 3: Digital I/O

Tutorial 4: Analog Output

 Tutorial 5: Analog Input

I managed to attempt tutorial 6, however, I was unable to successfully get the RC Servo Motor to spin. Therefore, I decided to stop at tutorial 6 and try to figure out the correct configuration for each of the parts. 

Group Work

Due to the fact that our group successfully completed tutorials 1-3, we decided to try and incorporate the speaker into our concept design but we encountered many obstacles and subsequent failures. However, it was later discovered by Alex Garrett via a closer inspection that one of the switches on the circuit board was broken and malfunctioning. More importantly, the team also identified that all of the resistors and associated wiring was in the correct position according to the notes on Blackboard and would have worked if the switch was operational. 

This was the programming code used in the failed attempted in tutorial 4 - analog output.

// Speaker (analog wave-form) output with Switches
// (with a complex use of Pulse-width Modulation)
// prepared by Yasu Santo July 2008
// refer to Language Reference at www.arduino.cc for
// detailed descriptions of commands
// --- part of this script was borrowed from
// http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/PlayMelody
#define pbPin1 1 // assign 2 to constant "pbPin1"
#define pbPin2 2 // assign 3 to constant "pbPin2"
// PWM can be used with pin 3, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11.
#define speakerPin 6 // assign 9 to constant "speakerPin"
#define tc 3817 // 1 / (262Hz) = 3817 milliseconds
#define tcs 3610 // 1 / (277Hz) = 3610 milliseconds
#define td 3401 // 1 / (294Hz) = 3401 milliseconds
#define tds 3215 // 1 / (311Hz) = 3215 milliseconds
#define te 3030 // 1 / (330Hz) = 3030 milliseconds
#define tf 2865 // 1 / (349Hz) = 2865 milliseconds
#define tfs 2703 // 1 / (370Hz) = 2703 milliseconds
#define tg 2551 // 1 / (392Hz) = 2551 milliseconds
#define tgs 2410 // 1 / (415Hz) = 2410 milliseconds
#define ta 2273 // 1 / (440Hz) = 2273 milliseconds
#define tas 2146 // 1 / (466Hz) = 2146 milliseconds
#define tb 2024 // 1 / (494Hz) = 2024 milliseconds
#define tcc 1912 // 1 / (523Hz) = 1912 milliseconds
int button1 = 0; // assign "0" to variable "button1"
int button2 = 0; // assign "0" to variable "button2"
void setup(){
Serial.begin(9600); // open serial port with a specified baud rate
pinMode(pbPin1, INPUT); // set the digital pin as INPUT
pinMode(pbPin2, INPUT); // set the digital pin as INPUT
pinMode(speakerPin, OUTPUT); // set the digital pin as OUTPUT
}
void playTone(int tone, long duration){ // Fundtion to play a tone for a set duration
long elapsed_time = 0;
while(elapsed_time < duration){ // while elapsed time of this function is less than the set duration
digitalWrite(speakerPin, 1); // this and next 3 lines generate wave form for a specific tone.
delayMicroseconds(tone/2);
digitalWrite(speakerPin, 0);
delayMicroseconds(tone/2);
elapsed_time += tone; // add the duration of tone just played to the elapsed time.
}
}
void loop(){
button1 = digitalRead(pbPin1);
button2 = digitalRead(pbPin2);
if(button1 == 0 && button2 == 0){ // if both buttons are "0" or ON then
Serial.println("both ON"); // send a message to debug window
playTone(te, 100000);
}else if(button1 == 0){ // if only button 1 is "0" or ON then
Serial.println("(1) ON"); // send a message to debug window
playTone(tc, 100000);
}else if(button2 == 0){ // if only button 2 is "0" or ON then
Serial.println("(2) ON"); // send a message to debug window
playTone(td, 100000);
}
}

The team was able to learn much from this exercise including ensuring all components are accurately inspected to check they are fully operational and how to make use of internal components from other devices. Overall this weeks tutorial was challenging but made me as a designer open my eyes and see the bigger picture and realise that there is more to a product then just it's aesthetics and visual appeal.