MA Interactive Multimedia @ Bath Spa University

Networked Design Project: Evaluation & Reflection

My current model of the de-constructed object is at a stage I would consider as a rather sketchy prototype, however I would like to explain what I see as positive elements and look for reasons the outcome is behind what I would set myself as standard for a really good project.Our task was to choose an object and conduct wide ranging research on it, considering all the angles, however oblique. We were expected to end up with a huge amount of information, much of it apparently unrelated, which should all be connected by the original object we picked.

I think this part of the project was a particular strength of mine. My object of interest was a water tap as there are many cultural/usability/design topics to be discovered beyond the surface of this everyday object, see my ongoing research on this blog, relevant delicious bookmarks and files in my public box account. I also did a lot of original research whereby I sneaked into public toilets with my camera and waited for a good moment to take pictures of the taps on offer getting a few curios looks by people coming in when I just took some close-ups.

Sticking to original brief I really did consider all angles and my research took me from the design of water taps to the Israel/Palestine conflict and apparel for plumbers to the drought in Africa. While this was all very interesting and also what was expected initially I missed the opportunity to then quickly draw a line and make everything relevant to the original object again. While my peers already had a clearly defined scope I was still investigating into various subjects that in the end had more relevance to the very wide field of water than they did to the tap.

Neil Glen managed to get me focused again on the original topic by which time I was already lagging behind a bit. Usually with some extra effort it wouldn’t have been a problem to catch up but as there was a very busy period at work (I work 3 days a week in a “proper” job),the Uni other projects that demanded my input and a few scheduled sessions with Neil that got canceled due to different circumstances. During this period I carried on developing my interface to what I thought was a good direction. However during a then scheduled brief crit session Neil had a few issues with this direction and made some valid points about clarity of structure and relationships within my interface so it was back to the drawing board for me.

There was then hardly anymore dedicated time to talk about this project during our skype sessions as there were (very good) guest lectures and the other project for the guys on the Interaction Design course ( I was only taking part in this project as I am the last full time student for IMM and am doing a bit of both courses) was the main focus of attention. I missed the opportunity to contact Neil offline/after the sessions via E-Mail for some more guidance and clear directions – so, this being my own fault, I more or less developed in isolation being quite confident that my interface design would suffice.

It was now the beginning of June and I was slightly shocked that a) there were still some general issues with the design b) Martin jumping in for Neil made some contrary points which now left me more confused than helped by the crit. I was determined to still get this off the ground as good as possible and started creating a completely new interface with a changed frontal perspective and a bowl metaphor. As I wanted this to work modelled on the magic faucet by Villeroy and Boch (which you tap once for cold, twice for warm and 3 xfor hot water) this required some deeper actionscript coding as Flash has no default method of detecting a double-click. Again, on its own I am sure I would have managed but the pressure from the other projects was really building up too and I was generally struggling getting everything done to a standard I would be happy with (namely the Usbality Group project which became much bigger than anticipated,see seperaete notes on this topic, and the PHP module which I was working on without any formal Uni support)

So taking all the above into account I think positive notes of the model that is online now are that I reacted to feedback and came up with new design solutions answering to the main points of criticism. By developing the model further from a simple timeline animation to a model that utilises loadMovieNum and unloadMovieNum commands I also spent some useful time on starting to think in layers of information rather than linear chunks of animation.

The design of the interface is very minimalist using white,black and greys which I think this is just right for the topic, as well designed modern bathroom appliances also rely on clear shapes and forms/muted colour schemes.

I mixed a very literal interpretation of the subject (outlines of a bowl and tap) with typographical elements representing information/water as the core element. Generally I also subscribe to the view that the message should not be distracted by the metaphor used to display it but I made a conscious decision to use a relevant interface as this is such a special interest project – I don’t feel a generic container that could be used for any other topic was right in this particular case (see also Tom’s project e.g who also made the subject of his research the focal design element) for this particular project.

In summary here are a few more bullet points regarding my view of the project in retrospective

Positive

• new ways of looking at navigation, forced to think outside the conventions of click here -> go there
• new ways of looking at virtual communities & online games (insiders’ views were very inspiring)
• inside knowledge of different course with a different approach
• distance participation via Skype fun and useful, regardless of technical issues
• responsiveness to feedback/crit by peers and tutors
• thinking about interfaces as truly interactive experience, different approach to classic usability mindset

Negative

• not keeping focused on important milestones (because they were lacking in the first place)
• distracted to easily by paths that interest me be it culturally or technically
• own project management an afterthought
• final outcome way behind own expectations
• change of direction shortly before hand in
• rustiness of own Flash, or better actionscript skills

What I have learnt

• Set clearer milestones;arrange for meetings beforehand when I visit Uni
• push for more (written) feedback from tutors
• write down more
• use more pen and paper for sketches

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• Link to research & development files on box: http://www.box.net/shared/keaxnxatxj
• Some related online research which I “socially bookmarked” here: http://del.icio.us/cklavery/networked_design
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Networked Design: Project finalised

Below is the URL for my work to date. It is still only a rough prototype but functionalities such as a scrollable text box using up & down keys,simple sounds, clearer idea of how “used” information disappears from the bowl (via load& unloadMovie) have been achieved as has a new crisp interface – the hierachy problems with displaying the info at an angle on a ring are therefore no more.I removed the typographical water flow for now (see it in previous version) as I could not stop it from flowing – these are thedangers of using half understood actionscript. Unfortunately the code snippet Neil Jenkins has kindly sent me for multiple click selection won’t work per simple drag and drop onto my button – I simply haven’t got the time to make this work now.

http://cklavery.net/uni/pgdip/networked_design/watertap_clive_170607.html

Previous version (with typo animation):

http://cklavery.net/uni/pgdip/networked_design/networkeddesign_clive_060607.html

See also some related online research which I “socially bookmarked” here: http://del.icio.us/cklavery/networked_design

Communication with Neil Jenkins

Heard back from Neil Jenkins today regarding my questions for the water tap. I sent him the file 6 days ago and while this is normally fine and I am grateful for his support, with regards to the deadline in 3(!) days it is really tight especially as my PHP is not yet working as expected & evaluations/reflections are also still outstanding.

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14/06/07

Here’s a solution i’ve come up with for multiple mouse clicks
play with the period variable to lengthen time allowed for clicks

n

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08/06/07

Hi Clive,

Thanks for the files, I’ll have a look at them over the weekend and get
back to you.
best wishes

Neil —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

07/06/2007

Hi Neil J,

As previously discussed please find attached my current .fla and .swf files.(original file and external file which I load via loadMovie Num on top for the information)
I have created a layer “comments” with my comments/questions – if you could help me or put me in the right direction I would be very grateful.

Further interface development after crit with Martin

After Martin’s feedback  I was generally confused as this differed quite a bit from Neil’s input and while it is perfectly normal to have two opinions
set in front of you and having to make conscious design  decisions yourself  I do feel this is a bit short notice so close to hand-in.

However I have taken on board some points about perspective/usability/form following function and developed the interface further, click on the URL to see  it (will open in a new browser window):

http://cklavery.net/uni/pgdip/networked_design/networkeddesign_clive_060607.html

The content of the red boxes are questions for Neil Jenkins who will give me  some support in actionscripting this project.

Further interface development

Initial storyboard here as a reminder: http://www.cklavery.net/bathspa/pgdip/watertap_storyboard_270307.html 

Water tap development 29.0507

Click within the typographic waterflow to obtain information

http://cklavery.net/uni/pgdip/networked_design/networkeddesign_clive_290507.swf

Water tap development 26.0507

Adding some half understood actionscript I  added a typographic waterflow to the tap which is triggered by a click:

http://cklavery.net/uni/pgdip/networked_design/networkeddesign_clive_260507.swf 

Development of the water tap 26.05.07

See screenshots of the water tap below. Modelled on the Magic Faucet functionality i.e the user controls the information provided by simply touching the tap fitting.

The information flows out of the tap in a random typographical order, similar to the matrix effect. I used some (half understood) Actionscript to trigger this.

To Do next: