Perspective The MIT Mobile Experience Lab seeks to radically reinvent and creatively design connections between people, information, and places. Using cutting-edge information and mobile technology, the Lab seeks to improve people’s lives through the careful design of meaningful experiences. The Mobile Experience Lab’s ethos is driven by the user. The Lab’s work endeavors to improve user activities without compromising user exploration. Design solutions should be practical, perceptive, and considerate of needs; however, final products and services should delightful and add value to the quotidian routine.
APPROACH User-centered Design Collaborative Culture Rapid Prototyping Unbounded Innovation
FOCUS Creative Connections Cutting-edge Technology Meaningful Experiences
Turk Telekom Innovation Center How can an innovation center be reimagined, considering innovation, experience, and participation? We envision the new innovation center to be a seamless blend of digital and physical experiences for customers and internal employees. A center where they can observe ongoing research, engage with cutting edge technologies, and advance in innovation and efficiency. The center will be divided into three program zones; the Museum, the Offices, and the Customer Experience Center. We envision that the new TT Innovation center will be a public manifestation of innovation culture at Turk Telekom. Date: 2015 Collaborator: Turk Telekom in Istanbul Turkey
MIT Atlas Service Center Can the standard expectations of a service center be pushed to cater to an increasing number of services, and a community that strives for efficiency and innovation? MIT is a special institute that embraces change, modernity, and innovation; an institute with a diverse student and faculty body. Researchers at the MIT Design Lab wanted to reimagine a new university service center that fits the progressive identity of MIT with four main goals in mind: to design a space to better serve the MIT community, to have user’s needs fullfilled efficiently yet enjoyably, and to strengthen connections within MIT. Date: 2015 Collaborator: MIT Service Center in Boston, MA
Celik-Assist What boundaries could be pushed with digital technologies to enhance a customer’s shopping experience? Celik Assist offers a seamless shopping experience from the storefront windows to checkout. The store will consist of inviting display windows that will draw the user in, along with digital screen interfaces to collect information on customers’ interests, providing them personal assistance. Celik Assist will aim to avoid the issues of limited differentiation from street view, and inconsistent product interaction. Date: 2015 Collaborator: Celik-Arcelik in Turkey
UBI How can the new world of personal finance become more comprehensive to everyone? The Mobile Experience Lab has been working with UBI Banca to design a personal money management system for all its clients, from the novice to the super user. The team at MEL alongside UBI Banca, aims to demystify financial data, and make it understandable and useful. Using narrative science and contextualized information, we are trying a unique approach to everyday banking. The end product was a new type of user experience in the world of personal finance that is aimed at all customers. Date: 2014 Collaborator: UBI Italy
ENI Mobility Hub How could the petrol station become a future hub for mobility? The collaboration between MIT’s Mobile Experience Lab and Eni started with a reinvention of the refueling experience but expanded to a bigger picture of connectivity and holistic strategies. The project proceeded to be redefined through research topics ranging from shifts in transportation patterns to mobile payment, and user recognition technologies. The partnership between a research lab specializing in human-centric technologies and Italy’s preeminent oil company, generated a strong vision of the future that allowed this project to become a realizable re-conceptualization of urban mobility at a wide-reaching scale. Date: 2014 Collaborator: Eni in Italy
ENI Fuel Station How can we adapt to the new and alternate methods of tomorrow? The ENI fuel station station of the tomorrow looks to create incremental innovation within fuel station delivery and experience. While acknowledging that alternate fuel sources are the future in station design, this project looks to new experiences and technologies that will aid in the transition from fuel stations today to the stations of the future. The project consists of the station design, a reinvented payment system, and a smart glass dashboard strategy. Date: 2013 Collaborator: Eni in Italy
Bradesco What will happen to branches with an increase in mobile banking? In this ongoing project with Banco Bradesco, a Brazilian bank, the Mobile Experience Lab is designing new branch services and interior spaces to support various forms of knowledge share, in response to the increase in mobile banking. The Bradesco Everyday Branch, PLUS, is a Smart Learning Hub, a place for workshops in financial education to mobile banking, as well as a community networking place, where exchange of knowledge is happening. It is also a place for personalized experiences, with the use of smart technology and easily approachable universal bankers. We are currently working on the design of both space and services, which we will fabricate a one to one scale mock-up for in-space “body-storming� workshop with Bradesco, and the local community. Date: 2014 Collaborator: Bradesco in Brazil
Marriott Six Degrees With advancing technology, how can the hotel lobby be reimagined without merely the ordinary elements it includes? Six Degrees is a social network prototype designed for the hotel lobby in collaboration with Marriott Hotels. Through Six Degrees, guests can discover how they are connected to one another, and can socialize with one another in events planned by Marriott. The platform is designed to highlight the connections that already exist between guests, while encouraging new connections to form. Date: 2014 Collaborator: Marriott Hotel in Cambridge, MA
The Future Hotel Experience How can the hotel experience be redefined, making it even more social, seamless, and connected? The Mobile Experience Lab partnered with Marriott Hotels to explore how digital technologies can be integrated into the physical and digital spaces of the hotel in order to transform the hotel experience. Date: 2012 Collaborator: Marriott Hotel in Cambridge, MA
Prato Fashion District How can local manufacturing talents be discovered by and connected with fashion designers around the world? Prato’s distinct textile industry provides a unique design space. Prato’s industrial landscape is comprised of a series of different actors within the industrial district and outside of it. The future challenges of the district of Prato are deeply rooted in its complex socio-economic milieu, characterized by cultural tension and changes in the production system. In this project, the Lab designed a web platform - Fashion Valley - to mediate interactions between Prato companies and fashion designers around the world. The platform showcases the skills of Prato, connects international designers to Prato companies, and manages the production process. Date: 2012 Collaborator: Camera di Commercio in Prato, Italy
Locast Tourism What tools can help tourists plan, navigate, and share their travels? Locast Tourism is a collaborative, locative media travel guide combining high-quality, professional content with tourists’ own experiences and local knowledge, all captured through geo-located photos, videos, and text. Built on the Locast platform, the project is a novel approach to the tourist experience: it is a resource when planning a trip, a guide when deciding where to explore, and a repository of shared experiences in a region. Deployed at a wide-scale, by leveraging the increasing availability of connected, capable mobile devices and social networks, the project provides a powerful set of tools to foster collaboration and help people improve and capture their own travel experiences. Date: 2011 Collaborator: Rai New Media in Abruzzo, Italy
Interactive Bus Stop How can urban structures provide real- time transportation information and act as a social networking platform for a community? In future scenarios of public transportation, the bus stop can be more than a simple stop where passenggers and buses connect. By integrating information technology, the bus stop can serve as a landmark and community rallying point, adopting new versions of the roles traditionally played by a cultural center or town square. Date: 2006 Collaborator: RATP in Paris, France
Outlook Design and technology evolve quickly and often unpredictably. Today’s fast-paced business and social landscapes allow for accelerated growth and rapid adoption of new products and services. The Mobile Experience Lab works to not only detect burgeoning trends, but to also define how these tendencies will impact the future. To this end, the Mobile Experience Lab strives for disruptive innovation, for unbridledly ambitious, creative responses to all design challenges. To do so the Lab takes a broad approach, cutting across different vertical industries to develop holistic designs. Lab researchers are excited to design the next generation of products and services, and look forward to the interactions and experiences that await.