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Data Experience Jake Cohen
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Introduction Data Experience is a speculative project which explores the emerging applications of Data as a design material, in order to identify experiential and meaningful ways to interact with different forms of data.
Synopsis In this project, I am asked to consider how data can be incorporated into designed experiences. I will explore data as a material, something that can not only inform my designs, but also be integrated into them. I will consider what data actually is, how it can be manufactured, its material properties,
its contexts and moments of use, and finally what values it has to the beholder. I will explore the physicality and the form it can take to create a tangible and meaningful experience for a variety of users. I will also discuss the issues regarding data caveats and ethical data collection in relation to my concept.
6 week project Janet Kelly
Primary Research
01 - 04
Secondary Research
05 - 10
Concept Goal
11 - 18
Ideation
19 - 22
Sketch Modeling
23 - 32
Design Proposal
33 - 36
Final Design
37 - 42
Communication
-- - --
Feedback
43 - 47
Reflection
48
What is data? Data is information that has been translated into a form that is more convenient to use or process for reference or analysis.
Primary Research Responsive Behaviours Studying how human behaviour changes with the influence of environmental factors.
01 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
Research Plan To launch the project, as a team of 3, we created a research plan for the collection of quantitative and qualititative data regarding our chosen theme of ‘Responsive Behaviours’.
Focus Questions • In what space are they? • What time of the day is it? • How are people interacting? • What are their actions at this time? • What are the environmental conditions?
• What are they wearing/using? • What are their movements like? • What are their facial expressions? • What are their hands doing?
Methods of data collection Auto-ethnography Each team member will document their behaviours and emotions throughout each day in the different environments they surround themselves in. This will be documented in a reflective journal. We will also observe and document each other. Observations We will be visiting a number of public places and observing human behaviour in these locations. We will contrast and compare people’s actions at different time periods & repeat these observations under the influence of varying environmental factors, including: • time of day • daylight • noise levels
• crowdedness • weather • landscape
• cleanliness • greenery • scents
• sounds
Documentation
photos
videos
fieldnotes
sketches
02
Observations As a team, we observed human behaviour under the influence of time, location, weather, lighting, sounds (and sound levels), atmosphere & smell in several locations in Glasgow. Prior to this, we produced a list of ethical considerations in order to responsibly collect our data.
Ethics of data collection • • • •
Do not focus photos on one person Keep a good distance away from people when taking photos Take photo/videos in appropriate public places e.g. away from schools Do not collect identities With collected sets of data regarding our theme, we will consider how to use this data respectfully by considering the privacy of those observed. We will construct a list of rules for use and presentation for the data once it has been collected.
quantitative
Areas
Royal Exchange Sq.
Glasgow Central St.
Buchanan St.
qualitative
Sauchiehall St.
03
Collection
As a team, we produced data collection cards that allowed us to quickly and carefully collect consistent data for each area ready to study after the field research. Analysis
people environ.
30sec.
We tallied what people were doing in the videos we collected for each area in a 30 second time frame. 04
Affinitsation With a vast amount of quantitative data collected, we decided to affinitise our research so far to find patterns and trends.
Findings • Weather properties are too conventionally measured and didn’t largely influence
human behaviour • It felt like the overall theme was still too broad • Sound and light observations were the most interesting as they aren’t
conventionally measured and influence human behaviour in many ways
Reflection Although we had completed lots of primary research at this point, it didn’t feel as though we had discovered anything interesting. I felt this was perhaps due to having a very broad theme, and so suggested to the team to narrow our theme into something more specific. After reflecting on the data we collected so far, we agreed that sound and light measurements were interesting environmental influences on human behaviour, and so decided to continue our primary investigations based on these two sets of data studies. 05
Light + Sound Studying how human behaviour & emotions change with the influence of light and sound
06
Auto Ethnography & Ethnography After redefining our theme, our aim was to document behaviours and emotions in locations where lighting and sounds (and sound levels) will differ, in order to reveal any patterns and trends.
Method of Data Collection
I produced new cards which collected quantitative and qualitative data regarding light and sound and its impacts on emotion. Both ourselves and others are asked to fill these in different places at different times.
Reflection The ‘Responsive Behaviour’ cards were a very useful asset for our data collection. I designed these to be user friendly for everyone to use, which proved successful as people used them correctly. Again, using these cards meant that our data was consistent. With the gathering of these feedback cards, I began to feel as though we were heading in the right direction for the project as they showed interesting findings and moments for opportunity. 07
Affinitisation - Round 2
+
overall feelings
-
At this stage, we had distributed over 30 cards to people in different areas of Glasgow, and some to international friends and family. We also had a vast amount of cards we ourselves as a team had filled in through auto-ethnography. We decided to take these cards and affinitise them first in an order from positive feelings to negative feelings.
Key findings • Home is a place for relaxation, so different types of sounds
from home give positive feelings, even though they might be unpleasant or slightly loud noises. • Normally, low and warm lighting made people feel more
comfortable & relaxed. • Brighter environments with a medium light temperature (5)
result in more positive feelings. 08
Affinitisation - Round 3 location time time time
Next, we grouped the cards into specific locations and then ordered them in chronologically for each group. The aim here was to see which locations have more positive and negative feelings, and how these reflect lighting conditions, sounds and time of day.
Key findings • Home proved to be the most positive and relaxed environment. • In working environments, bright and cold light combined with
low sound levels improves a person’s ability to concentrate on work. If there are slight sounds, such as hearing others work, it’s reassuring because they are reminded they aren’t alone. • In pubic areas (e.g. coffee shop, streets) too many types of
sounds mix together, which can annoy people because it’s hard to focus on all sounds at once. 09
Quantifiable Data We then calculated the mean qauntified score of each location. Home sound level
Streets
X X
brightness lighting temp.
X
X X
lighting mood
X
sound mood
Malls
X
X X
brightness lighting temp. lighting mood sound mood
X
X X X
X X X Workplace
Coffee Shops
X
sound level brightness lighting temp. lighting mood sound mood
X X
Studio sound level
X X
X
X
X X X X
X X X 10
Insights Home
As a team, we also observed our findings to discover quantitative insights which would help develop design opportunities. Light & Emotion
Sound & Emotion
Warm and dull lighting is relaxing Cold and dull lighting leads to more negative emotions
Home comfort sounds e.g. dog paws clicking on floor, TV in the background, fridge humming, clock ticking Notification sounds are reminding of work = annoying
Work
Bright and cold lighting makes people more content and focused
People working It’s reassuring to hear other people working when you are working too Loud repetitive noises do not necessarily mean greater dissatisfaction, it depends on the context (e.g. work environment)
Streets
Bright and cold lit streets give sense of an active and lively atmosphere
It’s annoying when sounds you dislike override your own music or ability to think
Coffee Shops
Dull, warm lighting makes people feel more relaxed and comfortable
People enjoy the ambient noises within coffee shops
11
Design Opportunities the sound of home, anywhere?
bringing the sound of home comforts (e.g. dog paws, background T.V) to everyday life? sound for memory
what if we could help awaken memories through sounds? (e.g. notification sound reminding of work or awakening good experiences) a balance of sound
is there a way to control the sounds around us in a way which could control our emotions and health? sound as a companion
sound as a companion for helping in different situations? (e.g. movie noises to help fall asleep, hearing people work as you work) environment by mood
could lighting and sound be detected, and then advice is offered on how to create the “perfect� atmosphere based on current emotions?
12
Secondary Research Psychology of Sound With a chosen design opportunity, I began to conduct secondary research into sound and its impacts on human behaviour, emotion and health in order to begin developing a defined design direction.
13 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
At this stage, I had delved into studying many articles and research on sound and its impacts on human behaviour and emotion. Of particular interest to me was Julian Treasure’s TED Talk on sound, which led me to think about conscious and unconscious sounds and our control of them.
“ Most of the sound around us is accidental” “ Our relationship with sounds has become unconcious” “ If you are listening constantly, you can take control of sounds around you”
How does sound affect us constantly?
1
Behaviourally
e.g. listening to dance music whilst driving will probably make you want to drive faster.
2
Cognitively
you can’t understand two people talking at once, you have to choose who or what to listen to.
3
Psychologically
sounds effect our emotional health. e.g. music affects the way we feel. when birds are singing, things are safe; it’s when they stop that you need to be worried.
4
Physiologically
sounds affect our breathing, heart rate and brainwaves. e.g. an alarm clock The 4 Ways Sound Affects Us Julian Treasure TED Global 2009
14
Design Direction After collecting a vast amount of research regarding sound, I began mindmapping to think about the direction I wanted to go for the project.
changing the routes we walk How can sounds change people’s behaviours?
avoiding the ‘bad’ sounds decision making How can sounds make people think differently?
music releases endorphins promoting auditory mindfulness keeping in a safe sound level to avoid hearing loss
reduce stagnation by appreciating everyday sounds
eliminating the unconscious?
a deeper understanding of the sounds we hear?
MINDFULNESS
discovering new and unheard sounds?
trying to listen to more natural ‘positive’ sounds?
discovering new places based on auditory value?
Reflection I was originally interested in unconscious sounds, and how we might be able to appreciate them. However, after having a tutorial, I began to realise that this would be difficult and perhaps might not create a pleasent and beneficial experience for the user. Because of this, I decided to move into issues with hearing loss and became really interested preventing NIHL, which also tie with unconcious sounds. 15
Nearly half of adult children say that their parent’s hearing loss has affected their relationship with that parent.
Hearing loss typically occurs at repeated, unprotected exposures above 90dB, but pain isn’t felt until 120dB
NIHL is the most common permanent and preventable occupational injury in the world.
NIHL
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
Noise induced hearing loss is a permanent hearing impairment resulting from prolonged exposure to high levels of noise
16
Concept Goal At this stage I became interested in issues regarding Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), and so began researching further into its issues and effects. From this, I could then ideate possible design solutions that utilise data collected from my primary research.
17 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
I mindmapped secondary research findings regarding NIHL and its causes and effects. To aid concept generation, I listed the problems and possible solutions, from which I was able to define an objective.
The Problem • • • • •
Exposure to harmful noises can happen at any age. NIHL can be caused by a one-time exposure to an intense sound, or by continuous exposure to loud sounds. As the damage from noise exposure is usually gradual, you might not notice it, or ignore the signs of hearing loss until they become more pronounced. NIHL is the only type of hearing loss that is 100% preventable, however, as a blind issue, most people don’t notice it, or even think about it. Once the damage has been done, it’s irreversible.
The Solution By making people aware of the causes and effects of NIHL, people may change their behaviour accordingly in order to prevent it. Data could be collected about the environments a user subjects themselves to in order to inform them when sounds become damaging.
The Objective An artefact or series of connected artefacts which spread awareness of NIHL and aid the user to appropriately change their relationship with sound. 18
Ideation With my objective in mind, I began to explore different ideas by rapidly sketching a variety of concepts
19 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
idea 1
an ear stud to communicate sound levels and sound mood
Pulsates to let the user know when sound is damaging
high Colour changing ear stud indicates sound low level to others
Charge pad reveals daily sound-based mood through colour anxious
idea 2
a wristband to promote the action of covering your ears
Detects motion and vibrates again when sound levels are safe
The wristband detects sound levels and vibrates when sounds are damaging
Vibration and flashing reminds the user to cover their ears or move elsewhere
20
idea 3
a wearable ring which produces sound maps
danger warning safe Measures dB level and produces an on-the-go visual update Has a pulsating heartbeat to warn the user when sounds are damaging
idea 4
Using data from everyone’s ring, live sound maps are produced to allow the user to plan their route accordingly
A phone case to communicate sound level
allows the user to optimise their environment
A sound level dial showing current and average daily sound levels marked ‘danger’zones 21
a sound satisfaction dial allows the user to judge sound health of an environment
immediately accessible
idea 5
A sculpture to reveal your daily sound intake
The user’s sound intake is represented through a textural sound bar sculpture damaging
safe
Reveal your day through touch
idea 6
traffic
a device to convert everyday sounds into sound therapy
wind
footsteps
sound types are measured and can be reviewed using an app at the end of the day convert
user places their phone on the artefact to convert the sounds they heard into healing visualisations and sounds
the user experiences sound therapy whilst falling asleep
22
idea 7
CLOTHING TO COMMUNICATE SOUND LEVELS
oh, I didn’t realise how loud it is here
Chromosonic fabric changes patterns with varying sound levels
idea 8
lighting TO COMMUNICATE THE SOUND LEVEL
Lighting changes the environment in specific contexts, so everyone becomes aware
below 85 dB above 85 dB
Lighting varies in colour temperature with sound levels
a key communicator through an interaction with no touchpoints 23
The user becomes a visual communicator in spreading awareness of sound levels
idea 9
something to look after that represents your sound health
A simple on-the-go object that requires looking after, which in turn looks after the user’s sound health Becomes a talking point that raises awareness Becomes brighter when sounds are more intense
Pulsates like a human heartbeat when sounds are too loud
Which ideas? Preferred
3 4 9 After sharing my ideas in a tutorial, I was interested in different elements of a variety of my ideas, but was most interested in the idea of something to look after which would represent your sound health and promote positive change in the user’s relationship with sound.
Reflection At first, the idea of sketching ideas at this stage seemed daunting as I was still interested in researching my subject of NIHL. Initially, it was hard for me to come up with ideas, but once I had started, I began to think more creatively and kept coming up with more ideas. My style of sketching also meant that I was able to quickly produce new ideas that communicate the aim of the experience. However, I decided to start storyboarding in order to discover the social implications. 24
Storyboarding
George has set preferences to change unpleasant sounds into therapeutic sounds 60 50 40
70
I sketched out a potential scenario to explore a combination of some of my favourite elements from the previous sketches.
He wakes up and sets off to work, taking his pod with him
He keeps his pod in his pocket where it is close to him
80
60 50
90
80 90
40
100
100
dB
dB
Happiness
Happiness
The gauge on the pod indicates the current dB level and sound happiness
Whilst walking to work, sounds are becoming loud and damaging
George takes the pod out of his pocket as he feels its pulsating heartbeat
He opens the pod and puts in the sound transforming earplugs
25
70
The gauge on the pod begins to enter the danger zone
As George walks through the streets, unpleasant loud sounds are transformed...
into therapeutic and healing sounds as he has defined in the mobile companion app
George sets his pod down on the table at work and it intrigues his friends and so he decides to tell them about it
On his way home, George is warned again of damaging sounds in the subway through vibration of the pod
He opens the pod and puts in the earplugs
Sound levels at his workplace are at safe levels, and so the pod reads as happy
Visuals on the earplugs communicate sound levels to warn others around him of the damaging sound levels
avg.
48dB
Once again, sounds are transformed into pleasant and therapeutic sounds
George reviews his day before going to sleep, and plans a quieter route for tomorrow
The mobile app reveals quantitative insights and graphic visualisations that provoke behavioural changes 26
Sketch Modelling After exploring ideas and storylines, I decided to move away from pen and paper, and start thinking through making by making quick sketch models of my ideas.
27 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
What? A sketch model of the artefact explored in the previous storyboard which I carried around for a day.
Feedback • “ I’d prefer a wearable due to convenience” • “ It should be something fashionable” • “ The visuals are quite confusing and conventional” • Where is the most accurate place for the sensors? • Could it be a few things that link together?
Reflection Asking for user feedback was a really useful step for my understanding and my sketch models largely helped to communicate my concept. Based on the feedback, I decided to reflect back to my original ideas, brainstorm and started to make more sketch models in order to develop my concept. 28
Next Steps With feedback from my initial sketch model, I decided to look back into wearables and how appealing visuals could communicate the sound level. A feedback tutorial also challenged my idea with some provoking insights.
Insights • • • • • •
“ I’d rather not replace sounds, but instead just tone down certain sounds” “ I’d want it to tie into my phone’s volume levels too” “ When I wear earplugs I lose some connection with my surroundings” “ Do you need numbers for the sound level? Why not just visuals?” “ You’ll need something to measure sound level when it isn’t used” “ Could it help you prevent NIHL as well as becoming aware of it?”
accessible fashionable conventional
discreet
innersoles
bracelet prevent NIHL accurate for sensors
earplugs
something to communicate dangerous sound levels
ring clothing
wearables
changes constantly
pin badge
necklace fashionable always there viewable to others
visuals something to reveal daily sound insights? 29
always there fashionable many nerve endings
attachable anywhere fashionable adaptable
universally understood (to spread awareness to people with no knowledge of product)
What? I produced a variety of sketch models to test out the most suitable wearable for my proposed idea.
Findings After testing out each sketch model, I felt the ring and necklace were the most appropriate wearables as they can be easily seen, aren’t intruding and are also in locations suitable for the sensors, such as the microphone being close to the ears.
Reflection I originally wanted to avoid wearables as they are quite conventional and clichĂŠ, but quickly learned that they would be most appropriate for my product. I realised through quickly modeling wearables that I could design a series of connecting artefacts that create a pleasant and provoking experience. 30
Design Proposal After identifying what wearable artefacts would be suitable for my concept, I began to narrow down what it would be, how it would work and how it would help spread awareness of NIHL and prevent it.
31 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
It was suggested that certain sounds should be toned down, instead of covering them with more pleasant sounds. In order to discover what it’s like to wear earplugs, I spent a day wearing them. This helped inform my ideas as it was also suggested that earplugs make you feel excluded.
What if... •
there was an imediately accessible pair of earplugs that toned down dangerous sounds and other sounds defined by the user to safe levels?
•
there was a wearable that reminded the user when to wear these earplugs?
•
the wearables communicate to others as well as the user?
The artefact? Based on my sketch models, feedback and further ideas, I decided what my experiential artefacts should be:
earplugs prevents
+
ring communicates
+
mobile app specifies
tones down dangerous sounds to safe levels
communicates sound level to the user
allows user to define what sounds to tone down
assembles as a necklace when not in use
reveals your day of sound intake on-the-go
produces sound maps for quieter routes
communicates sound level to surrounding people 32
Experiments & tests With my artefacts chosen, the next stage saw me exploring with the physicality of the objects and how they can communicate sound levels. With each sketch model, I would test it by wearing it. By doing this, it allowed me to think about how the visuals could work and its level of discreetness. It also helped me discover the practicality issues and ease-of-use.
33
Sketches
From my learning through rapid modeling & testing, I sketched my final design proposal.
user wears as a necklace when not in use communicates current sound level to surrounding people when worn as a necklace
damaging safe
ring shows a visual audio timeline of your day...
...and becomes red and pulsates when sounds are damaging
in-ear dosimeter magnetic connection user detaches necklace and wears earplugs as cued by the ring
Balance hearing harmony
more conscious
Concept: balancing sounds to safe levels
more unconscious
reveal balance of daily sound intake
Branding
charge pad
Balance
Visuals communicate sound levels and intake 9:30Am 12:15PM
ring
safe dangerous
borrowing from volume bar visual language
earplugs communicate sound levels to others
day’s progression
Visual Implications As the visuals are a large part of making people aware of NIHL for my concept, I brainstormed and explored appropriate methods for effective and universal communication.
Reflection Using rapid prototyping as a thinking-through-making technique was very useful in leading me to my final idea. It was quite challenging to design a universal visual and took a lot of time and exploration to choose a design that works well. However, I did learn a lot at this stage regarding the value and use of carefully considered semantics.
35
Yin Yang
safe dangerous
Visual Implications I used CAD to explore with the functioning of the visuals by creating animations and testing them with people in order to see if they associated them with sounds.
Reflection Using my knowledge in Rhinoceros and KeyShot was particularly useful at this stage as it meant I could quickly explore with form and aesthetics in order to refine my design. At this stage I felt confident with my idea and was ready to make the final prototype. The next step was thinking how to create a high resolution appearance model, and how to communicate the concept effectively. 36
Final Design Balance is a product and system service which collects the environmental sound data a user subjects themselves to and changes their relationship with the sounds they hear
37 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
What?
Balance, named after its creation of balance in a person’s relationship with sound, is a set of earplugs that measure environmental sound levels and adjust the loudness of the sounds we hear appropriately.
How?
The earplugs are capable of detecting unconscious sounds that are undesired and conscious sounds. The user is able to define what sounds they see as conscious and unconscious using the mobile app. With this information, the earplugs create a balance between the conscious and unconscious sounds we expose ourselves too.
Why?
By using Balance, the user is able to hear more of what they want to hear, and less of what they don’t want to hear. In addition, as the earplugs adjust the dB level accordingly to safe levels, they are reducing the chances of NIHL.
38
Earplugs Balance earplugs are designed to be worn as a necklace when not in use, making them instantly accessible. When worn as a necklace, they produce a volume visual, which spreads awareness to people surrounding the user when sounds are damaging.
39
Ring To let the user know when to wear their Balance earplugs, an accompanying ring will become red and start to pulsate. The ring also produces a timeline of sound intake through a soundwave visual, refreshed each day at midnight, and trackable over time in the app.
40
Charge Pad The Balance Earplugs and Ring are charged using a charge pad. This charge pad also reveals whether the user has heard more conscious or unconscious sounds each when they place the Blance Ring on the centre logo.
41
Visual Feedback When the user places the ring on the logo of the charge pad, their balance is revealed. Based on the Balance logo, the Yin Yang symbol will change: more black means more unconscious sounds have been heard, whilst more white means more conscious sounds.
42
Mobile App The mobile app controls how the Balance earplugs work. The user is able to define what they want to hear and at what sound level, or they can choose an automatic mode which responds appropriately to sounds. It also provides live sound maps, a timeline of sound intake and information on the patterns revealed by the charge pad.
43
before using the earplugs, the user can set their filter preferences using the app
with preferences set, the user can then wear the earplugs and ring, and sounds will be filtered accordingly 44
collected data from all users with Balance earplugs produces live sound maps
environmental data
the cloud
meaningful shared data
45
users are able to choose certain routes for walking based on environmental data
the ring collects data about the environments the user subjects themselves to
this data is sent to the companion app to track sound intake over time
seeing the loudest areas on the map makes the user think about these locations in a different perspective
visuals on the charge pad allow the user to reflect and change their behaviour 46
Communication With a final prototype in place, I now needed to communicate how the concept worked. This included presenting a potential user scenario and also showing how data is collected and used to create the experience gained from the product and service.
47 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
Video Prototype I produced a video prototype which documents the product in-use by a particular user throughout her day. We see the actress in a variety of different scenes, such as getting on the subway, walking through the park and visiting a coffee shop, and throughout she is able to control sound using Balance.
https://youtu.be/4Ml-x-pFwwU
Reflection As my idea works with sound, the video prototype was my main source of communicating how my concept works. I spent a considerable amount of time planning and shooting my video prototype, and even more to edit it. I believe it resulted in a compressive storyline that successfully communicates my idea, albeit on the lengthy side.
48
system map
49
50
Feedback After presenting my work for review, I received constructive feedback from tutors. In the next steps, I aim to focus on this feedback and respond appropriately in attempt to improve my final outcome.
51 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
Things to improve
1
“ Consistency between the visual language of the rings and headphones. The form of the ring is precious and discreet, which is lovely, however, the earphones do not communicate it quite in the same way in terms of showing the sound information with the sound waves on one and bars on the other”.
2
“ The logo - a slight risk of it being similar to the Beats logo”.
3
“ It would be good to see a couple of stills from the video, images of real people with the products to express the experience better on first glance”.
Reflection The last stage of this project felt quite rushed, and although quite stressful, I felt I was able to achieve a well-refined outcome. I was pleased with the positive feedback for the project and agree with the points for improvement. However, I find it difficult to change the visuals of the earplugs to a more consistent representation, but still communicate that it’s measuring sound. 52
Still Storyboard 1
The user selects automatic mode for today using the Balance mobile app
3
...and wears his Balance earplugs as a necklace whilst not in use
5
Sounds at damaging dB levels cause the sound bar visuals to turn red 53
I produced a simplified still image storyline of my concept based on my feedback.
2
He puts on his Balance Ring...
4
As the user goes about his day, the visuals on the necklace alert others of the sound level
6
Using Permissible Exposure Time, the ring turns red and pulsates when sounds are damaging
7
8
This is a reminder for the user to wear their earplugs, which cancel noise accordingly
9
At the end of the day, the user charges his Balance earplugs and ring on the charge pad
10
The charge pad also reveals the user’s conscious and unconscious sound intake
The user then uses the app to track their day and relationship with sound
Reflection As suggested in my feedback, a still storyboard would help to communicate my concept at a simple glance. In this storyboard, I kept the storyline simple in order to keep it short and understandable. I feel this storyboard does help communicate the idea of my concept in a much simpler and quicker way than my video prototype. Nevertheless, my video prototype is an attempt to take the viewer on a 24-hour journey of a user using my product, where nothing is left to any doubt or confusion. 54
Logo It was suggested that the original logo might be too similar to the Beats logo. I decided to bring out the Yin Yang style of the logo and make the ‘b’ more subtle, so that it still represents the notion of Balance, but in less infringing way.
55
Earplug Visuals To let the user know when to wear their Balance earplugs, an accompanying ring will become red and start to pulsate. The ring also produces atimeline of sound intake through a soundwave visual, refreshed each day, and trackable in the app.
56
Final Reflection A final reflection on the project as a whole
57 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
Overall, this has been a challenging project which has greatly improved my understanding of ethical data collection and its uses in modern day design. Although the pace of the project was initially slow and felt rushed towards the end, I feel my outcome justifies the vast amount of research collected The research component for this project lasted for two weeks, and as a team of three, we had many ups and downs. Unfortunately, one of the team members didn’t pull their weight, meaning myself and the other teammate had to do the majority of the work. We met up many times outside of studio hours just to pick up the workload. Although this was disappointing, I believe myself and said teammate undertook good observations. However, until we narrowed our theme into data surrounding sound and light, if felt we were collecting data for the sake of it. Once we distinguished our theme and what we wanted to achieve, as a team, we learnt most from auto-ethnography and ethnography, instead of observations, and I quickly became interested in the influences of sound on human emotions and health. I conducted a lot of research into NIHL and its causes, effects and methods of presentation, which largely contributed the direction of my final design. Once I reached the ideation stage, I began to really enjoy this project and managed to come up with a vast amount of ideas quite easily, which is a stage that I usually get stuck with for most projects. I also enjoyed thinking through making to develop embryonic concepts into something that could be realised, which also really helped to communicate my thinking for effective feedback in tutorials. A new methods of
developing my ideas throughout this project was through using my newly learnt skills in CAD software, which meant I could explore the form and aesthetics much more easily to produce an appealing yet effective product system. For this project, I really tried to push myself in communicating how the experience of the product works, much more than previous projects. I communicated my video prototype as a 24 hour journey with multiple scenarios, and this worked well per feedback. This was also my first time making a systems diagram, and although it was quite large, I feel it doesn’t leave any doubt or question to the functioning of the product and service. In terms of my final outcome, I feel I have met the brief as Balance attempts to collect data and use it in a meaningful and thought-provoking way that attempts to reduce the chances of NIHL. I believe the wealth of research and development throughout the project has resulted in a proposal which is resolved into something seeming simple, yet provides a lot of value to the user.
Key Learning • Effective communication through system/
service thinking
• How to translate quantified data into
insights and design opportunities
• How to visualise and communicate a
complex system in an easy to understand visual format
• A deeper understanding of using visual
language and semantics for both universal and aesthetic purposes. 58
PRODUCT DESIGN The Glasgow School of Art