Design for Experience Jake Cohen
Introduction This project is about designing experiences, the primary concern being the quality of the experience produced. The project activity centres on ‘researching by doing’ and ‘thinking through making’ where an artefact takes central stage.
Synopsis This project asks me to design a civic experience that directly responds to the East End neighbourhood of Glasgow. The experience I create should centre on the design, deployment and use of an artefact to promote a deeper level of engagement between people and the area or neighbourhood.
I will draw upon certain design methods and utilise particular skills and approaches to drive the project to a resolved and confident conclusion. The outcome will be a highly refined artefact which is clear in objective and fully refined in terms of it’s value and appeal, with the attendant experience clearly communicated in a compelling way. 6 week project
Kirsty Ross
Primary Research
01 - 04
Insights
05 - 10
Individual Direction
11 - 18
Design Opportunity
19 - 22
Concept Generation
23 - 32
Interim Feedback
33 - 36
Ideation Prototyping
37 - 42
Design Proposal
43 - 47
Refining & Testing
48
Final Outcome
37 - 42
Communication
43 - 47
Feedback
48
Final Reflection
48
What is a civic experience? A civic experience is an event or occurance related to a city which leaves an impression on a person or collection of people.
Primary Research Glasgow Central to East End To launch the project, I was placed in a group of 5 with the central to east end areas of Glasgow.
01 | Design for Experience | Jake Cohen
Points of Interest 14
2 3
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4 15
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5 6 19
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7 8 10 11 20 17
To start the project, our group began by completing desk research about our given area. We mapped out areas of interest on the map collaboratively in order to define which places we would like to visit and collect more information about.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Provand’s Lordship
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Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome
Glasgow Cathedral
12
The Forge Shopping Centre
The Necropolis
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Eastern Necropolis
Tennent Caledonian Breweries
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Royal Infirmary
Barrowland Ballroom
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The Barras
On the Corner Community Centre
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Gallery of Modern Art
Bridgeton Health Centre
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Cuningar Loop
Centre for Inclusive Living
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Calton Heritage and Learing Centre
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Bridgeton Community Centre
Forge Retail Park
10 Celtic Park
West Brewery
high unemployment poverty-stricken
ls
ve high crime le
TE HIGH DEATH RA
ctancy Low Life expe violence HIGH LEVELS OF DEPRESSION
ma negative stig
HIGH LEVELS OF ASSAULT
rial former indust largest and once the Europe steelworks in
ALCOHOL ABUSE Poor DIETS
GANG CULTURE
UALITY EXTREME INEQ END BETWEEN EAST D AND WEST EN
Glasgow’s East End Glasgow’s East End has lowest life expectancy in the UK
BAd press
ital Three in hosp e in nc after disturba End st Ea Glasgow’s
The people of Glasgow’s East End are many things, but they are not pampered
Glasgow East End house “closed” by police in drugs crack down
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Fieldwork Plan
“
s
As a team we were more interested in the East End as it had a lot of social issues and negative press according to our desk research. We planned a route which started from the centre of Glasgow, and towards the East End. In this route, we included the points of interest we were intrigued in researching further.
Things to observe • • • • •
• • • • •
Residents Social spaces Retail Land use Buildings
Greenery Communities Transport Infrastructure Housing
• • • •
Behaviours Sectarianism Vandalism Public services
Collection methods
photos
videos
field-notes
sketches
interviews
Fieldwork Observations With a plan of action for our fieldwork, as a team, we headed out into the East End in an attempt to collect personal insights and to talk to the residents about their reflection of the area. We took photos, videos and observational notes, and whilst visiting these areas we shared our thoughts with each other.
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Lots of rubbish in the neglected and abandoned areas
An abundance of CCTV and police surveillance throughout
There are many dilapidated and abandoned buildings
The Barras is like a ghost town during the weekdays
Lots of rubbish in the neglected and abandoned areas
There are many community centres and community initiatives
There is strong sectarianism between Celtic and Rangers fans
There is a large contrast between old and modern buildings
There are many dilapidated and abandoned buildings
Almost all shops in the East End are closed on weekdays
There are very few social spaces in the East End other than pubs
Flats in the East End are repetitive and most don’t have a garden
Reflection Instead of breaking off the fieldwork into smaller teams or individuals, we explored the area together. I believe this was very useful at this stage as it meant that we could share our thoughts with each other collectively, rather than just relying on what one person had discovered. We collected a vast amount of insights from this fieldwork day and became inspired to research our insights further in the next stages.
Insights With our experience in the East End and with secondary research collected, we began to assemble our findings for patterns and trends.
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People of Calton have great heritage and local history
Rubbish, graffiti and dog fouling appears to be a big issue in the East End.
There is a very competitive nature between areas within the East End of Glasgow
A memorial garden for the Calton Weavers was removed and replaced with a community centre
Negative press has become internalised within the people of the East End
Barrowlands park is only temporary for the Commonwealth Games04
Commonwealth areas brought a lot of positivity to the East End4
There is a huge contrast between new and old housing
Fruit and veg markets are a meeting point and bring people together
There is a strong negative perception towards the police force (ACAB and graffiti)
People of the East End tend to want to talk and converse, they aren’t shy
Commonwealth Games brought money to the area and started a trend of developing new houses
The old Barras market is not part of reinvigoration scheme for the East End
Shops and cafes are shut on weekdays, giving a ‘dead’ feel to the East End
There are many dilapidated buildings and neglected areas in the East End
The Barras Market only strives on weekends
Fruit and veg markets bring in fresh produce and business to the area
Advances in technology has make industry in the East End obsolete
St. Lukes Cathedral has been refurbished into a high tech music venue
Lots of CCTV and police feeling safe, or controlling of the community?
Competition between the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ referendum
Competition between Rangers and Celtic
The city is turning the Barrowlands into Glasgow’s creative quarter
Testing As a team, we used Mural.ly to collaboratively collect insights and organise them into social, technological, economic and political categories. This helped us to envision which insights might be important or interesting, and which could be researched further. From this doing this, we discovered most issues fall under the social category.
Building continuous housing along Gallowgate for the sake of more houses
social economic technological political
Step Cards We then used STEP cards to present our collected insights and information gathered from our group research in a unified format. These helped us make sense of all the information we had read and collected.
Reflection This is the first time I had used STEP Cards. I was slightly skeptical at first and initially they were quite hard to fill out, but once we gathered the group’s STEP cards together, I discovered that they are in fact very useful. As they are unified, it made it easy to understand each member’s insight, which led to good collaboration when affinitising the cards. Learning from this, I would definitely consider using this method of insight presentation for future projects. 05
Affininity Mapping
After completing our STEP cards, we decided to affinitise them, along with our photos and own personal thoughts so we could gain further insights and discover patterns and links. After finishing, we observed the map and noticed most of our insights found themselves under social and cultural issues. Trends
S Commercial Educational Public Services Recreational Cultural
T
E
P
Individual Direction After collectively mapping out our research insights, it was time for us to choose step cards and themes that interested us individually. I was largely interested in the issues regarding the East End being negatively portrayed versus reality.
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Selected Insights 1
Community Centres Community centres are growing and becoming a bigger part of the East End. They are a place for locals to come together, control local issues and to hold events and community initiatives.
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Negative Press Press give the East End a bad representation. This negativity can become internalised within locals and usually discourages them from wanting to achieve or feel positive about life.
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Neglected areas With the fall of industry, many buildings and areas have been left to rot away in the East End. These neglected areas attract vandalism and aren’t pleasant areas to visit or pass by.
4
Community Spirit Despite the negative press, residents in the East End are proud of where they live. There are many non-government funded initiatives that bring people in the East End together to help one another and for community betterment.
of great sense irit community sp al places very few soci d in the east en
many neglected and abandoned areas
mmunity motive for co engagement
competitive communities
key insights
dents love east end resi and chat to converse alise the locals intern ity area’s negativ
What if? ...communities could come together to promote positive change?
What if?
uld have ...residents co t new fun and mee e area? th people from
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e their ld curat u o c s l a ...loc pace? munity s own com
...there was a new space for socialising?
mething for ...there was so tterment? community be
Concept Ideation After choosing STEP cards that interested me, I began to ask myself ‘what if?’ questions and started to think about possible design opportunities. Personal Homes
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Is there a way to make dull and repetitive homes in the East End interactive and playful between their residents and people that pass by?
Unexpected Social Spaces
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What if derelict areas could be transformed through community initiatives? What if they were less intimidating and scary, and instead more pleasant and fun? Mobile Gardening
3
Is there a way for communities in the East End to create new socials spaces without the actual space? Maybe this could be achieved through mobile gardening since many residents do not own a garden.
Reflection At this stage, I realised that most of the insights that interested me related to the people of the East End versus the negative stigma associated with the area. Due to this, I decided I wanted to design an experience for the residents of the East End that would reflect positively on its people to outsiders. With this in mind, I decided to define a theme and direction, and felt gathering more secondary research at this stage would be advantageous.
Design Opportunity Theme: An experience for the East End to embrace their community spirit & reject the negative stigma associated with of the area.
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Guerilla Positivity internalising positivity With a theme defined, I began to conduct research into how residents of the East End could reject the negative stigma associated with the area. My thinking led me towards providing an experience for said residents to internalise positivity.
“ Each time we give to another, we are also giving to ourselves�
Guerilla Positivity Guerilla positivity is the act of renewing perspective and sense of self-worth. The idea is that, by giving, we feel positive about performing a good deed and the person receiving will incur unexpected emotions bringing positivity about their day.
giving
receiving
unexpected moment of feeling positive
anonymous kindness
feeling positive
Methods
e.g.
Uplifter
Memento
Leaving a positive message for a stranger creates a personal, anonymous yet intimate connection
The presence of seeing plants or receiving them triggers immediate subconcious happy emotions
An existing project focused on guerilla positivity is Michael Pecirno’s Notes for Anyone, which attempts to reclaim a tiny percentage of our shared visual field to spread messages of encouragement and love (as seen above). Notes for Anyone Michael Pecirno http://www.michaelpecirno.com/notesforanyone/
Concept Generation With a chosen design opportunity, for the next stage I wanted to explore possible concepts through quick tests and thinking through making.
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Guerilla Interventions Based on my secondary research into random acts of kindness and guerilla positivity, I began to test quick interventions in the East End. I left plants with positive quotes and messages, some with tasks such as asking people to think about what would happen if they smiled at the next 3 people they saw. All of these were taken within the hour, mostly by elderly people. I also left an uplifting message in a bottle, to which people were intrigued but apprehensive to interact with. However, many people did stop, took the message out, read it, and then put it back.
Thinking Through Making Based on my interventions, I began thinking through making and explored by making a series of artefacts that could fit into my chosen theme. I then explored how they could create an experience through a storyline of stakeholders.
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What if there was a template which made it accessible for residents of the East End to partake in guerilla positivity? Something which could be posted through doors as part of a community initiative. It would provide space to write an uplifting message, and can then be assembled into a planter by adding soil to the included seeds. This cold then be grown by the user and then left for someone else to discover, which will be a pleasant moment of kindness.
Reflection I learnt a lot by just making quick things and testing them out in the East End. It was a useful stage to see how people reacted to these moments of unexpected kindness and who took them. I waited around for a while once I placed the artefact and people generally ignored them. However, I decided to leave them and come back later, and then they were all taken. As I didn’t know who took them, it was vital for me to redo these test later in the project. 10
Experience Map
In order to better communicate my current storyline, I produced a map detailing each stage of the experience. I could then use this to receive feedback alongside my current test models.
User Feedback With my current proposal, I decided to visit Calton Heritage and Learning Centre in order to receive feedback and input on my ideas. I spoke to Manager Rosie Robertson and explained my thinking so far using my storyline and models.
“Community centres in the East End love these kind of things & we love to get people involved in what we do”
“Grassroots for seed bombing are a big thing for community centres in the East End, maybe your idea could connect with this”
What if? • Neglected areas in the East End could benefit from this experience? • If it was a reciprocal cycle as a pose to linear? • If it was more personal and unique to the East End?
Reflection Testing my ideas thus far at the centre was very important at this stage as I was able to learn whether my designed experience was appropriate for the East End. Rosie was very enthusiastic about my ideas and provided useful feedback, which left me feeling very motivated to continue exploring. 11
promotes community spirit & community centres
transforms neglected areas
community centre initiative
love bombing x seed bombing
task engagement
uplifting booster
What makes the East End unique? Based on the feedback from Rosie, I began exploring how my idea could be something reciprocal and how it might transform neglected areas in the East End by sketching out embryonic experience maps. I also asked Rosie to discuss what makes the East End a unique place: “ The banter you hear on the streets is like no other, people love good patter” “ Poverty unites people in some cases, where they help each other out” “ There’s no pretentiousness, just people going about their lives as best they can” “ It’s a place where unexpected moments of kindness often appear when most needed”
engagement by members of community
deployment
rediscovery
Interim Feedback At the halfway stage through the project, I presented my work thus far for the project in the form of a ‘peechy keechy’. This provided me with further feedback and direction for my current proposal.
12 | Design for Experience | Jake Cohen
Guerilla Positivity
Find out who the stakeholders are; who will get involved?
Is it a moment or something people can share? Is there a certain place where they are left? The artefact looks modular; could it be something that everyone builds upon? What is the big finale; the outcome?
Work on the idea of making people happy and delightful, but avoid the word ‘positivity’
feedback
Does it need to be random acts of kindness? could it be a communal space? Figure out why people would want to do this
plant your own plant in this area?
Reflection Although making my peechy keechy took a long time to make, it provided great value not only in my presentation skills, but also in aiding directions for my project. By just making the presentation, I felt I understood my direction more clearly and what wanted to do next. The feedback provided by the tutors also made me realise other directions I could take the project. I felt reinvigorated after presenting my work so far as I began to feel stuck beforehand in terms of what to do next and where to direct my concept.
Ideation Prototyping Given my interim feedback, the next stages saw me mindmapping and exploring my idea further through storyboarding, quick prototyping and iterative testing. This was my opportunity to take risks and develop my concept.
13 | Designing for Data Experience | Jake Cohen
I began to research other projects concerning public expression and played around with the experience map I had developed so far. I wanted to take a step back from my idea so far so I could further explore my design opportunity.
Somewhere to go when you’re feeling down
Community cohesion Engaging people to contribute to the community
Elements from community gardens
e.g. love locks ideas
Positivity by more subtle means
Modular connections that build up a series of artefacts collaboratively? Gamification
Public expression
Cues e.g. thank you for...
Doodles
Meeting new people e.g.
An existing project focused public expression is Evoke! Urban Interventions, which are street installations that intend to evoke a response from city users in London. The above example shows a public sticker board, allowing people to write messages and leave them for others to see. Public Expression Sticker Board, Covent Garden, London. Evoke! http://contrastreetart.blogspot.co.uk/
thinking through making
Prototype: Modular forms Based on my feedback, I wanted to explore modular forms and the creation of a communcal space for gardening. I wanted to explore how they can build up into something bigger and connect people together, and so I played around with both form and colour.
Testing I tested these by adding plants and seeing how they built up. Unfortunately, the form of the object meant some plants would fall out with alternative directions.
Reflection By doing this, I began to gain ideas on why they might connect. For example, could they connect to create a family, or a couple, or what might happen if one is alone. Would a stranger connect to it? Could it be a game? 14
Sketch Ideation I wanted to explore more with modular forms and community gardening, and how they can bring the community together. I began sketching out ideas of a possible communal space for the community to connect through gardening & expression.
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2.
a template allows members of the community to create their own planter
after assembly, the user connects to other planters through a modular game
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4.
The user can express themselves and create their identity on a tag
The user leaves feeling good about their positive contribution to the community
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6.
The user returns at a later date to check on their planter and to see growth
The user meets a new friend from the area who was also contributing
thinking through making
Prototype: Pop-up Planter Based on my previous sketches of a modular planter, I wanted to test the idea by prototyping and exploring with it. I produced a template that assembled into a modular planter, and each side had a different colour. These colours would be matched to attach to another planter, and this would define a theme for the tag. I chose 6 themes that would provoke the user to reflect positively on something that they could share with other people.
Reflection I changed the form of the planter from the geoball to a hexagonal prism for functionality purposes. However, I felt the hexagonal prism shape was less interesting, but at this stage, I was more concerned with exploring my idea and the experience behind it, rather than the aesthetics.
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Locating the Experience
Before testing out my ideas in context, I first needed to choose an relevant location. Based on my feedback at the community centre, and ideas suggested from the interim presentation, I wanted to choose an area in the East End that is neglected, forgotten about or unused.
Why a neglected area? • An anticipation that my designed experience could transform a neglected area
into a friendly and even social space. • To create a pleasant & unexpected moment upon its hidden discovery.
My chosen area surrounds the abandoned B-Listed Saint James’ Primary School in Calton. I chose this area as it has many pathways and houses surrounding it and people pass-by frequently. It has a sense of misery and feels quite unsafe due to its appearance. The school building has a small unused skate park next to it, both of which are surrounded by rusting fences.
template photo
Testing To test my current idea, I brought it to my chosen context and explored with them in situ. Whilst here, also I wanted to speak to people about my idea and ask for their opinions on my idea so far. Before testing them however, just having the prototypes in situ made me realise flaws and gave me new ideas: • people would be able to steal them quite easily • if they are placed on the floor, they are hard to
notice. Placing them on the wall made them much more noticeable, and attaching them to the fence would make them look even more prominent. • as they are placed in a neglected area, they stand
out amongst everything else.
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User Feedback Whilst in context and testing, I was able to speak to a few people about my ideas. This was useful as I was in the context for my proposal, and so made it easier for me to communicate my ideas to people, and resulted in interesting feedback.
Sandra, 41 “ People who have more free time will definitely enjoy it, especially the elderly. The elderly will see this differently to everyone else, but then people might follow them”
“ They look good and will certainly bring smiles I'm sure, but their will be people who steal, hopefully people will see it a good thing for everyone and relish on that ”
Anna, 32 “ This idea could hit people you least expect, such as druggies or drunks. It might change the way they think by just reading some of these messages as they walk past”
“ I love the idea of writing nice messages, and I read things around me without knowing it. It’s how we dream and those words stick in your mind”
Do you think there should be a takeaway? “ No I think keeping together as a community is better, it will get people talking and talking nice things” Would you want to come back and see what your plant grew into? “ Definitely, it’s life, and a tiny little seed can turn into a beautiful flower; something growing and blooming shows you life keeps going” Do you think its something people would be willing to pay for? “ Probably, but some people might not even be able to afford 50p to spend on it, and they might not feel included and will feel left out.”
Feedback Ideation I’m designing...
An experience for the community of Calton and surrounding areas to come together to transform a disused space into a delightful and socially uplifting communal garden.
Could the plant relate to the theme given? How many would be left on the fence at one time?
Choose your own vs. Randomised
What’s the business model?
Are the tag themes predetermined?
Idea development
Where does the exhibit live?
How is the space curated? Connecting plant types?
hook system free reign
How are they maintained?
Coordinated by theme colours?
volunteers at the community centre?
Fairness?
Attached to the fence
connecting water tubes? irrigation
permaculture? 17
Can you pick your own to take home?
thinking through making
positive post its
Prototype: Connected System After sketching out ideas, I was quite interested in the idea of irrigation and how plants could connect to one another to create a self-sustaining system that requires little maintenance, but also connects people together. I wanted to relate this idea back to my explorations with modular forms, and how they can connect without physically connecting. I created a mock-up of the fence and reverted back to my original geoball form, which lends itself to being attached to the fence and is more pleasing in its subtle contrast between its geometry and the organic nature of plants. I experimented with their organisation on the wall, and whether they should be something people can take away. At this stage, I wasn’t too focused on the type of plant, but rather the experience, and so used house plants as they would sustain as I was working with them indoors.
Plant Research At this stage I felt my concept was coming along and had a lot of opportunity, and so I began exploring what types of plants would be appropriate.
Messages reveal themselves before and after growth period
varied and distinguishable COLLECT BELOW
Small dwarf perennials
can be expensive and difficult to grow Vertical Gardens
what type of plants?
Creepers?
Perennials
Evergreens May be difficult seeing individual contributions
Seasonal templates
winter
Native species
SPRING
Easy to see your own contribution
Less distinguishable but easy to maintain
Reflection I found choosing an appropriate category of plant for my concept quite difficult as everyone who I spoke to regarding my idea said different things. Reflecting back, I wish I had taken the opportunity to speak to professional gardeners to get expert input. I did consider the use of creeper plants but was unsure whether they would sustain in a small pot. However, after speaking to locals in Calton, they said they would like somthing where their indiviudal contributions could be easy distinguished, rather than everything growing into one large mass, and so small perennials seemed most appropriate for this. 18
plastic versions
Prototype: Material Explorations With an understanding of the types of plants I wanted to use, I now decided to move away from card models and into more appropriate materials. I decided to use a thin sheet plastic which could still be die cut into a template, but would also provide a stronger structure and waterproof the design. I also tested out using water tubes and how they can connect to one another to efficiently transfer water along the system. I also decided the best attachement method would be a zip tie as they are both effective and cheap to include. I spoke to locals about whether they liked the idea of the pods being pre-assembled, or whether they would like to make it temselves through a template. All of the people I spoke to said they would love to make it themselves as it makes it more fun and emphasises the contribution factor.
My favourite memory...
I love...
I can smile because...
Dear Stranger
I’m looking forward to...
l for...
I’m thankfu
Prototype: Expressive Tags Based on my earlier guerilla interventions (see appendix) and tests, I wanted to develop a medium the community of Calton to express themselves, going against the negative stigma of the area. In my research I discovered people in the East End love to converse and share stories and banter, and that they like being nosy. Based on these insights, I developed a series of tags in the style of a conventional plant label, which ask the user to reflect positively and express themselves. These expressions can then be shared with the community for people to nosy at and will also uplift the reader by discovering what makes other people happy. Each tag is colour coordinated by its psychological association. Each template will include a random tag in order to provoke the user’s thinking to trigger reflective positive emotions.
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reflection peace love vision optimism comfort Psychology of Colour http://goo.gl/pWDg
Prototype: Template Experimentations As the locals wanted a template they could make themselves, it was my task to design it to be easy to assemble whilst also being all-in-one. I conducted a number of different tests to ensure the pod was simple to make in as few steps possible. This also involved designing illustrations to show the process. As an all-in-one template, it makes use of number adhesive tabs which show the order of assembly. It also includes expanding soil and seeds which are attached to the base and just require the addition of water. The tag is a tear off from the template, and a zip tie is included to attach the pod to the fence securley.
detach
fold
assemble
attach
connect
water
express
pop-in
Prototype: Experience Facilitator With the central artefact to the experience defined, I then began to explore the facilitator for the artefact. As explored in earlier tests, I decided the best medium would be a vendor which holds the templates and also performs the following functions: • collects and dispenses rain water • illustrates a “vision” of what the area could look like with
individual contributions within the community
• stores and dispenses reusable cups to pour water
I produced a series of iterative card mock ups for the vendor. Feedback from the previous model suggested that it should be the same form as the geoball as thus aesthetically relating to them more.
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Testing in context I tested my prototypes in context to see how they fit in their environment and to see any changes that might need to be made to my proposal.
Testing Whilst I was testing them in context, a few locals passed by and I was able to chat to them about my concept. They were really interested in the idea and were pleasently surprised about the experience I had designed. However, upon showing them my current template, they were a little confused as to how it was put together, and so this was something I needed to refine.
Refining & Testing blahhh
20 | Design for Experience | Jake Cohen
testing: easability of contstruction
testing easibility of tags. What should the themes be?
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aesthetics roots
soil patch testing
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vending machien graphics the vision
Final Outcome Nurture is a designed experience for the community of Calton to readily engage in transforming a disused space in a fun and delightful way.
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What?
Nurture is named as a metaphor for growing and caring for both plants and the community. It is a vendor which dispenses planters that attach to the fence surrounding the abandoned St. James School in Calton, and connect with one another to provide a system of irrigation and permaculture.
How?
Nurture provides members of the community in Calton with easy-to-assemble templates, called Nurture Pods; these assemble into small planters that let nature take over and transform a neglected area. Whilst also transforming the area, they bring together and engage the community to create a new space which is socially uplifting.
Why?
By taking part, the people of Calton can express their passion for community spirit and engage with locals to promote positive change and create something they can be proud of. It transorms an unwelcoming space into an area that promotes natural wildlide, defying the negative stigma of the East End.
Nurture Nurture is the facilitator for the artefact. It is a vendor which communicates the initiative to people through a vision of what the area could look like with individual contribution. It collects and stores rainwater through vents on the top and side and dispenses Nurture Pods, which are the central artefact to the experience. Underneath the vendor are plastic cups to pour water over the Nurture Pods, these can be returned for reuse.
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Nurture Pod Nurture Pods are delivered as an easy-to assemble-template as members of the community wanted something to build themselves were the sense of contribution is heightened, and as it is more fun to make. Each template contains a different set of perennial seeds based on the current season of growth. This engages the user to make a return visit to the area to check what their Nurture Pod has grown into
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Rear
expanding soil
zip tie slots
seed mix
seed paper
zip tie
Assembly of the template requires the user tear apart the perforations and then match the coloured and numbered adhesive tabs.
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Front
instructions
adhesive labels
root
tag
(water tube)
root slots
Communication blahhh
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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.
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.
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Storyboard
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I produced a simplified still image storyline of my concept based on my feedback.
Feedback blahhh
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“ The vending machine is not semantically connecting with the Nurture Pods. It looks quite hi-tech, and isn’t robust enough. Could it be a little more friendly and natural?”
“Think about who is putting it there, and why?”
“It’s great when plants go crazy! Think about the nature as a metaphor for comunity = permaculture”
“Show what it looks like in a mature growing state”
Final Reflection A reflection on the project as a whole.
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Overall, this project has been a challenging learning curve for the way I work as a designer. It has seen me push my thinking-through-making techniques valuably in a way that I haven’t in prior projects. Throughout the project I took many risks that were both successful and unsuccessful, both of which have taught me a lot about my design process.
changed at numerous intervals throughout the project with the aid of making constantly, and having physical things to show and test with people was much better than having sketches. I did feel sometimes I got caught up in thinking-through-making instead of taking moment to reflect on what I had done so far. However, perhaps this may have been a good thing, as instead of thinking too much I explored, created and tested artefacts in context to gain feedback.
Our initial research week out in the field was very successful; as a team, we were very effective and efficient in collecting the information we needed collaboratively to develop design opportunities. However, I did see myself visiting other areas we hadn’t covered as a group on my own as I wanted to know more about the area and the people in it after thought provoking secondary research. As this was a 5 week making project, I really pushed myself to think-throughmaking throughout, and this was a very different way of working to my typically heavy research-based approach. It has had both ups and downs. Sometimes throughout the project, it felt I was doing the same thing over and over again, and it was quite difficult to gauge whether I was making progress. Most of the models and tests I had made I chose not to discuss as there were so many it would have been a tedious amount to both document and read. For this reason, I chose to document those that aided the narrative of my story, but there are deeper explorations throughout the project. However, although it didn’t feel I made much progress through constantly making, towards the end of the project I realised that it in fact did as it resulted in a highly refined physical artefact. In addition, my concept has
My final outcome tackles a lot of insights discovered in my research, including: very few social spaces in the East End, locals enjoy conversing with strangers, very few gardens, many neglected industrial areas and also the negative press of the area. Because of this, I believe that my idea is something appropriate for the East End, and this was proved as I spoke to people about my ideas. However, as my idea works with gardening, I did struggle as some points as I have no expertise in the matter, but I am glad I took the risk in something outside of my comfort zone. I feel a good project is one which I can easily see myself working with further after the hand-in, and I certainly feel that way for this project.
Key Learning • Designing for ease-of-use through the use
of form and visual language.
• The use of risk taking in relation to •
developing design ideas with the thinkingthrough-making process. Engaging with real people and talking about my ideas to gain relevant feedback
• Understanding the people of the East End
and designing an appropriate experience relevent to their lifestyle and way of living.
Appendix This section comprises of material and research that I have collected, but that does not effecfivelt aid the narrative and communication of the project.
29 | Design for Experience | Jake Cohen
thinking through making
positive post its
Guerilla Intervention: Public Expression Based on the Public Expression Board by Evoke!, I wanted to trial a quick public expression board in the East End with an uplifting twist. I left a board with sticky notes and a pen with a cue for people to write a nice message for someone. I placed it at a bus stop and left it for a few hours, to which 5 sticky notes had been left.
Reflection I was slightly skeptical to try this intervention as I wasn’t too sure whether it would prove interesting findings. I watched people’s reactions for half an hour, and most people looked but didn’t contribute. However, on my return visit to collect the board, I noticed an elderly lady writing a message, which gave me a hint to the type of people who might interact with the experience I intend to design.
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thinking through making
positive post its
Prototype: Uplifting sticky notes Based on the my public expression board intervention, I designed a series of sticky notes with cues for people to write an anonymous message. These could be left in a particular area in the East End for people to stick. Embedded in the sticky notes are seeds, so people can either take a note they like, or they would fall onto the ground and eventually grow into a plant.
Reflection I chose not to test out this idea as I felt it was quite embryonic and felt as though it should be part of something bigger. I chose to make these in order to provoke my thinking and the development of my concept.
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PRODUCT DESIGN The Glasgow School of Art