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How can radio stay current in a world where portable screens and the internet are becoming increasingly integrated parts of society?
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Contents Guide
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Project Pathway
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Initial Research Project Selection Getting Started Delving Deeper Summary
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Prototyping Card modelling 1+2 Video prototyping 1 Video prototyping 2 Video prototyping 3 Experimenting with NFC and bluetooth Card modelling 3 Video prototyping 4 Flow Diagram Video prototyping 5 Foam modelling
Branching out 20 Existing products 22 Visit to BBC Newcastle 26 Meeting with Jamie Steane 30 Recap + reflection Correspondence with Lisa 32 Re-though brief + Specification Correspondence with Joseph 34 What comes next? Visit to Maker Space + talk with 36 Alastair Macdonald Metro Radio 38 Tutor Meetings + first interim 40 4
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Guide
Key Findings/method
Influence
Reflection + improvement
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Exploration Project
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Proect start: The Future of Radio
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MAJOR PROJECT START
Project Pathway
CORE IDEA >>>
October 6
January
Screen built in X
Shape and form Final model
Features + interaction Use smart device as screen
MAJOR INTERIM
Materials
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NEW DESIGNERS
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Polished interaction
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Initial Research Project Selection Getting Started Delving Deeper
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Exploration Project Selection
I originally had in mind a flood damage prevention system for my final project. This would have been very relevant to me as there had been serious flooding near my house, but my heart just wasn’t in it. I therefore decided to investigate a subject that I was more interested in, radio. I felt that a project centred around radio would give me more of a chance to get involved in some classic product design with a bit of service on the side If I had the chance to start again, I would think more strongly about where my skill lie and what I want to learn from the project.
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Exploration Getting started
I started by delving into what radio consumption is being driven by, what its competitors are and how radio has been advancing through the years. Researching and writing about these point really helped me understand the market and where a product might fit in. I feel like whilst these activities were helpful, they were quite static; I could’ve done more to get out and about in the real world rather than using mainly secondary based research.
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Exploration Delving deeper
To gain a deeper understanding of radio and what people use it for, I conducted various activities. I started off with a survey. The survey was extremely useful in telling me how different age groups use radio. During the start of my major project, I referred back to the survey findings to choose a target market. I also contacted a couple of people in the radio business. The information I received from these people was extremely useful, and since they are interested in radio they were keen to hear updates about my project as I went along. This allowed me to reality check the ideas I was having, as some were interesting, but not practical.
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Lisa Hardisty Lecturer of journalism at Northumbria University
Joseph Begley Radio presenter at Lincs FM 15
Exploration Delving deeper
In an effort to gain first hand knowledge, I created a video showing a variety of different stations and listening habits. I found this very useful as it gave me insight beyond casual use and made me focus on the small details in habits that are easily missed out when simply talking about the experience. The video played a large role in steering the direction of the project, from it I learned that sharing content was a sought after feature, that radio can be listened to in different ways (active, passive, on/ off) and that a range of devices are used to access radio throughout the day. It would have been beneficial to create a video following other people’s day and habits in addition to this video.
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Exploration Summary
My exploration of radio highlighted the social appeal of radio in a way that I had though of before. The project also showed that even though speaker technology and material quality has advanced, there haven’t really been any major improvements to radio technology wise. This apparent lack of advancement meant the I could really get stuck into thinking about the future of radio and its interaction with modern technology. The project was quite desk-research heavy, it would have been good to ask people about their opinions and emotions surrounding radio.
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Branching out Existing products Visit to BBC Newcastle Meeting with Jamie Steane Correspondence with Lisa Correspondence with Joseph Visit to Maker Space + talk with Alastair Macdonald Metro Radio Tutor Meetings + first interim
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Branching out Existing products
To gain a better understanding of where my project might be heading in a physical sense, I undertook some primary research by visiting shops such as John Lewis, Fenwick and independent stores. I found a variety of radio sets and speaker systems which I took photos of for later reference. From visiting these shops and seeing what the market leaders have in common, I have I found it very useful being able to take pictures close up of details and textures that I liked.
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Branching out Existing products
The Pure Sensia was released in 2011 as a premium radio with an in built screen. The idea was that DAB Sideshow would catch on and broadcast images and adverts to the screen. However, users found it clunky, hard to use and DAB slideshow never even caught on in the UK. The fact that a radio with a screen has already been produced (without much success) tell me that there is potential in implementing a screen, I just need to take care in how the screen is presented and what content is available. I found out about this radio set quite late on in the project, it would have been beneficial to have found it earlier on.
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Branching out
Visit to BBC Newcastle
During my visit to BBC Newcastle, I was taken around the whole building and shown rooms such as the archives, TV Newsroom and radio broadcast studios. What I found particularly interesting was the size of the broadcast rooms, they really were small with just a microphone for the presenter and 3 guests, and a computer. This visit made me fully realise the scale of operations, especially in smaller size stations. I made efforts to contact some of the radio presenters via email after the tour (as they were all busy at work during) however this proved fruitless.
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Branching out
Visit to BBC Newcastle
The tour guide was however very informative. As an ex Broadcast Media student from Northumbria University, he was able to tell me about various things such as the increasing usage of social media and decline of new phone callers. The visit to the studios gave me an excellent peek into the producer-side of things, which is essential if i want to create new way of interacting with radio content. In hindsight, I think I would have benefited from pressing further into ways of contacting the staff at the BBC.
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Branching out
Meeting with Jamie Steane
Jamie Steane helped me figure out where I wanted my project to go. At first, my project looked like it could quite easily have been solely service which is not really where I had planned for it to go. Jamie helped iron out some doubts in my head and got me thinking clearly about the direction of the project. Since my project is now looking like it will involve a good amount of interaction, Jamie is the perfect person to bounce ideas off and reality check with. Jamie has provided great support and being a radio lover himself, is very enthusiastic about where this project will end up.
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Jamie Steane - Head of Visual Communication and Interactive Media Design at Northumbria University
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Branching out
Second meeting with Lisa Hardisty
As promised, I returned to Lisa once I had made way with the final project. I showed Lisa some sketch pages I had drawn and a couple of video prototypes. Lisa liked my ideas but did question the relevance of some. For example, one idea has the radio ask the user where they want the station they are listening to ‘sent to’ next eg. their car. She said realistically it is no bother changing station in the car, and is usually tuned to a favourite anyway. Lisa provides a good reality check and with a background in the industry, is a reliable source of influence.
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Branching out
Continued correspondence with Joseph Begley Like Lisa, I have been updating Joseph with progress on my work. Joseph has responded with some excellent insights into how his listeners interact with the station and what might be possible technology wise. Joseph’s advice has helped steer my project away from being impractical from a producer’s point of view. Contacting Joseph has been extremely useful. He has given me a great understanding of the radio world from a DJ’s point of view.
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Joseph Begley Radio presenter at Lincs FM
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Branching out
Visit to Maker-Space + chat with Alastair MacDonald During my visit to Maker-Space, I was introduced to Alastair MacDonald, a former colleague of Jamie Steane. Alastair turned out to be a wizard at coding and all thing electronics, so was able to give me very good advice on how I might go about making the radio and other devices ‘talk’ to each other, even if just for a prototype. The visit made me aware of the limits of certain technologies, such as NFC not being available on Apple devices. However, it did conjure up ideas of how I could ‘fake’ it in a prototype. The visit and chat were very useful, however Alastair was much more clued up in terms of technologies than I was so it might have been beneficial to have done more research prior.
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Branching out
Contact with Metro Radio
I tried to contact the Steve and Karen Breakfast show on Metro Radio via Facebook, and to my surprise they responded very quickly! However, they did not respond after that. The reply shows that messages do get read, so I should start sending out more messages to well known stations in the hope that one of them follows up.
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Branching out
Tutor meetings + first interim
Throughout the project, I have had weekly meetings with Anthony Forsyth, and irregular meetings with other tutors. A minor interim was held to see my progress. Much like my contacts Anthony provides a perspective that helps me understand what would and wouldn’t work and pushes me to make design decisions instead of lingering. I feel that each week I am often not prepared and end up not conveying my idea properly, which could hamper the feedback I get. I should treat each week like a mini interim.
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Prototyping Card and Foam models Video prototyping 1 Video prototyping 2 Video prototyping 3 Experimenting with NFC and bluetooth Video prototyping 4 Flow Diagram Video prototyping 5
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Prototyping Card modelling 1
Initial cardboard modelling allowed me to play with forms and create video prototypes easily and quickly. Using paper as a ‘skin’ I could draw multiple speaker grills, button layouts and screen placements using just one cardboard skeleton. I need to concentrate on whether I am creating the model for physical looks or as a vessel for a service.
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Prototyping Card modelling 2
Cardboard prototyping is very useful in providing a fast means of iteration. I could quickly cut out a new button or knob and see how it felt in different positions on the radio without having to start over or worry about materials. Creating more models allowed me to merge the service aspects of my project with the physical form, creating a better rounded project.
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Prototyping
Video Prototyping 1
Using the card models created previously, I was able to hack in my mobile phone as a stand in for an interactive screen. In the video, a picture is talked about on the radio, which is where my device comes into play and actually displays the image in real time. I was able to get a feel for what a screen might look like if implemented into a radio. The ease of use was also apparent. The video prototypes also allow me to show interested people my ideas visually. This prototype shows off the feature I had in mind well, but might not convey the fact that this feature can be used in all sorts of different applications.
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Prototyping
Video Prototyping 2
Here, the ‘screen’ (post it notes) displays news headlines as they are broadcast, with more information appearing if one is touched. Prototyping in this way, with just paper and stopmotion provides a very quick method of ideation. The video may be a little too rough to show to external validators.
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Prototyping
Video Prototyping 3
This prototype show how a video stream can be broadcast alongside radio broadcast and rewound and shared instantly. The concept here pushes the boundaries of radio and TV, radio typically being non intrusive. The video stream element is there if you want it and out of the way when you don’t need it. The first half of the video is stop motion again, it would benefit and be more interesting using live video.
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Prototyping
Experimenting with NFC and bluetooth
Having moved on from an inbuilt screen to using a smartphone as a screen instead, I was investigating ways of sending commands to the phone or pairing with the radio. Pictured, I was measuring the distance that my phone would recognise an NFC tag. I found that NFC works well in sending commands to Android phones, but is difficult to send dynamic commands (the NFC tag is generally made to store one command such as a web URL at a time and not be frequently changed). Bluetooth/wifi and an app seem like a better option.
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Prototyping Card modelling 3
In these card models, I started to think about how a phone or smart-device stand could be implemented into the set. Creating models like these spur ideas and can be used in creating videos of those ideas. I will need to iterate a few more models before I settle on a final design.
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Prototyping
Video Prototyping 4
On Radio 1, Scott Mills plays ‘Innuendo bingo’ with guests, where the guest try to hold water in their mouth while Scott tells them innuendos from the week’s TV. This is funny to listen to, but far more funny to watch. Currently, bingo is live-streamed on Facebook, so in my prototype, when the phone is placed on the radio it is linked directly to the stream. I found that this prototype communicated the concept very well and being a live video rather than stop motion, it felt a lot more real and believable.
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Prototyping Flow Diagram
Drawing a flow chart helped to makes sense of what might happen in a range of scenarios. This chart inspired me to create another video.
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Prototyping
Video Prototyping 5
Following the flow chart, I decided to teach myself Adobe After Effects to create this video, where the glow changes depending on what content is available. Video prototypes like this very clearly demonstrate my concept. Showing a video like this to an external contributor would help them understand greatly. I spent about a day editing one video which is a lot of time, but was worth it to practise after effects.
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Prototyping Foam modelling
I created this foam model with a grill that allows paper to be slid in. I printed off some textures as a preliminary before sourcing other real samples. The samples have been useful in indicating what type of grill I would like, but are only useful up to a point, as they don’t show shadow or any texture like a real sample would. From previous experience, finding samples is quite easy around town. I need to create a large sample base so I can choose the very best for my design.
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Moving Forward Re-thought brief + Specification Next steps
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The Brief Design a radio that empowers the user to be able to quickly and conveniently access live content that might otherwise be inaccessible or a hassle to find.
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The Specification Must not intrude on the user Core listening experience and values must be maintained Radio set should be able to communicate with smart devices in order to deliver the new content Content must not create undue workload for the radio station
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What comes next? MAJOR INTERIM STOP DESIGNING START MAKING VALIDATION TWEAKS COMMUNICATION HAND IN CJ PART 2 70
Notes
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War of the Worlds - broadcast 1938