The current issue of interactions magazine features a cover story called Tangible Interaction = Form + Computing, which the authors, Mark Baskinger and Mark D. Gross, describe as a combination of physical design and computing. They reference NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (ITP) as one of the first schools in the world to have embraced tangible interaction design. In their article, they speak of the switch as the simplest of sensors, and reference Pd (a software program specifically for sound design), Arduino (for gadgetry) and Lilypad (for wearables)…all of these part of our non-core curriculum.
As an ITP student, one of the most heartening parts of this article is the section on “Where Do Tangible Interaction Designers Fit?”. They say, “The field is still wide open, but one thing is clear: We’re likely to see more, not less, programming in things, and a lot more experimentation.” It’s nice to hear that there’s still so much more development to be had, since it means I’ll eventually have a job.
In reference to ITP, well, we have a lot of artists who come through and I don’t know how many of them would really think of themselves as a “tangible interaction designer” even if that’s really what they are, if you have to call it something. And, I do think the article lacks a bit in the artistic and simply wonderment aspects of what we do; not everything is designed for more than just enjoyment of life or experimentation. Not that they need to, but as they say they’re modeling their studies at Carnegie Mellon on programs like ours. So, maybe, there’s a PhD in my future…I did after all quote Dr. Gross in my ITP admissions essay.
December 1-4, 2009, I attended the MEX 09 conference, held in London, UK. I attended the conference on a scholarship I received from the conference organizers. Flight and accommodation were not included, but thankfully a friend of the family allowed me to stay in her flat. There were presentations over 2 days, but I only have time to write about 2 now. I’ll update more from my notes at a later date.
Sofia Svanteson of Ocean Observations gave a talk on incorporating creativity into your design team. At one point, she asked: “What’s more important? A great idea or a great team?” Answer: “A great team. A mediocre team will kill a great idea, but a great team will save a mediocre idea.” Other points she brought up:
Pixar’s operating principles:
everyone has the freedom to communicate with everyone
make it safe for all to offer ideas
stay close to innovations in academia
Design process need a mix of culture, people and ideas. If it were all about the process, we could all be Apple.
Use the same vocabulary: for instance, go so far as to make a dictionary of terms. As an example, she discussed the ever contentious UX/IA/ID/UxD/IxD etc, terms used to describe pretty much the same job.
Be candid but critique with empathy. Remember, ideas are fragile.
Sofia also got everyone bringing up the question: What would Jason (Bourne) do? Her reference is meant to link the skills that Jason Bourne has in noticing many details of his surroundings that would also be similar to designing for the mobile user experience.
Dr. Chris Roas of Sheffield Hallan University discussed user-testing in multiple platforms. Some of his pointers:
Remember, you’ll never be able to test all possible platform combinations.
This is about understanding users; it’s less traditional, in terms of user testing and usability
In experience design, it’s important to keep in mind if you’re designing for an experience or the experience. AN experience, is something that might change your world view, such as your first trip to Africa. THE experience is something with tacit awareness, like going to work.
He quoted this paper, presented at CHI 09: “User experience over time: an initial framework”, by Evangelos Karapanos, John Zimmerman, Jodi Forlizzi, Jean-Bernard Martens. Here’s a quote from the abstract: “This paper presents an in-depth, five-week ethnographic study that followed 6 individuals during an actual purchase of the Apple iPhone™.” Looks like a good read, actually.
Challenges: Use a provocative situation and embrace the challenges. Reduce any major experience effects, which will help provide a good basis for feedback. For your testing, put randomized tasks all around the building.
And seek stories – what would Jason do?
Michael V. Roeder of Iconmobile, discussed Cloud Computing
He gave a few example of such services: photoshop.com, dropbox.com, Vodaphone 360. He described Cloud computing as an integration of several services with users going to each one individually.
Tonight I was working on putting together some of the pieces for my Android Pet Plant.
To make the plant vibrate, I plan to use the 1″ FSRs around the flower pot which will trigger at least 2 vibration motors. To test this out, I cut open a cardboard Diamond Crystal salt container and stuck a piece of foam in the bottom of the container. Then I poked holes through the foam and through them I shoved some leaves that I got from someone’s fruit and the two motors, which I taped to the leaves with electrical tape.
On the outside of the container, I attached the FSRs with masking tape and then covered them in this fake leather stuff, which I flipped over so the soft part faced out. I wrote Pet Me on them, too. All of that went into the Arduino and, when I switched it on, I got vibration when I “petted” the pot.
The code was fairly simple. I simply reused something I’d written before. I suppose I should change the code from LEDs to motors, but I’m just trying to make it work for now.
int analogFSR = 4; // FSR analog input
int motorpin = 10; // Motor pin
int FSRValue = 1; // Value of the FSR
void setup() {
// initialize serial communications at 9600 bps:
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
FSRValue = analogRead(analogFSR); // read the left FSR value
analogWrite(motorpin, FSRValue/4);
Serial.println(FSRValue); // print the FSR value back to the
delay(500); // gives a 10 millisecond delay
}
How they were used: I expected that people would use them to purchase their tickets. But, I also noticed that people used them to see what movies were playing. And, sometimes they tested the machines to see if they could purchase tickets for a movie that was sold out.
Overall take-away about self-ticketing machines Most of the time we use technology we’re not being watched by people whose opinions we actually care about. Given the context, it seems like the self-ticketing machines are in an environment in which key members of your social group are around you watching you use a machine that could possibly make you look stupid. If I were designing self-ticketing machines, I would keep in mind that clarity and ease of use are important to users, so that they don’t look stupid to the people who are important to them. For the most part that’s true, except in the purchasing part, which is the part that actually matters.
I. Difficulties
Responsiveness of the machines: At the Loews Theater on 3rd Ave, the machine didn’t respond to very well, which prompted the person using the machine to touch the screen repeatedly.
Confusion when using the credit card swipe: Both at the Loews and at Regal Union Square Stadium 14, I observed at least two people becoming confused when trying to use the credit card machine. At Loews, I was too far away to notice read the screen to see what particular problem the woman was having, but the effect was that she tried to swipe her card about 4-5 times before she finally completed her purchase. At the other theater, the difficulty another person experienced with the credit card swipe had to do with the fact that she kept swiping her card in the wrong direction. Eventually, she was able to figure it out.
Even myself, at yet another theater, City Cinemas Village East, I had difficulty using the machine, too. Twice. First, I used my debit card to pay and when I got to a numeric keyboard display, I assumed that what I needed to press was my PIN, when I actually needed to press my zip code. The result was that I canceled the process. Then when I tried again, I got this screen. It’s a very accurate picture, as you can tell.
Inconsistency within the self-ticketing machine.
II. Completion time
When used correctly, the machine takes less than one minute to operate, from selecting a movie to picking up your tickets. I observed someone using the machine in under a minute. Actually, it was probably more like 30 seconds. (I looked away so that the people inside the theater lobby wouldn’t think I was stalking them. When I looked back, the person had finished.) At any stage during the process, it seems that you get about 1.5-2 minutes to complete a step before it asks if you need more time. With continued inactivity, it cancels the process and returns to the “home” screen.
III. Context of use
There were a couple of things I noticed about people using these machines that were affected by the general layout of the theater and the general social atmosphere of the environment at the movies.
Theater Layout: The Regal Cinema at Union Square had the most issue with layout affecting self-ticketing machines because at the Loews Theater on 3rd Ave, most people purchase their tickets from the person in the ticket booth outside, so they have their tickets before entering the theater. The biggest effect layout had on people using the self-ticketing machines had to do with crowding. This effect was exacerbated by the social context of people going to the movies.
The crowding effect – In the ticket machine room, there are about 15-18 machines. Most of them are grouped underneath the light board showing the movie titles and schedule. If you’re like me, when you walk into Regal Union Square Stadium 14, the first thing you do is turn right into this room, because it’s faster than waiting in line. I observed that as soon as people walked into this space they tended to stop a few feet from the entrance to the room in order to read the board. Stopping in front of the entrance, of course, blocks anyone else from coming in…which blocks people from using the machines.
(Solution!) To fix this problem, my thought was that if the board were on a different wall, this would get a better flow of people through the space. Particularly if it were on a back wall, since the majority of the people didn’t come more than two-thirds into the room.
Social Context of Use – If you’re not like me when you go to the movies, this probably means you have come to the movies with at least one other person. When people arrived at the theater, they often came with friends and family, or they came alone and then met up with another person. So pretty much anything that a person does at the theater, they do with another person or more. When people are interacting with the self-ticketing machines, what really happens is that there are at least two people standing at one machine watching the screen while one of them actually touches the interface. I also noticed that even when there are more than two people are at the theater together all of them stand around the machine while to purchase their tickets.
This is why I feel that it’s very important that these machines not make people look like they don’t know how to operate a machine. Their friends are watching. Their date is watching. It’s not cool to make someone look dumb when they’re out on a date.
My last two observations to note are: “Proximity to the machine” and “What else do people do in self-ticketing space?”.
Proximity: When purchasing tickets, I noticed that when a person reached the point of purchase, he or she took a step closer to the machine. Maybe this behavior is just to get close enough to actually swipe their credit card effectively, or maybe it’s just that people feel better when they’re standing closer to the machine when paying for their tickets. Anyway, getting closer to the machines can be difficult in a crowded theater.
Sometimes, people also had a tendency to sort of play with the machines. Occasionally, a person who clearly did not intend to purchase a ticket would go to a machine and touch it as if they were going to purchase a ticket. When people did this, they often stood a little farther away from the machine, so that the machine was not really too much in their personal space. They also stood at an angle to the machine, so that they were not “squared off” in front of it – shoulders and hips aligned on top of each other so as to create a square, directly facing the machine.
What else do people do in the self-ticketing space: Aside from waiting around and chatting with their friends, the majority of people were using their cell phones. It seemed sometimes that maybe 50% of the people in the space were on the phone. They used their phones before and after purchasing tickets, perhaps to see what other movies were playing nearby, and possibly also to purchase tickets via their phone.
Alone again at the movies, I think I was the only person watching people use the self-ticketing machines.
Join IxDA NYC for some interactive discussion and last-of-summer fun at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Look for our IxDA teal-colored balloons. Microsoft will also be on hand to hand out some goodies to promote the recent launch of Expression Studio 3.
No RSVP needed — the event is open to everyone! Show up, enjoy some tasty summer treats, and help us send summer off with a bang! Check out the Shack Shack’s menu here: http://www.shakeshacknyc.com
The event will start at 5:30 and go until we decide we’re done!
Today’s new UseIt.com article, “World’s Best Headlines: BBC News” is an article after my own heart: a glowing review of BBC News. More specifically, it’s about the concisely written, yet richly explanatory headlines on the BBC News website.
I am so excited to see this wonderful review because for a few years, I was absolutely obsessed with getting a job at the BBC. To be honest, I guess I still am. I started listened to the BBC News World Report on NPR a few years ago when I didn’t have a cable (and had THE worst TV reception) and therefore no T.V. I was so impressed with the quality of their reporting and how much I learned about news from around the world as opposed to the very US-centric news reporting that I tend to get even from NPR or other US news sources. They easily could’ve focused on British news and just tossed in tidbits of world affairs, but it really was “fair and balanced” reporting from around the world.
I was also very impressed with the aggressiveness of the BBC reporters in their interviews who don’t let anyone get away with ambiguity – even when they speak to British, US or other Western officials. I loved how they would just call people out and tell them point blank how whatever rap they were supposed to give to reporters was just a load of bull. Wonderful.
I even tried to apply to the BBC after gradschool. Unfortunately, it never worked out, but even in the job rejections I was so impressed with the their class. They would send hand-signed rejection letters. Typically, the standard response is no response, or when I was lucky I would sometimes get a dry, automated email message telling me that there were no jobs for me but my resume would be kept on file for a year. So, yeah. I guess I am still a bit in love with the BBC. 🙂
So, I was so happy to see this article about their online news source. It’s really great to see props given to a deserving news site. I do have one qualm about the article: Nielsen says that using “4” instead of “four” in the headline would provide more space. That may be true for many other non-journalism websites, but here it would just be bad grammar. In this case, I think it’s better to stick with news writing convention – which is to write out numbers from 0-9, and use numerals for 10 and above – than with website convention. (I am writing a blog, so who cares!? ;P)
I also thought Nielsen’s explanation of BBC’s excellence as originating from their days as a radio broadcaster was also interesting.
“The news organization originated as a radio station, where word count is at a premium and you must communicate clearly to immediately grab listeners. In a spoken medium, each word is gone as soon as it’s uttered…”
That is very true for the performing arts as well. Dance and music are both art forms that exist only the present (videos and recordings aside) and the art is gone as soon as it has been danced or played. For instance, one of my dance teachers once said to me that it’s important to be fully committed to your technique even in class and not just on stage because you only get the one chance to do that pirouette or that arabesque as best you can. You can try it again, but it’s won’t be the same step. I guess it’s the same as saying you never step in the same river twice. That type of attitude, that is doing your best even for mundane things, is a bit of a perfectionist attitude, but over time it can lead to excellence.
Ha! Yet again I’ve managed to connect dance and technology! Yay for me! 🙂
