University of Limerick Sculptures - Enhancing the Experience
This was my introduction to User Experience. This class project is based on the sculptures on the campus of the University of Limerick. The aim is to increase people’s awareness of the sculptures of the UL campus, and to enhance their experience of the campus overall. We consider the entire campus to be the design space in this project as the sculptures are not confined to one area.
The "Understand" Phase
One of the first questions raised when undertaking this project was "Who exactly uses the University of Limerick campus?" We found not only were the students and staff of the university the users of the campus, but because of the University's location, with numerous walking paths through the campus and along by the river, there were members of the public always around campus.
The methods we chose for understanding the design space and users of the space were:
User Observation: The reason we chose to use User Observation as our first method of understanding the space and users was because of the artefacts we were exploring. We felt that by observing the types of interactions and activities that took place around some of the sculptures, we could better understand if and how the sculptures impacted on campus life.
The "Understand" Phase
One of the first questions raised when undertaking this project was "Who exactly uses the University of Limerick campus?" We found not only were the students and staff of the university the users of the campus, but because of the University's location, with numerous walking paths through the campus and along by the river, there were members of the public always around campus.
The methods we chose for understanding the design space and users of the space were:
User Observation: The reason we chose to use User Observation as our first method of understanding the space and users was because of the artefacts we were exploring. We felt that by observing the types of interactions and activities that took place around some of the sculptures, we could better understand if and how the sculptures impacted on campus life.
Participant Interviews: We chose this method because we wanted to get a better understanding of people’s opinions of the sculptures on campus. We felt that doing interviews was a quick and relatively easy way of getting rich information from users. We wanted to find out if there were any that were particularly central to people’s activities. The participant interviews were very informative. We interviewed a total of six users - four undergraduate students, a PhD student and one member of university staff. We felt that getting a mix of users (and not just having undergraduates) was important as we got to understand and appreciate the opinions of more mature, and possibly more appreciative users.
As a class, we discussed our observations, as well as the differences in interviews, interviewees and their opinions on the sculptures. Below are some of the mind maps we developed over the course of the discussion.
As a class, we discussed our observations, as well as the differences in interviews, interviewees and their opinions on the sculptures. Below are some of the mind maps we developed over the course of the discussion.
Following our interviews with users in the space, we regrouped as a class to share our findings about the users. During this phase of the process we were able to collect a great deal of information about how the various different users feel about the sculptures and how users interacted with the sculptures. We ourselves also gained more knowledge about the actual sculptures in this initial phase of the project.
During the "understand" phase of the process we were able to collect a great deal of data about how the various different users feel about the sculptures on campus, as well as discovering how users interact with the sculptures. We also learned about the sculptures ourselves, and have a greater appreciation of the art seen across the campus.
The "Concept Development" Phase
In the concept development phase of this project, we were tasked with developing personas to represent different users of the campus. Once we had developed these personas, we undertook the "100 ideas" task - thinking of 100 things that users might like, might want, might use, might enjoy. Once we had these 100 ideas finished, we realised that most things were app-based, so we decided to come up with 50 more ideas, but making sure to think outside of the box and not limiting ourselves to technological possibilities.
The "Concept Development" Phase
In the concept development phase of this project, we were tasked with developing personas to represent different users of the campus. Once we had developed these personas, we undertook the "100 ideas" task - thinking of 100 things that users might like, might want, might use, might enjoy. Once we had these 100 ideas finished, we realised that most things were app-based, so we decided to come up with 50 more ideas, but making sure to think outside of the box and not limiting ourselves to technological possibilities.
In total we generated 150 ideas. We wanted to ensure that we were thinking outside of the box. There were some good ideas, and a lot more not-so-good ideas, but we found that you do have to overcome the not-so-good ideas in order to get to some of the better ideas. Once we had divorced ourselves from the idea of an application, we found that the ideas were less bound to technological possibilities, and more free to explore things that the technology may not even exist for yet.
Following a class discussion of all the ideas we had developed, we came up with 3 overall themes we would base some scenarios on. The first idea was creating/enhancing an audio/visual environment, the second revolved around the idea of a fixed point viewfinder, and the third was the idea of the art ‘whispering’ or telling you about itself. So in all, the themes were audio, visual, and audio/visual. We thought that these were good starting points, as they would enhance, as opposed to change or alter the works and the environment that the users were in.
Overall, the "concept development" stage has taught us that we cannot be confined to one idea. We must explore numerous possibilities that a project can present through the use of a number of different methods. Sticking to one idea, or one method, can limit the directions a project can take, and as designers we want to ensure to avoid that
The "Design Development" Phase
The next part of this project required us to develop some scenarios using the themes we had discussed as a class. Each theme required at least one scenario from each of us, so as a sub-group we had developed nine scenarios. We printed these off, stuck them on a board with the rest of the class, and discussed our scenarios. Ultimately, the scenario that our group decided to work with for design development was a scenario that I had come up with.
Overall, the "concept development" stage has taught us that we cannot be confined to one idea. We must explore numerous possibilities that a project can present through the use of a number of different methods. Sticking to one idea, or one method, can limit the directions a project can take, and as designers we want to ensure to avoid that
The "Design Development" Phase
The next part of this project required us to develop some scenarios using the themes we had discussed as a class. Each theme required at least one scenario from each of us, so as a sub-group we had developed nine scenarios. We printed these off, stuck them on a board with the rest of the class, and discussed our scenarios. Ultimately, the scenario that our group decided to work with for design development was a scenario that I had come up with.
The idea of a sculpture interacting with the user through sounds seemed to us to be the most engaging and interesting approach to the project, which is why this scenario was our starting point. From there the group discussed whether or not we wanted to stick with the idea of an actual whisper/speech in the environment, or whether we should go in a new direction, and to possibly include the user's phone in some way. We wanted to create an interactive experience that UL users would remember and want to share with their friends. In addition, we felt that it was important to allow the art to remain as it was. Not only out of respect for the artist, but to also not change the intended meaning by the artist.
After discussing the scenario and the potential it had, we decided to move from the idea of a whisper in the environment to the idea of an app, that once a user downloads it, they are given the option to receive notifications. The app would be location-based so the app would be able to recognise when the user is passing a certain sculpture and send a notification to the user’s device, informing them of this. The app would allow the users to receive messages from the sculpture in form of a phone call, a text or a tweet, or all three if they wished.
Having decided on an idea to work with, we were then able to move to the next phase of the project.
The "Prototyping" Phase
The prototyping phase began with storyboarding. The initial storyboard was a quickly drawn idea of how a scenario involving our application could unfold. It was quick and not very well drawn (I'm allowed to say that... I drew it.), and missed a few steps in the story.
Having decided on an idea to work with, we were then able to move to the next phase of the project.
The "Prototyping" Phase
The prototyping phase began with storyboarding. The initial storyboard was a quickly drawn idea of how a scenario involving our application could unfold. It was quick and not very well drawn (I'm allowed to say that... I drew it.), and missed a few steps in the story.
However, once we had ironed out some details, we were able to move on and create a more comprehensive storyboard that was beautifully drawn (not by me) and told a story from start to finish.
Having developed a scenario that we could use for the final prototype, we began sketching ideas for the application. We wanted the homepage to feature at least one of the most recognisable sculptures in UL, so we went with Brown Thomas for the initial sketches.
We were able to begin the process of creating Photoshop renders of the app pages once we’d finalised our concept sketches and we were happy with out how they looked
For our final prototype, we produced a video showing how the application would work. The video can be seen below.
The overall aim of this project was to increase people’s awareness of the sculptures of the UL campus, and to enhance their experience of the campus overall. Something we did not get to convey in either prototype was each sculpture’s ‘personality’, which would be a marriage of both the artist’s intentions for each of the sculptures, and the perception of the sculptures according to the users. The realisation that we should find a middle ground between these was an important conclusion to come to. We feel that our prototype supports this goal as it is an application that draws people’s attention to the sculptures they pass therefore increasing their awareness of the art in their surroundings, and with the use of different ‘personalities’ the application can help users to appreciate the artist’s meaning, but also have their own interpretation of the sculptures on campus which may enhance the users’ experience of the campus overall.