Week 7: VISION Final Project – Jennifer Cheung

Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1T204A53vwnwHKGVBPYU3YFZL1fwYiCmfTC-jDsz1hxw/edit?usp=sharing 

After working with speculative design on the group project, I knew I wanted to work with this framework again for my final project. With speculative design, there is so much freedom in choosing how the future will turn out, so design possibilities were very broad. By brainstorming my interests in visual and graphic design, I settled on a broad idea to visualize thoughts into something that could be physically seen. 

I refined my idea to take the form of a communicative necklace for travelers to use in foreign countries. The necklace would use futuristic technology to emit holographic images that represent what the wearer says to ease with foreign communication. I chose to use a necklace to be the mode of emission because it would easily display images in front of the wearer but not obscure their face. Similar products, like translating earbuds, also do the job of translating, but they obscure the speaker’s voice with an AI that speaks the translation into the wearer’s ears. I find this to serve as a barrier between people’s interaction, since the aspect of hearing the other’s voice is lost. Therefore, I think using visuals while being able to hear what they are saying makes a more personal connection. 

I soon realized that this necklace had much more potential to help others besides travelers. Our world is getting so much more interconnected that people of all different cultures are engaging with each other. Language therefore still remains a barrier in people’s homelands. Personally, I face this within my family, which speaks many different dialects of Chinese. Though I have basic knowledge of Chinese, I don’t have the time to master other dialects they speak, which keeps me from bonding with older generations. Additionally, I see barriers within the different cultures at our school. Even though many nationalities are represented, people tend to stick with people of the same background as them, which I infer is because of language and culture differences. In the future, I see people having to interact more with different cultures, but not having the time to fully learn other languages. Therefore, I changed my target audience to anyone who wishes to create deeper connections with people of all different cultures without the challenge of having to know their languages. Additionally, I realized how much of the conversations we have cannot be efficiently translated into simply visual representations. Therefore, I decided to include word translations with a visual supplement so that people are able to get the full picture of what is being said. 

Since I don’t have the technology to make an actual prototype, I decided to make a user manual to show how the necklace works. Using Photoshop, I designed all the pages to be as minimal in text as possible so that it would be easier to digest. I then printed a physical copy that was small enough to fit into the product’s box.

   

In designing my product, I tried to make considerations about the many ways people would interact with it, for example the two modes of use, but there were some drawbacks that I did not catch. Some feedback I received included how people would be distracted by the holograms and not be able to fully concentrate on the speaker, the inconvenience of pushing buttons to activate the necklace, a more feminine design not geared to men as much, and the possibility of creating class differences between the rich and poor. Regarding the last point, I feel that all new technology has the potential of creating contrasts between people of different socioeconomic backgrounds. New technology is bound to be used by a specific group who can access it first, but as it stays in the market for a longer time, more and more people begin to use these products and they do not become niche anymore. This can be seen in Apple’s AirPods, which many people were opposed to when they first launched. However, now that they’ve been out for three years, it is commonplace to see all kinds of people wearing these. So, I think this could apply to the VISION necklace as well. 

Final Project Reflection – Xiaoyan Kong

Project Name: Wishlish心愿单

Slides Link:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CY_JXV-RoLhNKo7IPHPwVqonrhc97whWepxNf4TXYxY/edit#slide=id.g3606f1c2d_30

Video Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1v-v36mvmQsaJKrsmPkOmiUWuBJXSAwaO

Problem

We frequently don’t know what other people wants, gift-selection is often associated with stress and anxiety, especially in intimate relationships. 

  • Wedon’t know what gift to give.
  • WE forget about important dates.
  • Gifts lack meaning & does not contribute much to relationship

Intention

I want to create a wechat mini program that makes it easy to choose the right gift, to the right person on the right day. Enable friends or couples to spend more time with each other enjoying experiences rather than spending much time selecting gift and less time enjoying it.

Prototype

    

Reflection

While I was making the presentation, I was reading the double diamond design process. It was very helpful in guiding me in my first stages. It told me to consider the customer first and really understand their life to ensure I define the right problem. Then I should test my ideas with friends and reiterate the process.

To improve my idea, I shared it with many people and asked them for advice. It was a bit troublesome to spend hours explaining to them about my whole thinking process and discussed the project from varies perspectives. But they had offered me the greatest help I could imagine. While they asking me different questions about the project, I was also asking myself one quetsion – what do I want from this project? Sometimes too many people’s ideas would make my mind messier, I had to sit down and organised their suggestions, took what I want and added to my project. They really helped me to keep developing my project, find weaknesses and new opportunities.

There’s always more I can improve on my project. My first idea was commercial but I realized I actually want to help people have better relationships more than the money. But I also knew I had to monetize my idea to keep the project sustainable. I was really conflicting between these two ideas. Eventually, I decided to combine my passion/mission with commercial approaches. (I was also very surprised that I learned to use the basic Sketch and Marvel skills in such short time.)

To conclude, it was a very interesting experience which I definitely learned a lot from. I also think I would bring this project further in the future.  

Final Project Reflection – SUITS /Gabriela Naumnik/

 

Click HERE to view the PPT.

Click HERE to view an article that inspired me. 

Why? Help working women who like wearing female suits easily find designs they want by easily connecting them with places or people who offer such designs, thus eliminating the frustration resulting from wasting time and effort on finding professional clothing.

How? An app that provides AI-based suggestions and allows fast browsing as well as communication between buyers and sellers.

What? Targeting working women, sellers, and tailors.

 

Reflection: Prototyping SUITS helped me better apply design concepts learned in class to a project which could potentially become a problem-solving commercial product in the future. Initially, I wasn’t sure how to address the issue mentioned above, and the in-class exercise with Sylvia helped me solidify my idea. I think that the main lessons I learned while working on this project include the importance of the iterative design cycle and constant questioning of the project concept. Before presenting the designs I made using Sketch and inVision, I had to go through many iterations. Iterating and improving my prototype helped me create an app version which could be easily usable and functional. While working on the project, I interviewed many of my friends and acquaintances about SUITS, and their feedback helped me solidify my final idea while trying to outline the most important design goals. Overall, I achieved my goal of prototyping an app which would address the business wear issue. My next steps would include reiterating through the design cycle to create a better prototype and more research as to the necessary tech as well as the business layer.