Step 1
During recitation this week, I discussed our final project with Jackson Sayama, Sarah Waxman, and Jessica Xing. All three of my classmates had a very different definition of interaction and final projects.
First, we discussed Jackson Sayama’s project “Bongo with Bongo Cat.” Jackson Sayama’s project is quite similar to my final project as we both define it as a music rhythm project. However, instead of offering instructions Jackson’s project encourages users to freelance and do not follow instructions. As my final project will not work if users do not follow instructions, it is refreshing and interesting to see Jackson promote a no boundary project. Unlike most modern technology, “Bongo with Bongo Cat” creates a meaningful experience for users as it does not provide users with a maze to get out of and advocates for users to interact with technology as if it is a blank piece of paper that is waiting to be drawn on. As Jackson already had a half working prototype, I offered him advice on hardware issues instead of software issues. Such as using a three finger paw instead of a four-fingered paw to make user testing easier, while other group members advised him to include another paw so it could be a collaborative music rhythm game.
Next, we talked about Jessica Xing’s project “Manamonster.” Inspired by the Japanese gadget game Tamagotchi, Jessica Xing aims to create a virtual pets game that will test users idea of prettiness and ugliness. She aims her project at young kids and promotes the idea that love should not be based on aesthetic features. I found Jessica’s idea interesting as it uses a childhood game in a new purpose, instead of just fostering care and building personal relationships with your pets, Jessica wants users to grow comfortable with their pets as they grow older and “uglier.” Jessica’s project uses technology to create a meaningful partnership between the users and their pets, instead of just relying on technology to help us achieve our goals, “Manamonster” wants to change people’s appreciation of beauty. I gave Jessica some feedback regarding her presentation of her project, as the original Tamagotchi game used pixelated creatures to depict user’s pet, I suggested Jessica to use clear images to outline indeed what the creature’s appearance to help define the ugly and the pretty. As a group, we also told Jessica how she could use a reverse cycle of her game, and it essentially means that when the users feed and care for their pets, it will stop the pets from growing instead of catalyzing their growth. This way, users will attend extra care for the pet and learn to appreciate the pet.
Finally, we discussed Sarah Waxman’s project “Tap the World.” In this project, Sarah Waxman aims to provide an alternative yet entertaining way to participate in the global cause. She will build a bottle recycling gadget that will help NYU Shanghai’s recycling effort. She plans to add a trash bin with three different-sized holes on the cover; users should toss plastic bottle caps into the holes. Depending on whether the user makes the shot or which hole they successfully throw the caps into, the screen next to the trash can will show a globe revolving at a similar rate. The smaller the mess that the cap goes through, the more the world will rotate. Like Jessica’s project, Sarah’s project helps establish and educate users on the urging need to address global warming. Sarah’s project also explores how humans do not always have to hesitate to interact with technology as we are afraid it will add fire to the global warming movement. Instead, her project helps us understand how technology could work hand in hand with our effort to combat global warming. I offered Sarah some advice regarding the hardware, I was skeptical about having a screen next to the bin, so I advised her to have a globe on top of the bins. The world should rotate every time a user makes a shot. On the other hand, other group members also suggested Sarah display fun facts about global warming on the screen when users make a shot.Jackson defines interaction as two or actors affecting one another in a psychic process.
Jessica Xing defines interaction as expressing an idea that should be translatable to human emotion. Jackson Sayama defines interaction as two or actors affecting one another in a psychic process. Sarah Waxman defines interaction as a process that incorporates users and provides responses promptly to a particular action placed by the user. Unlike my definition of interaction, my group members define interaction more broadly. However, Jessica’s definition of interaction is particularly interesting as users do not necessarily regard an action to translate into emotions.
Step 2
According to my group members, the most successful part of my proposal is the competitive and nostalgic component of my game. The short game fits well with my targeted users as it does not take up much of their time and the competitive aspect adds a different element to the experience. I agree with my group members as Julie, and I spent quite some time trying to integrate multiple users into our project, and I see my group member’s approval as validation. The least successful part of my project, according to my group members, is the incorporation of the photo aspect. They said the purpose of the photo-taking aspect was unclear and seemed redundant. I partially agree with their feedback as I can see how users may be confused about why our project captures a picture of their experience. However building onto my group member’s feedback, Julie and I will have to discuss how we want to incorporate the photo taking experience. We could either lose the photo taking or keep it and add a “winner” and “loser” filter to help indicate which user was more skillful. Based on the feedback from my group members, I believe I can draw some inspiration from Jackson’s project and feedback. Jackson advised me to shy away from the Tap Tap Revenge format (which requires a lot of visual) as it might take more time than we have. I will discuss with Julie about the possibility of making our game less dependent on visual cues and instead rely more on audio cues.