Prototype proposition
By: Cristiano Almeida
Tags: Prototype, Digital Media, UX, Research, Interaction Design

We are approaching the time where we have to start prototyping our idea, so we spent some time making final decisions on our approach. Subsequent to sharing our ideas with other teams, we have got feedback and insights from our peers that helped us further define which direction we could go with the project. Although we thought we would have to go with one or the other, during the discussion our idea ended up being a mix between the two.

Which idea should we go with?

Discussion between the teams was inconclusive from the point of view that either idea could be executed and would be suitable to convey our message. We saw more potential with the escape space idea due to the fact that we could explore more concepts while the user-generated documentary had a more opinionated format.

Thinking of the escape space made us face the fact that we could do anything, but it was unclear what that was. This led us to go back to iteration. One of the ideas we had was to create doorways that would be paired up and to spread them across the room. Each doorway would have a question at the top and participants would answer by walking through the doorway which would be registered.

As participants walk through the room they would make multiple choices, creating a path of responses which could then be reviewed when they leave the room along with how these compare with other participants.

We have also discussed whether the space could be divided into three rooms where in each we would collect responses that tie with personal device addiction as participants complete tasks. However, we were unsure of how this would happen. Would we collect data from picking up objects? Where would participants place themselves in the room?

What if the room was empty?

Having a white space where the questions and other prompts would be projected on the walls and floor where every surface is interactive would allow us to create an installation where participants would be immersed in the experience by moving through the space, making themselves big or small, or touching the surfaces.

Motion graphics could be used to cue participants which areas are used to respond to questions or statements. These could change between prompts as essentially the space is a blank canvas to draw on. Sound could also be used to further immerse participants into the experience and data could be projected at the end.

Sketches of how the idea would work in context of a participant.

What form would the prototype take?

Once we committed to this idea there are multiple ways we could prototype how the installation would work.

Downscaled mockup

This prototype would essentially be a downscaled version of the installation to recreate the structure of the room along with the visual effects that would mock up the question/response interaction and then using a small projector shown on the structure.

A mockup on a 3D Environment

Similar to the previous prototype but taking place in a 3D environment. A gaming engine such as Unity could be used to place a player as a participant and walk people through how the final version would work in a real space.

Video prototype

Describing the installation and role-playing it in a video in a way that it could be recreated if we passed it to another team to build it. This would still require a space where we would project pre-made graphics on the wall and role-play the functionality of the installation with the aim of conveying the concept of the project.

Next steps

We are doing interviews with students in order to find out which questions are most impactful. Next we will make experiments on how to represent questions visually across the four planes of the structure.