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delft

by Sophie Boonen - coaching: Stella Boess

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INTRODUCTION 4MAIN FOCUS POINTS 6EXPLORING OTHER DOMAINS 8WORKSHOP IP 10CONCEPT IDEAS 12FINAL CONCEPT 14TESTING FINAL CONCEPT 16STORYBOARD 18PHYSICAL APPEARANCE 20HOW IS IT GOING TO WORK? 22EXPERIENTIAL PROTOTYPE 24EVALUATION STUDY 26RECOMMENDATIONS 28APPENDICES 30

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In this report I describe the design & research explorations of the third cycle of the Exploring Interaction project, the demonstrate phase. During this phase I formulated a concept, finalized and detailed the concept and evaluated it with use of an experiential prototype. My project, ‘A city full of bicycles’, is about bicycle parking at the central railway station of delft. During the first two phases I conducted a lot of small tests at the location. Through these iterations I gathered a lot of useful information about the thoughts and feelings people have when travelling to the station and parking their bicycle there. At the end of the iterate phase my direction was ‘creating a small change in the environment, that will make people percept their experience of going to the station and parking their bicycle as more enjoyable, fascinating or energetic’.

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Before developing a concept for my project, I took a step back to make the main focus points clear, which are the main results that I can draw from previous research. People are in a hurry, which makes them hasty and results in rude and clumsy behaviour. People don’t get any surprise or amazement during their trip to the station, which makes them bored and tired and results in careless behaviour. People don’t want to put effort in something without seeing results, which makes them want to park as close to the station as possible.With these insights I started thinking of concept directions and sketch some ideas for these directions. I based these sketches on the following thoughts:

What if... people would have the idea that there is no need to hurryWhat if... people would get amazed while travelling to the train stationWhat if... people would get rewarded for parking their bicycle on a certain spot

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‘It seems you think you are constricted to the environment there, but that is not the fact. Maybe you can find some new inspiration for the experience by looking

at other domains.’

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I thought of different domains in which people are looking for a spot. I imagined myself being in such a place and used my own experiences to analyze how people act in those situations. I also tried to find some information on people’s behaviour in those situations. This resulted in the following conclusions.

Reserving creates certainty Reserving creates the possibility that you are constricted to a spot which you don’t like

'I always sit here'People tend to claim a spot and create their own personal space

Overview creates certainty. Without overview, people get confused and frustrated.

People grant themselves the best. They tend to get jealous if someone else has a better spot.

Finding a nice spot makes people proud and satisfied.

People tend to avoid contact with other people. If they find something annoying they are afraid to say something about it. They want to stay in their own personal space in which they don’t want to interact with others.

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‘I would consider not to explore all the concept directions but choose one and think of the details of that one. The indicating concept is most close to your earlier done research.’

By combining the conclusions from the analysis of other domains with the earlier mentioned focus points, two main concept directions are developed. These concept directions are based on observations of current behaviour of people travelling to the railway station and a phenomenon. The two directions are visualized in sketches which can be found in appendix A. They are also explained in the images above.

During the workshop I found out that my group mates both liked a place indicator, it would really help them in being more calm during the parking experience. They did not agree on the fact whether they would like to have a clock there. Both of them really liked the concept with the reward. Though they would act different depending on the context. When having to rush to the station they would probably ignore the reward thing because they have other priorities then.

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P HURRY - Rude & clumsy behaviour

OV E R VI E W c re a te s c e r t a i n t y

LA ZY - peopl e do not both er

People grant themselves the best

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After the tutor meeting with Anna, had a brainstorm about what I actually wanted to indicate at the parking place, how I want to indicate this and how I gather the data that is needed. The brainstorm sketches can be found in appendix B. I decided to discuss several ideas with 3 people who fit my user group, students. So together with Anna I had another afternoon of testing in which I interviewed 3 students at our faculty and asked them for their opinion about my new ideas.From these interviews I concluded that an indication of free places by using coloured lights will be most clear. A clock will help in having an overview of the time, but just one clock is enough. Other things to indicate such as news or weather information are not preferred, because it does not fit in the context of travelling to the train station.

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To broaden op my view, Anna and Roderick joined me in a brainstorm session. We all made some sketches of how a clear indication can look like, which can be found in appendix C. We discussed about what the actual interaction is that I want to communicate with my product. For me it is very important that the indication system is subtle and open instead of forcing. This discussion resulted in a change in my interaction vision. From smooth certainty it went to:

GUIDING & AMUSING

The concept is a system which consists of two elements. The first part is a motivation to go to the front or back side of the station in form of a funny fact or a joke. The second part is a light indication on the ground which attracts the attention of the user and offers an opportunity of parking his bicycle in a certain area near the station. The first part gives the user fascination and relaxation and the second part gives certainty and satisfaction. The indication lights will let the user make the connection in his head why had to turn left or right.

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When I developed this new idea I wanted to test it as soon as possible, to try and get some reactions of the users on it. Together with Laura and Anna I went to the area of the train station. Right at the point where the cyclists decide to go left or right (front or back side of the station), I hang the signs with different texts on it:

'There are more girls on the back side''People on the back side seem more happier''Burn 50 calories more by going to the back side'

It was fun to test this concept, people laughed when they noticed the sign. But on the other hand, a lot of people did not notice the sign. Especially when I tested it at the side where people come from the university, they were obviously in a hurry and paid no attention to their surroundings. This is something I will have to change in the final design.

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To make the board more attractive I thought of ways to make it more outstanding. As an inspiration source I used pictures of old cinemas, which have kind of a vintage look. They are really attractive with bright lights and colours and are not very serious but more amusing. This fits my interaction vision very well, and therefore I applied this look to the design of my board. The indication lights at the back side of the station will have the similar design language. I first thought of having light strips on the current white lines which are painted on the ground. But those lines are a often hidden because they are blocked the parked bicycles, and currently they are all covered by the snow. Therefore I would make these light strips straight across the cycling path. In this way the cyclist will notice the lines while cycling over the path. This will be combined with spotlights which cover the complete section of bicycles, which will enhance the experience especially at night. The idea of a spotlight appealed to me because it fits with the vintage cinema look I used for the board.

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The counting system for the amount of bicycles does already exist, and is currently used to measure the amount of bicycles which pass a certain street daily. I will implement this system in the temporary parking area around the train station. I choose this system because it is not needed to change the entire parking racks or to change the infrastructure of the parking area. The system is explained by the picture on the right. The board which guides people left or right will be made out of wood. The arrows are wireless connected with the bicycle counting system, so they can switch on and off depending on where there are the most free places left. The text on the board will be replaced by hand weekly, to keep the people having interest in the idea.

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In these photos I show my experiential prototype. I decided to make a scale model of the two locations in which my design will be placed. I based the sized on a Playmobil puppet, which I also used to make a movie about the intended interaction. My experiential prototype helped me in explaining the concept to others and to do the evaluation study.

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To evaluate my final design, I had a group discussion with 3 other students at our faculty. These students were all between 20-22 years old and did not know anything about my EI-project yet. First I asked them about their current feeling about their journey to the station, their bicycle parking experience and afterwards. To make it more easy for them to express themselves, I used the PAM cartoons (‘Pick-a-mood’) of Studiolab. Then I showed them the movie about the concept, and explained it by using the experiential prototype. At the end I asked them whether their mood would change by having this concept. The discussion raised a lot of new ideas and thoughts about the whole project, which was very nice and which was something I did not really expect. They were very enthusiastic about the board which indicates you to the front or the back side. They also would really want to be guided in finding a parking place, but doubt if this system would work well during the daylight. The users mentioned that the qualities before were irritated, bored and a little bit neutral. Afterwards they mentioned cheerful, and pleasant. They said, the concept would not directly make them more calm, but it will give them a moment of joy during their trip to the station. This will eventually make them not think of the stress of catching the train, and thereby make the overall experience a bit more calm. There are still several questions about my concept which I have not been able to answer during my project or which I encountered during the final evaluation study. Will the spotlights and light strips on the ground actually be visible enough during daylight? How much people will actually follow the arrows, if they are in a hurry? Will the municipality be interested in such a system, or is it too expensive for a temporary situation? It would be interesting to test the concept over a longer period of time, how will people react on it after they have seen it a few days or weeks?

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APPENDIX A: CONCEPTS FOR WORKSHOP IPI developed two directions to explore further during the interaction prototyping workshop. Originally I had three directions, the one which I dropped can be found in my workbook. This third concept was too far away from my research and design explorations so I decided not too test that one. Having in mind the fact that overview creates certainty, I want to offer the user an overview of time and an overview of parking places that are left. Therefore I need a clock and an indicator. Ideas for indicating are shown in the sketches below. People don’t want to put effort in placing their bicycle somewhere else when they do not get anything back as a reward. So what if they would actually gain points when they park their bicycle at a specific area, points which they can use for getting some free stuff. This is the second idea (on the right).

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‘The time really helped me in knowing that I did not have to rush’‘If the clock was too dominant, it would make me a little bit nervous

‘It was nice that I had an idea of which row not to choose’‘It would be nice to know how full the parking is’

‘The straight one seems less easy to change. I prefer the first one, because it reminds me of an engine measurer of your car’‘The straight one is nice, it is so simple and very clear’

‘Free is always good, and especially coffee. So I would definitely go there every day. If it was at the station it would depend on a lot of things, after how many times I would get the reward, whether I had time, whether there would be a queue at the coffee bar'‘I like to be rewarded, it makes me feel proud. But not with coffee, I don't really like coffee’

The interaction prototyping took place in front of our faculty, at the bicycle parking lot. I pretended to be the sign and asked Anna and Xie to bike to school and pretend that they would have a lecture at 15:45. Afterwards I asked them what they thought of the signs and how they would imagine themselves act when they were actually in te context of the station. Their responses are shown below.

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APPENDIX B: IDEA SKETCHESI can make people feel more certain by giving overview. By indicating in a not forcing way, I do not take over control. This makes them feel as they are in control while they are guided through the bicycle parking process. This will eventually make them feel more satisfied.

To come up with a concept for this thought, I have to think of what I will actually indicate, will it be only time or also other aspects, to make it a more enjoyable experience? And if I know what I will indicate, how will I eventually indicate these aspects? And finally, how can I measure the aspects that I want to indicate, for example the amount of places? The images show my brainstorm drawings.

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APPENDIX C: BRAINSTORM