people knowing [experimental interventions]
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Design is knowing which ones to keep" -Scott Adams
Experimental Interventions are a series of exercises to explore behaviors and reactions in people. In collaboration with Manny Darden, our job was to tease out three different types of interaction by making a trap, a dispensing object and creating a route of some sort.
Our first approach to the project was to find out what is it that people engage with in terms of physical objects and images so we attacked the assignment by creating simple things that later we would embed into a more complex system.
Attempt number one: Creating simple strategies
Manny and I build a bunch of large sized construction paper planes that we laid around in the Hillside Campus hallway to see what was the reaction of the people that walked by them. Most of the people would pick them up and play as they walked by- that told us that people are attracted to games and nostalgia.
We also had some "dummy" knobs laying in a large base and people around were immediately interested in turning the knobs and expecting something to happen as well. We learned that people like to touch, turn, pull and push things that will create some sort of output or reward.
For the final first approach we filled a series of post-it notes with different colors and shapes commanding people to follow the colors or the shapes across the hall. We learned that people like to be told what to do, but they also need to have extra layers of attention and information to keep them following.
Attempt number two: Cannibal Cove, The kiss and The ants
Cannibal Cove was the following dispensing experiment we created to tease out what is it that grabs people attention. We created a dispensing machine were the users had to punch into a series of questions that would tell us about their personality, and as a result of the punching they would receive a fruit that embodied their character. We learned that people like to talk about themselves and see themselves reflected into different objects or points of view.
The kiss was a scenic route where the image of a girl blowing a kiss and a trail of kisses would lead to an end point of "nice" notes. We learned that people like strong images but also like strong narratives that are supported by these.
The ants was a second go of the kiss, but instead of having something intangible such as a kiss traveling in the air, we set up a series of large ants in the stairs that are by the library in the Hillside Campus and that go all the way down into the classrooms that are on the side of the Ahmanson Auditorium, leading into a big pile of candy. We learned that people need stronger stimuli or attention factors in order to follow.
Attempt number three: Punching Boxes and LED ants
So from our teachings of Cannibal Cove, we decided to make a bolder experiment and built a series of boxes that had to be punched in order to access a survey, which followed some more punching to make choices about people's mood that day. We found out that people LOVE to punch in any way possible, and that the element of surprise is key to mantain the user's interest.
The ants we decided to make an LED strand that resembled ants so people would follow the lighting dots to get to the prize. We learned that when indicating a route, the pattern must be very prominent and attention catching, otherwise people just walk by it.
Final Attempt: Punching Boxes and Bike LED light ants
The dinamic for the punching boxes was pretty much the same, except this time we elaborated a more sophisticated set of questions, where the user not only had to answer about their moods but their opinions on actual issues of interest and belief. We learned that people actually like to think a little and don't trust questionaires, even if they are anonymous.
We increased the size and created a pace in the LED ants, now using larger sets of LEDs like the ones bike lights use: we benefited from their color, format and the ability to light at different sequences without hooking up extra hardware. Unfortunately our route experiment was not followed as we wished in any of our attempts, although people did show interest from time to time or appreciation as a work of installation. We learned that we have to create very strong narratives and instances of attention in order to get people engaged in a journey.
Instructors: Ben Hooker/Sean Donahue
Experimental Interventions are a series of exercises to explore behaviors and reactions in people. In collaboration with Manny Darden, our job was to tease out three different types of interaction by making a trap, a dispensing object and creating a route of some sort.
Our first approach to the project was to find out what is it that people engage with in terms of physical objects and images so we attacked the assignment by creating simple things that later we would embed into a more complex system.
Attempt number one: Creating simple strategies
Manny and I build a bunch of large sized construction paper planes that we laid around in the Hillside Campus hallway to see what was the reaction of the people that walked by them. Most of the people would pick them up and play as they walked by- that told us that people are attracted to games and nostalgia.
We also had some "dummy" knobs laying in a large base and people around were immediately interested in turning the knobs and expecting something to happen as well. We learned that people like to touch, turn, pull and push things that will create some sort of output or reward.
For the final first approach we filled a series of post-it notes with different colors and shapes commanding people to follow the colors or the shapes across the hall. We learned that people like to be told what to do, but they also need to have extra layers of attention and information to keep them following.
Attempt number two: Cannibal Cove, The kiss and The ants
Cannibal Cove was the following dispensing experiment we created to tease out what is it that grabs people attention. We created a dispensing machine were the users had to punch into a series of questions that would tell us about their personality, and as a result of the punching they would receive a fruit that embodied their character. We learned that people like to talk about themselves and see themselves reflected into different objects or points of view.
The kiss was a scenic route where the image of a girl blowing a kiss and a trail of kisses would lead to an end point of "nice" notes. We learned that people like strong images but also like strong narratives that are supported by these.
The ants was a second go of the kiss, but instead of having something intangible such as a kiss traveling in the air, we set up a series of large ants in the stairs that are by the library in the Hillside Campus and that go all the way down into the classrooms that are on the side of the Ahmanson Auditorium, leading into a big pile of candy. We learned that people need stronger stimuli or attention factors in order to follow.
Attempt number three: Punching Boxes and LED ants
So from our teachings of Cannibal Cove, we decided to make a bolder experiment and built a series of boxes that had to be punched in order to access a survey, which followed some more punching to make choices about people's mood that day. We found out that people LOVE to punch in any way possible, and that the element of surprise is key to mantain the user's interest.
The ants we decided to make an LED strand that resembled ants so people would follow the lighting dots to get to the prize. We learned that when indicating a route, the pattern must be very prominent and attention catching, otherwise people just walk by it.
Final Attempt: Punching Boxes and Bike LED light ants
The dinamic for the punching boxes was pretty much the same, except this time we elaborated a more sophisticated set of questions, where the user not only had to answer about their moods but their opinions on actual issues of interest and belief. We learned that people actually like to think a little and don't trust questionaires, even if they are anonymous.
We increased the size and created a pace in the LED ants, now using larger sets of LEDs like the ones bike lights use: we benefited from their color, format and the ability to light at different sequences without hooking up extra hardware. Unfortunately our route experiment was not followed as we wished in any of our attempts, although people did show interest from time to time or appreciation as a work of installation. We learned that we have to create very strong narratives and instances of attention in order to get people engaged in a journey.
Instructors: Ben Hooker/Sean Donahue
Experimental Interventions from ana rifa! on Vimeo.
Feeling Punchy from Manny Darden on Vimeo.