Designing for automated interaction - How can we utilise the strengths of automation in our everyday lives?

About the project

How do you design future products that automated interact with people?

This project is about how to design products in the future that can automatically interact with people. This future-oriented project pursues exactly this question. For one of our customers, we have therefore developed a procedure for practically approaching the answer to this abstract question.

For reasons of confidentiality, I can only give a brief insight into the process here.

process

In a team of researchers, designers and product managers, we explored the question of the future of automated interaction. To approach the topic, we first researched scientific articles on the subject, and then conducted a current product analysis of existing products that work in this way. From this, three products came into closer focus, which we took a closer look in the real context of people at home. After an intensive analysis phase we were able to develop principles for the design of automated interactions within a product. To test these we developed scenarios and prototypes. These allowed us to verify our principles for the design of future automated interacting products. In the end, a library of interaction elements was created for further research.

Building a digital service tool for tenants in social housing - How can you increase the range of services but reduce the effort for tenants?

about the project

In this project, we have developed a digital portal in close cooperation with a large housing association, in order to discharge the local service centers and to give the tenants the possibility to take care of matters from home.

approach

For the design of a digital service portal, needs, habits and problems people have with their landlords and their concerns with their homes were explored and first prototypes tested.

Using an ethnographic approach, we first observed the people in the service center and interviewed them on site. We supported the interviews with generative research methods such as spectrum analysis to gain even deeper insights. With these findings we were able to go through the ideation phase and develop the first quick prototypes, which we were then able to test again on site. Thus the portal has gradually gone online and will continue to be developed step by step.

Generative Research

Generative design methods helped us to mentally transfer the test persons into the subject matter. In addition, we were able to integrate the artifacts we had, brought with us into the analysis phase. Journeys helped us to understand the context of the people why they are in the customer center right now. We could use further analysis tools by letting people simply mark what is important to them in a future digital portal and what is of no use to them at all.

Using simple journey as conversation starter and to get deeper insights

Person filling out the daily routine and marking painpoints

Prototyping

We quickly developed working prototypes from wireframes, which allowed us to quickly and easily test the first click tracks on site. Through the iterative approach, we were able to adapt our design more and more, so that we could avoid building our future portal too much on assumptions.

Rapid Prototype Testing directly at the desk

Process

OUTCOME

With the new digital service portal of the City of Vienna, tenants now have functions at their disposal. They can book laundry rooms, send documents or check online whether they have credit on their rental account. All these possibilities were previously only available with a visit to the Service Center and long waiting times.

Creating a community space within a rural area - How can we actively shape inclusion through urban space?

Selent Space - a social design project

This is an ongoing project that started in 2017. I tried to find an answer to the question: How can we integrate a new community square in a rural area that involves all the inhabitants of the village?

Concept Sketch | Selent Space | Selent Schleswig Holstein Germany

PROJECT PHASES

1. DISCOVERY

   Explorative research methods f.ex. contextual workshops, ethnographic mapping, contextual interviews and a photo journey has helped me to find out what the refugee situation looks like on the spot, in order to find out afterwards which needs exist in the community.

2. IDEATION

   Through generative research methods like photo walk and future scenario sketching i was able to find a suitable place in the community where it is possible to make an urban intervention.

3. ORGANISATIONAL FRAMING

   In order to also establish the project in the community in the long term, I clarified the framework conditions with the mayor, the responsible groundskeeper, neighbours and the local school. On the one hand to secure the project with as little financial resources as possible, on the other hand to get support from the community.

4. PROTOTYPING

   After the participatory procedure of brainstorming, we conducted a prototyping workshop together on the square to present our ideas visually afterwards.

5. PRODUCTION

   With the help of the Muthesius Art Academy, donations and the Pädiko Kulturmobil, we were able to procure material from the surrounding area and install four objects on the site. The objects are interaction amplifiers. A clay oven that invites you to cook and bake. A revolving table invites to share, a stage and a grandstand invite people to hold cultural events on site.

DIY Typography

Ideation Workshop with the people of Selent and newly arrived refugees

Participatory construction work | First object on the square

Participatory construction work | Sound installation and platform

Clay ofen | First fire

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process

Olfactory interface for a better learning experience - How can odours reinforce learning behaviour?

Design approach

As my research discovered a strong connection between smell and memory, I designed an olfactory interface for a better learning experience. My prototype is attachable to any pen to make it accessible to as many people as possible, what I believe is essential for a democratic design approach. The material was selected so that it can store scented oils, but can also release odours when rubbing. After long experiments with ceramics and firing stages, this was finally successful in a first ceramic prototype. The attachment for the pin is made of natural rubber and its elasticity allows it to be attached to different pin sizes.

Prototype olfactory interface | Material made of rubber, ceramics and scented oil

Background

Since I have always been interested in linking my pedagogical expertise and experience with design more closely, I have addressed the issue of learning. After studying several scientific publications, I discovered that our sense of smell is very strongly linked to our memory. After I found this first introduction to the subject, I went into school classes and interviewed children and observed how they learn and what they need to learn. I wanted to develop an interface that is as unobtrusive as possible and that fits well into the everyday life of the learners. Therefore I chose the combination of pen and olfactory interface, because it is always at hand and can be smelled. During the development phase I have been dealing with the nature of materials that can store scents well but also release them by touch. After several experiments, I came across ceramics that can absorb fragrance oils well, but also can eliminate them well due to their coarse grain size.

Prototype testing in the class room

Experimenting with material

In order to be able to enclose the scent on the one hand, but also to release it after an interaction with the material, I made several experiments with clay, glass, wood and artificial materials. I was also interested in the composition of liquids within fruits, so I analyzed different fruits with the help of a self-built food detector.

First clay prototype | Testing of material composition

Poster for an exhibition in Kiel

Prototype of a food detector for testing other properties of fruits

Design Solution

In the end, I decided on a rough ceramic that can absorb a scent oil, but also release the scent by friction. This I converted into a thin ceramic flake that can be attached to a pen with the help of a rubber attachment. The interaction with the object is very inconspicuous and fits perfectly into everyday life in the classroom.

process

Exploring Taiwanese scooter culture - What happens to the surroundings in a scooter-dominated society?

Digital Matters project

In may 2017 the Muthesius Academy of Design and Fine Arts Kiel was invited to be part of a conference in Taiwan. Under the topic "digital matters" we explored the value of digitalization within our every day lives. In cooperation with three Taiwanese students of the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan I worked on a field research project and on the development of digitalized scooter concepts in the city of Tainan.

Ethnographic Field Studies

To have a closer look at the behaviour of the inhabitants of Tainan, I spent a day observing life in Tainan from my scooter. I interviewed students and people at the market about their daily hurdles in the traffic of Tainan. I found fears within the traffic but also concerns about air pollution, especially in the city center of Tainan.

Observing everyday behaviour in road traffic from the scooter

Observing the traffic in Tainan

Observing the traffic in Tainan

After exploring the environment and conducting interviews with people in Tainan, we presented our findings at the "Digital Matters" conference at National Cheng Kung University. The main focus was the presentation of our approach and a short presentation of a short concept for safe driving in the city of Tainan. The concept shows how, with the help of integrated helmet displays, drivers can obtain timely traffic information, including CO2 data, to show their own environmental impact in the city.

Poster of the digital matters conference

Presentation | National Cheng Kung University Tainan

Final presentation at the Digital Matters Conference Tainan 2017

process

Designing for an agile environment - How can you harmonise the different mindsets of project managers, developers and designers?

In collaboration with developers I worked on concepts to facilitate the communication between developers and designers. We explored tools and processes like scrum, slack, jira, kanban, yodiz, etc. from which we worked out design implications that might help cross-functional collaboration, e.g.: triangle work setups with one screen, direct conversations instead of group meetings and simultanous change of code and draft. We came up with a setup of rules and structures to encourage a cross functional team to work as close and efficent as possible. All our findings were published in a design report and will be available for further design implementations.

ethnographic field studies

In order to get an idea of where people work and what surrounds them, e.g. which pictures are to be seen on the walls, I had chosen the method of Ethnographic Field Studies. Here you meet the people and study their natural environment. For my project, it was useful to know what it looks like and what objects they surround themselves with every day. I found out that the distances from one office to another are quite long and this could prevent a quick arrangement. With this method it was possible for me to see the world of designers and developers and to better understand their thoughts about their working environment.

Observation of a project meeting

Observation of the office

Lego scrum workshop | FH Kiel

Goal of the project

I have contacted various design teams and development offices and organized appointments for visits. It was important to get an impression of how these teams are spatially divided and how they work together. These results, however, are relevant for the development of a design concept, because it has been essential to involve the human in the design process, in this case designers and developers. Only through the active participation of the people is it possible to get a realistic picture of the working world and to develop a design concept that has a certain credibility.

Presentation poster | Research insights and Design implications

Interview developer at Light Instruments Start up Kiel

Interviews

I conducted a total of 10 interviews. I have spoken personally with designers from start-ups to the design manager of SDL in Amsterdam to get their opinions on the subject of collaboration between designers and developers. Of course, I also did the same with developers and computer scientists to be able to make comparisons. The interviews were all structured in the same way so that I could make comparisons. My main goal was to get a deeper insight into the years of experience of designers and developers, so that I could incorporate certain experiences into my design.

Design Solution

The design draft is based on three pillars, which have clearly emerged from the user research: spatial proximity, visualization and clarity. I decided to design a workstation that takes these three pillars into account. In agile teams there are often group meetings, which usually clarify what the team is working on and what still needs to be done. For more specific questions from designers and developers I developed a separate workspace which should create space to work on detailed topics. Based on the program pairing model, I created a design that I call cross-functional pairing, since two different disciplines are involved in solving a problem.

Sketch of a cross-functional pairing session setup

process

Celebrating the medium of the cassette through the TapeClub

The medium of the tape has fascinated me since my early childhood days, when the first composed tape for friends was recorded and also its design was adopted. In itself, nothing at all has changed in the process, so I wanted to continue to bring the existence of the tape into the public eye and celebrate it. I first founded the Tape Club in Leipzig in 2009 and continued in Erfurt and Kiel. The concept is that two DJs selected by me are invited to record 5 cassettes live, while the artwork is always done by another artist. The audience can already announce during the recording if they are interested in this work and take it as a souvenir of the evening. The Tapeclub has already taken place in over 20 locations with over 50 artists.

Tapeclub vol.7 Kiel Subrosa

Tape Design by Selina

Tapeclub vol. 5 with Ovule at Popshop Kiel. Tape Design by Matthias Albold

Tapeclub at Cafe Godot with Burda

Tape Design by Sana

Design by Charlotte and Jona

Norman Hemley

Tape Club at PopShop Kiel