Experience Diagram Ideas

World Science Festival Website - Personalized Mentoring Path for Youth

World Science Festival Website Evaluation Notes

55 Word Narrative

Interface Evaluation

Article Review: Interactive Experiences - Event Design Magazine / October 2008

This article is about designing interactive experiences for people who go to events and who expect to be part of the action. No longer in our culture today of the 21^st century is it desirable just to witness what's going on. Playing an active role is very important and should be given full consideration to the design of any exhibit.  The design firm Xpletive is the focus of the exposé and their explicit goal is to use media that inspires visitors to want to learn more in public spaces.

The major trend in interactive experiences in 2008 was described as "complete immersion" which is intended to encompass and transport the visitor into another dimension. What is key to this kind of event design is the skillful integration of three elements - media, interactive mechanism and an environment - that together represent how the field of interaction design is advancing.

Just like in filmmaking the essential element of "the suspension of disbelief" is vital and only possible when the experience is visually and emotionally all encompassing. For many visitors this was then the cutting edge and was already commonly found in gaming environments. Clearly this model is the best way to instantly engage and challenge a participant. Xpletive demonstrates to the reader how its implementation strategy is more cost-effective to develop these environments based on existing games and applications rather then inventing them from scratch because this can save between $50-$500,000 to the budget of the implementation, depending on the application.

Interfaces are described as evolving and getting very exciting and cool. Infrared technology is used to create hands-free interfaces - for example utilizing gloves to enable users to reach into virtual worlds. Technology is accelerating fast enough that the article states that it is not unreasonable to speculate about controlling interactions to some extent with our thoughts soon.

Newly designed interactive environments can be made to be highly immersive simply by using a small but sophisticated combination of multimedia elements. For example, with the use of well positioned monitors, night vision viewing equipment, flat-screen technologies and sense-surround audio it is possible to simulate real or construct new extraordinary environmental experiences. There can be global environmental stimuli as well as local and individually produced hand-held equipment that can personalize an experience separate from a group. The discussion about handheld devices goes beyond the usual expectations visitors may have into ideas about extending the museum experience outside the building that seems to be a precursor to ideas about what mobile phones can produce today for museum visitors. Implementation of all ideas point to a very important set of concerns and design ideas that pertain to the length of stay, places of interest, and the frequency of return to event or museum experiences.

In terms of design process it is clear that the role of an interactive designer is being highlighted so that their specialized know-how can be considered to be a primary role in the design of an event exhibition space. The idea here is to emphasize the role of an interactive designer as evolving and very important to exhibition planning. With this in mind it is clear that advances in technology are making it possible to combine new and exciting elements and ways that have never been assembled in such a way before, making interaction design professionals key players in event / environmental design collaborations and projects.

Article Review: “Representation, Meaning and Language”

The concept of representation holds an important role in the study of modern culture. It's important to examine what this concept means with regard to culture itself and how it transmits ideas and meaning through its artifacts and interactions. It is therefore very important to also understand that the concept of representation is fundamental to comprehending exactly how meaning is produced and exchanged between people within their own culture.

The article discusses how it is important to draw distinctions between three different accounts or theories when examining the nature of representation. These theories are reflective, intentional and constructionist approaches to representation. It is the constructionist approach that has the most pertinent and relevant application to our modern culture today and is the primary focus of this discussion. The definition of representation includes words like describe or depict but also phrases such as "symbolize" and "stands for" as part of its definition as well. As best described in the article "representation is the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language. It is the link between concepts and language which enables us to refer to either the real world of objects or to imaginary worlds of fictional objects, people and events (p.17)." There are therefore two kinds of representation - mental representations and systems of representation. How people construct meaning depends on the concepts and images they carry in their thoughts that represent the world both inside and outside of their minds.

A system of representation is dependent upon principles of similarity and difference to establish relationships that correlate concepts or distinguish them from each other. It's the relationships between ideas and thoughts that then become arranged into different sub-systems of classifications. Referencing these representations is what permits a person to identify and construct relationships and then assign meaning to their world. Within a culture people share much of the same conceptual maps about general experiences so that many of the same experiences make sense between individuals within the masses. However beyond any one individual culture the idea of representations change from one to the next based on unique versions of that culture's conceptual mapping system. Any conceptual map must then be translated into the cultures language and is made up of words, sounds and images. Each of these elements conveys meaning in its role as a sign. Signs are organized into languages communicated via written, spoken or visual mediums.

Conceptual maps permit a culture to give meaning to the world by establishing equivalences between people, objects, events, abstract ideas, etc. Because of these conceptual agreements it is possible and necessary to construct relationships between a conceptual map and a set of signs present to better understand culture and its messages. Again, as best as stated by the article "one way of thinking about culture then is in terms of shared conceptual maps, shared language systems and the codes which govern the relationships of translation between them (p.29)."

From a constructionist point of view the production of “cultural meanings” is made through language with regards to representation of signs organized into languages of different times and places. Languages are constructed with signs that symbolize, stand for and reference objects, people and events in both the real and imaginary world. And it is language that allows the person to experience and assemble meaning rather then simply absorbing something as though it were shown in the mirror.

In 1857 the Swiss linguist Saussure analyzed the concept of a "sign", breaking it into a combination of elements. First there is the form and then the idea or concept in your head with which the form is associated. The first element is the signifier and the second element is the signified or concept triggered in one's mind. Critical to understand while keeping this definition in mind is that "the sign is totally subject to history and the combination of the particular moment of a given signifier and signified is a contingent result of the historical process (p.32)." For that reason the importance of recognizing that signs are the drivers of cultural meaning underscores that they are never fixed and are always subject to change from one cultural context and from one time to another. So it is quite logical to appreciate that representations are in this way subject to constant production of new meanings and new interpretations. These are very interesting ways of identifying how to understand the very nature of “cultural meanings” as they represent civilization as a whole through the ages.

Reflection from Class 1 - What I'm hoping for in this course...

The most important thing to me is being able to teach someone something while telling a story that people want to hear and want to know. I'm so excited to now learn about how to engage in building interactions that deliver meaningful experiences. What I want is to utilize strategies that help to build an interactive experience from a place of integrity especially. Talking, sharing and telling stories is the meat and potatoes of interaction and that's where I get the most pleasure in discussing life. What I really love is considering what the audience is about. What makes them tick? What are they afraid of? What makes them comfortable? And to do these investigations using cognitive, cultural and language inquiry approaches is really great from a new standpoint of design that I have never done before. I'm a graphic designer. I come from the pre-interactive generation. So discovering what the hook is and what the invitation is and combining it with what makes someone want to learn something and then to do something is new and really cool for me. I certainly believe wholeheartedly that mobile technology has changed society in an enormous paradigm shifting way.