This is the overall project review of the PDE project,
Group members:
Tom http://brownbare.com/
Lucie http://www.behance.net/lucefirth
Project Brief
CONTEXT
The next step in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is emerging, transcending the localised interfaces (such as speakers, displays, and other devices) towards
ubiquitous accessibility, with the aim of enriching the user interface and yielding a positive responsive experience. In this line of thoughts, Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp) and Ambient Intelligence (AmI) have emerged as some of the next directions for ICT. While Ubiquitous Computing is about
providing universal and permanent access to information, AmI is about using this access to increase the quality of the experience that a service or content are providing. In general, an AmI system enhances the physical space through technology, media and services. A pervasive digital ecosystem (PDE) is a combination between the technical developments that resulted in UbiComp systems and the aesthetic motivation behind interactive and conceptual art installations. It is about designing a combination of personalised delivery, content, experience anytime, anywhere.
*taken from here, for more info visit his site at Bsalem.info.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO anyway
initially the design brief is as shown as the team work on towards it. The initial approach is to create a persona, a imaginary person, a lifestyle to based it on, we all agreed on created Fred and Wilma, a couple, and in the end we only focused down on Wilma.
Personae~~
Name: Wilma Jones
Age: 62
Spouse: Fred Jones, 65, retired Police Officer, avid golfer and gardener
Family: 1 boy, 39, and 1 girl, 40. (Live in other towns, one lives abroad-USA)
Six Grandchildren- 5-20. (2 Grandchildren at University
Lives: In the suburban area of a small town, in a semi-detached 3 bedroom house with a large
garden.
Occupation: Retired secretary, good typist skills. Currently works part time in a charity shop.
Health: Rather fit and healthy besides for Gallstones
Pets: One Golden Retriever, called Bruno, 5 years old.
Hobbies: Attends book club twice a week, is an avid reader; cooking; gardening; knitting.
Technology: Motorola Razor given to her by Grandson, basic computer desktop with basic wireless
package set up study.
Vechicle: Ford Fiesta, shared with husband.
Public Transport: Often uses the local bus service as she has a free Over 60’s Bus Pass.
The initial scenario we came up with on her which could be sum up to:
Wake up, breakfast, goes out, lunch, come back, tea, dinner, television, sleep
A more detailed version could be found here.
The initial scenario is as follows:
(Thanks to Tom for putting this up)
So from the persona and scenario, we sort of identified several problems, mainly the connectivity and time awareness (the bus schedule).
The design style, we though off to style/design is based on the 1960's 70's time when the targeted age group were at their youth period, here's a moodboard on how it is then (credits to Tom)
As such, initially, we though of a device, portable, that goes along with the user, and have a docking station at home and reminds them of things like this. After initial brainstorming, we came up upon several features to be included in. The decided design is tada:
Here's a video of the initial model/prototype we though of:
After the initial design, most of us were feeling really good about it, thinking like yeaaa this is da bomb, and we really though we could continue develop this concept further onwards but then it hit us, at this point we have not critically assess our concept and idea, and when we did (or when Ben did, Thanks to Ben for pointing out our mistakes), we realize we were actually rivalling a mobile phone and mobile apps at the same time, hence making the idea fairly unreasonable and no viable at the same time. So back to the drawing board again.
We had to run through and have sleepless nights to think of a new concept and idea to come up as we are approaching the deadline. We took at look back at the scenario and think of several new ones once more.
The emphasis of keeping the idea of a product that is like a port at home is a core idea that we all agreed upon.
Looking at the situation, we took upon ourselves to look into several research done in the past on technology for the elderly. There were several valuable information we learned upon. Below are some of the research or article info we found :
The Use of Technology by the Elderly, an interesting paper, on the demography and age range of the elderly who uses certain type of technology, the paper can be seen here.
Network news on youtube on Fujitsu phone for the elderly, which could be seen below:
Here is the solidwork modelling of theBOX
Name: Wilma Jones
Age: 62
Spouse: Fred Jones, 65, retired Police Officer, avid golfer and gardener
Family: 1 boy, 39, and 1 girl, 40. (Live in other towns, one lives abroad-USA)
Six Grandchildren- 5-20. (2 Grandchildren at University
Lives: In the suburban area of a small town, in a semi-detached 3 bedroom house with a large
garden.
Occupation: Retired secretary, good typist skills. Currently works part time in a charity shop.
Health: Rather fit and healthy besides for Gallstones
Pets: One Golden Retriever, called Bruno, 5 years old.
Hobbies: Attends book club twice a week, is an avid reader; cooking; gardening; knitting.
Technology: Motorola Razor given to her by Grandson, basic computer desktop with basic wireless
package set up study.
Vechicle: Ford Fiesta, shared with husband.
Public Transport: Often uses the local bus service as she has a free Over 60’s Bus Pass.
The initial scenario we came up with on her which could be sum up to:
Wake up, breakfast, goes out, lunch, come back, tea, dinner, television, sleep
A more detailed version could be found here.
The initial scenario is as follows:
(Thanks to Tom for putting this up)
So from the persona and scenario, we sort of identified several problems, mainly the connectivity and time awareness (the bus schedule).
The design style, we though off to style/design is based on the 1960's 70's time when the targeted age group were at their youth period, here's a moodboard on how it is then (credits to Tom)
As such, initially, we though of a device, portable, that goes along with the user, and have a docking station at home and reminds them of things like this. After initial brainstorming, we came up upon several features to be included in. The decided design is tada:
 |
| Braun inspired design, a portable device with a docking station |
After the initial design, most of us were feeling really good about it, thinking like yeaaa this is da bomb, and we really though we could continue develop this concept further onwards but then it hit us, at this point we have not critically assess our concept and idea, and when we did (or when Ben did, Thanks to Ben for pointing out our mistakes), we realize we were actually rivalling a mobile phone and mobile apps at the same time, hence making the idea fairly unreasonable and no viable at the same time. So back to the drawing board again.
We had to run through and have sleepless nights to think of a new concept and idea to come up as we are approaching the deadline. We took at look back at the scenario and think of several new ones once more.
The emphasis of keeping the idea of a product that is like a port at home is a core idea that we all agreed upon.
Looking at the situation, we took upon ourselves to look into several research done in the past on technology for the elderly. There were several valuable information we learned upon. Below are some of the research or article info we found :
The Use of Technology by the Elderly, an interesting paper, on the demography and age range of the elderly who uses certain type of technology, the paper can be seen here.
Network news on youtube on Fujitsu phone for the elderly, which could be seen below:
Fujitsu!!!
An an article on Science Daily, on adapting technology for the elderly, the full article could be read here.
After looking into all the info we got, we started to redesign the product once more and took into account how to attract the attention of a person when he/she is at another task at home.
So after working on the design, we did an initial prototype on the design which could be seen below:
 |
| MWHAHAHAHAHAHA |
The idea is that when an information is sent to the receiver, a "pop out" notification happens and it lights up to alert the user to the incoming information, the user could then press on the pop out and read the info easily on the spot.
The group then came up with a name, so we called it theBOX, :D
 |
| THEBOX!!!!!!! |
 |
| GA views |
 |
| THIS IS DA BOX!!!!! |
The team then went on with this and build a working prototype for Ben! here are a few pictures of the building of the model.
here's a rough video on the interactions of the product with a user.
Here is a GA diagram of theBOX
and this is the promo video for theBox!
and here's a storyboard, to explain what theBOX does :D, Southpark ftw.
and here's a storyboard, to explain what theBOX does :D, Southpark ftw.
 |
| Top left to right and down :D |
This here is the design style justification for the product
 |
| click to enlarge |
Self Assessment
The experience from working with this group and doing this project is an amazing one. There are several hiccups here and there from time to time, mainly, on meeting times and when to meet but the group performed together well. From the start, we all squeeze our minds in to give what we could for the group. The brief for this design is very interesting as it says to produce something mechanical while everything around us is heading towards the digital era, so the mindset challenge is there, for me. Time constraints were there as well, as when we work smoothly at the start just to have a major breakdown at the end, the team stood composed and work well and in this aspect I am truly grateful for everyone, at that point, my mind as already blanked out.
The work we did together was fantastic, I've seen the various skill set each of my group members have, we might lack in frequency of communication but the effort is there and the skills is there with everyone. From making videos to models, making posters and drawings, each one of us compliments each other really well in various aspects of the project. The only part in the end we got caught off is that we need to prepare a presentation.
I feel that with the given skill set of the group, if given more time or if we had found out the mistake earlier, we could deliver a much better product or a much complete working model. Throughout this project, I felt that I have better time management now, I learned more on designing for the elderly, I learned on how to appeal to people by appealing through their imagination, responsibility and many more important lessons that I might have not learnt if not because of these people around me.
Critically, the project was a very interesting one, I would love to see if we could develop it to a full complete working prototype, and test it in real life and receive the feedback, as I believe with the feedback we could all learn a lot more and we could further develop this idea.
To sum it up, the group worked very well, I would like to thank Tom, Daniel, Lucie, Hayley and Leon for putting their hours and effort into this project together and making it happen. Despite it being such a short period, I believe each of us became better at what we did, be it video editing, photoshop, research, solidworks, leadership or other skill and we all learned a valuable lesson from Ben especially, never think that ideas are good before criticising them, because in the end what justify most of what we do is, common sense.
Roland Tay Soh Yew
Group 1
theBOX
The work we did together was fantastic, I've seen the various skill set each of my group members have, we might lack in frequency of communication but the effort is there and the skills is there with everyone. From making videos to models, making posters and drawings, each one of us compliments each other really well in various aspects of the project. The only part in the end we got caught off is that we need to prepare a presentation.
I feel that with the given skill set of the group, if given more time or if we had found out the mistake earlier, we could deliver a much better product or a much complete working model. Throughout this project, I felt that I have better time management now, I learned more on designing for the elderly, I learned on how to appeal to people by appealing through their imagination, responsibility and many more important lessons that I might have not learnt if not because of these people around me.
Critically, the project was a very interesting one, I would love to see if we could develop it to a full complete working prototype, and test it in real life and receive the feedback, as I believe with the feedback we could all learn a lot more and we could further develop this idea.
To sum it up, the group worked very well, I would like to thank Tom, Daniel, Lucie, Hayley and Leon for putting their hours and effort into this project together and making it happen. Despite it being such a short period, I believe each of us became better at what we did, be it video editing, photoshop, research, solidworks, leadership or other skill and we all learned a valuable lesson from Ben especially, never think that ideas are good before criticising them, because in the end what justify most of what we do is, common sense.
Roland Tay Soh Yew
Group 1
theBOX
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