CMU Tour App Storyboards and Reflection #1

Nicholas Marotta
Sep 4, 2018 · 2 min read

Storyboard 2 scenarios of people using your tour app

Reflection

As the prevalence of digital media in our physical environments increases daily, we approach many different issues. I believe it is the responsibility of designers to predict and identify those issues, then design our environments around them. For instance, many people don’t wish to interact with screens throughout their day, and a considerable amount of research suggests that over-exposure to screens can be detrimental. To mitigate that, designers should experiment with different ways for people to interact with electronic systems. Rather than requiring the tap of a button on a screen because we have the technology to implement such an interaction, a real button might be preferable. Screens for digital media should only be placed where they are necessary. Another example of an issue with the addition of digital media to our environments: the digital billboard above the CMU tennis court. Last year, whenever I walked past that screen at night, always from all the way across the tennis court, just looking in its direction would blind me for a few seconds. The brightness level of the screen did not adjust with the night, so the stark contrast was enough to optically disrupt the misfortunate individual to gaze in its direction. More considerate design of that billboard would have eliminated that issue before it was installed. This is the kind of people-oriented consideration that will have to be consistently at play as more and more digital media enters our environments.

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