Synthesizing the Space Stupids
Sprint 5 & 6: Jupiter and Saturn
Hello from Virginia! My name is JT and I’ll be your guide through the 5th iteration of the Talos blog post. A lot has happened since our last update and I’m excited to share what we’ve been up to, especially now that we’re fully remote!
Sprint 5: Jupiter
In Sprint 5, we’ve been racing through space in order to wrap up research so that we can focus on synthesizing our findings. It certainly feels that we’ve only scratched the surface with the current research we have, but looking back our team has collected quite a bit of information through several different mediums. We’ve picked up the hints from our mentors and advisors and chose to halt new research endeavors. However, this doesn’t mean the research is over! We’re bookmarking important and insightful resources that may prove useful in the summer.
Given the current situation with COVID-19, we’ve decided to split up our last few tasks and activities so that we can come back together as one to discuss our findings.
Digital Ethnography: Reddit, you’re not too bad.
Adi, Katie, and Megan have tackled the wild and unpredictable planet that is Reddit this sprint in order to round out the last of our Analogous Domains research. Much to our surprise, we’ve received a lot of great responses (and a couple not so great…) from professionals working in HVAC, commercial piloting, and mining.
Katie is also doing some really interesting stuff that’s currently in the works and we’re really excited to share those findings with you in a future post.
*cough * Diary Study *cough*
Working Remote: An excuse to play games!
Nathan and I have chosen to keep our boots on the ground and prioritize going through all of our previous information while also finishing up our conceptual prototype activity. We’ve chosen to use the game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes as both an empathy activity and experiment.
For those who are unfamiliar, KTNE is a hectic co-op bomb-defusing puzzle game. A defuser (or astronaut) has access to a bomb (or complex system) that needs troubleshooting. The defuser needs to be able to communicate what they are seeing to the experts (or mission control) that can not see the bomb so that they can provide feedback and instructions on how to further proceed.
On top of the standard vanilla format, we’ve added a few extra complications. Participants played extra rounds while communicating only through text or through text and an added delay to further bring us closer to the problems that future Mars astronauts will face.
Speed Dating: Getting to know astronauts better.
We were very fortunate to have multiple speed dating sessions with astronauts — that’s right, real people who have actually been to space! In throwing some poorly drawn storyboards at our participants in quick succession we were able to both validate and rethink some of the needs that we felt were important for crewmembers. This activity has been an essential activity for us in that it’s allowing us to converge and further narrow our problem space. Being able to have actual potential users provide feedback about some of the needs we’ve been identifying has been incredibly helpful.
Sprint 6: Saturn
With the last sprint of the semester looming, it’s time for us to hunker down and prepare for landing. Spring presentations and final deliverables are a few weeks away and we’re keeping this in mind as we wrap up synthesis and begin crafting our story. With a rough draft outlined and a few concepts and themes being tossed around the team, we’re excited to show our work and tell our story through our spring presentation and website.
We’re targeting the end of this week or early next week to have our problem space identified. We plan to do a few more reframing activities to help us view the domain through different lenses. We’re nervous to be wrapping up this first phase, but we’re even more excited to push onwards to affinity and beyond.
Status Report
Unfortunately, it appears that Team Talos will not be traveling to the NASA Ames Research Center this summer. ☹️ However, we’re still hopeful of potentially visiting the research center someday. On the plus side, we feel that we’re well equipped to deliver something we’re really proud of at the end of the summer.
Lastly, Talos wants to remind you to please continue to practice physical distancing and remain socially engaged! Talk to a friend, stay active, pick up a new hobby, or do anything to keep yourself physically and mentally active during this quarantine. We’re all in this together.
This Week’s Media Recommendation
Chris Hadfield has quickly become a favorite within our Team. I’m sure most of you have heard or seen him already! Mr. Hadfield is a retired astronaut, the first Canadian to walk in space, and served as the commander of the International Space Station. He’s a fantastic guy with a great sense of humor and has an incredible wealth of knowledge. Check him out reviewing different space movies below:
