11.08: Initial Concept Development
During this week, we presented our initial design directions that drove our conceptualization process. We also presented our findings from our initial exploratory research phase to the class. Below is a summary of our process leading up to concept development.
Interview Synthesis
After we conducted all of our interviews and explored some areas of interest within Pittsburgh, our team got together to synthesize and discuss what we had learned. First, we listed everything that we learned from our explorations on PostIts.
Clustering
Next, we clustered items that were similar. We then gave ‘theme’ names to the categories, and drew connections with arrows between these themes.
Design Directions
From these themes, we extrapolated three design directions: Neighborhood Identity, Mediating Change, and Humanness. For each of these areas, we began brainstorming a large number of ideas. Each member of the group came up with as many ideas as possible for each category, within a given time frame. Our hope for this exercise was to generate a good breadth of options before finding synergies within our ideas.
Means of Realization
Following these exercises, we narrowed down the ideas we liked the most with voting dots, and then grouped the similar ones together.
We categorized the different concept categories as “means of realization” for the design directions we outlined above. They are:
- Vocalizing community thoughts
- Visualizing angst in a safe space
- Constructing community identity
- Disseminating local information
- Get people out there and explore local
- Create human connections
Some Inspirations from the Week
New York City Match Maker — February 2014
Participants who stand on one of the circles on the floor (depicting one of the 12 western Zodiacs) can peer into the pink tubes to see someone on the other side.
KLM Ceramic Houses
KLM hands out these blue ceramic houses to their business class customers, and each house represents an iconic house found in the Netherlands.
The Listening Project — Talk & Listen
I saw these posters in the hallway at CFA, and it seems like the project’s purpose is to introduce discourse within the student body with visible ‘icebreakers’ that induce conversations.
Martin Garrix x 7UP: A Multi-sensory Concert for the Deaf
Dutch DJ Martin Garrix teamed up with 7UP to bring a multi-sensory experience to those who are unable to experience music aurally.
Subway Therapy — Matthew Chavez
Street artist Chavez created a space for New Yorkers to share their thoughts on the aftermath of the election without having the need to verbally speak about it.
Tweet to Eat
Tweet at Walkers’ crisps machine to get free crisps
An Epidemic of Loneliness — NYTimes
Elderly are calling a loneliness help line to combat aloneness
The Swedish Number
Call a random Swede — a Swedish tourism campaign
