There are no predefined themes for This Happened Utrecht, an event focusing on the stories behind interaction design projects. Yet it is often possible to find motifs, focusing in this case on two of the presentations given at the latest edition (22 November 2010). Both projects address unusual, challenging design problems due to the severity of constraints in the first case, and the lack thereof in the second project.
The first speaker, Helma van Rijn, introduced her project Klessebessers (=chitchatters), designed for people suffering from severe dementia. It consists of an interactive installation that offers participants stories, songs, and video fragments, evoking memories and inciting discussion. Adriaan Wormgoor presented Fourcelab's physical game installation Wip'n'Kip, an interactive and competitive version of spring riders for outdoor festivals.
De Klessebessers
Klessebessers
In the first case, the main challenge consists of severe constraints related to the user group:
- Because of the mental condition of the participants, Helma found it extremely hard to do interviews. At the start, an user experienced the interview as threatening, so she had to change user research methods.
- User test goals are hard to define and measure. The group had trouble understanding the product. They seemed to enjoy using it, although it is hard to say if they feel happier on the long term. Not falling asleep was a clear and measurable goal though!
- Even basic cognitive actions are difficult for this group. They still need assistance of caregivers to answer a ringing telephone (part of the installation) for example.
The main solution was to involve the professional caregivers working with the patients, both as a source of information and by having them engage the participants with the installation. For example, she left a sketchbook where the caregivers could jot down observations and inspirational notes. Furthermore, since caregivers know the participants well, they know when they are in the right mood to interact with the installation.
Wip'n'kip
Wipkip
Fourcelabs specialises in creating physical games and playful environments. They set out with the idea of using spring riders (animals on springs for children to ride , often found in playgrounds) for an interactive game, which still leaves a lot of options open. Interestingly enough, instead of using the latest trend in creation processes, they applied a software engineering method, MoSCoW, to define a number of core qualities of the game: absurd, physical, fast and slow, performance, and quick turnover. Fast and slow for example led to the concept of moving very fast on the spring rider to move the avatar on the screen in a much slower way. It also was the basis for making high-speed recordings of the participants to convert in slow-motion movies.
It is interesting to see how in this project a more traditional non-design method was used to limit the scope of a creative design problem.
Constraints
A shared characteristic of both presentations is the importance of constraints. In the first case, the designer was confronted with several user group limitations she did not anticipate. Dealing with this led to a better design and use of the product. In the second case, the designers imposed constraints on themselves to reduce the amount of possibilities and therefore come to a usable, playful solution.
So as better designers probably know, instead of viewing constraints as obstacles, it pays off to embrace them and to use them as a valuable tool.