DesignThings.nl

The scope of the project is now very much from the user’s perspective. Try to look at what the implications of the provider (UPC and broadcasters) are. à Viewing figures

A trend from broadcasters is to make theme nights (i.e. Crime Night) which make viewers stick to their channel because if they for example like CSI, they are probably interested in NCIS.

Television programmers are likely to adapt their broadcasting on other television broadcasters. Like when the Dutch soccer team is playing, there won’t be any other big show that should get high rankings. How will this change when there are more and more channels and people only care about the show and when the time factor is not as strict as it is now? How will it be when people record a show, does this still contribute to the viewing figures because not everything that is recorded, is reviewed (VHS). What is the difference with a media center? Can programs be postponed to be consumed and can they “rot” like fruit?

There are different levels of recording. Some shows are recorded just for one-time review like a missed newscast and some are recorded for storage and review like with a good movie you want to show a friend. Here is another problem, is it possible to exchange recorded content with another mediacenter or do I have to transfer this to a token first to give another person access to my media or is it just burning it on a dvd?

Current affairs programs are a hybrid version. Maybe some parts are worth to keep and the rest is to be thrown away. This looks like youtube movies that can be found on the internet. Should the remote provide tools to empower the functionality?

User

The probes method is not used in this stage of the project. The problem with this method is that it takes a lot of time to create an appropriate package that can give inspirational feedback. Because the target group is not clear yet and that it is not likely to be very extreme, the chance that the results will be very predictable is high. Therefore another way of involving the user is necessary.

Pitfalls

All the things I have done have to come together and converge to a clear vision of where it is going and what the boundaries of the projects are going to be. This helps with generating concepts.

Before next meeting

• Meet with Matthias about the proposal.

Finish proposal V1.1 with comments from Sietske, propose this to Matthias. Use these comments to adapt the proposal and mail this to Sietske and Matthias for approval.

• October 23, 2007 the group meeting with all of the coaching colleagues is arranged. This is about the progress of the project and what and how to present at the WIP exhibition. Think about this.
• Look at the interaction frogegr framework by Stephan Wensveen.
• Make visual landscapes of the arrangement of programs and channels, for how it was, how it is now and how it is in my future vision.
• Think about the targetgroup

Based on the UPC remote I organized a quick inspirational brainstorm about the feeling I got from this analysis. So I made a list of functions (power, changing programs, control live tv, record and browsing/playback) which for me looked like the most relevant for watching (digital) television. To give a mood for the brainstorm I used themes for inspiration (think geek, think lazy, think street, think flex worker and think elegant). I will shortly explain what I meant by these terms.

Geek:

A remote is quite a piece of technology which is operated daily for most people. Geeks are fond of electronics and try to tweak and add functions as much as they can. So the way of brainstorming was based on loads of sensors, star trek and hacking.

Lazy:

The first remote ever was called lazy bones and was intended to remain seated and change the channel without walking. How can a remote exploit this way of thinking even more? Make the remote lazier than lazy.

Street:

Youth culture can be an inspiration for future needs. Therefore the street culture looked like a very interesting way to brainstorm about. Surely this can be interpreted in a physical street way which is also very interesting so what is possible in that public context.

Flex worker:

People’s life gets busier and busier. To make the relaxation as seamless as possible I wanted to brainstorm about the possibilities with remote gathering of information and unraveling this when they are at home and only look at the things other people or magazines recommended, so you do not get alienated from other people.

Elegant:

This is the way I want to work towards. This is more operating in an analogue calm way that is quite subtle and requires skill to do it seamless. This is very contradictory when looking at the regular remotes today.

The outcome is to be processed.

UPC remote

Functions derived from buttons on the UPC remote. These can be classified in different categories: menu operators, channel changing possibilities, time control, sound operators, teletext options and power. This remote looks like a bunch of functions that are required for standard use with a tv remote and added more and more specific buttons that lead to menu’s to see specific functions like on demand tv or a tv guide.

The browsing through time and space (lots of channels) feels very plump and digital for flowing through this sea of programs.

Other remotes

Because the television is going towards a mediacenter, looking at these sort of remotes seems the most obvious step. These remotes are split in two camps, the classic remote with tons of buttons or big devices with a touchscreen. There are some hybrids with lots of buttons and an additional screen on the plastic box.

Most concept remotes are based on the one-control-to-rule-them-all principle. This is mostly layers for different devices and stripped down to the basic functions.

The last part of controllers I looked at are gamecontrollers that are mostly based on twohanded interaction. These controllers require some learning, but when used for some minutes, most people can find the right controls without looking at it which makes them intuitish.

This is one of the two core modules I have to follow this semester because they are added to the M1.1 curriculum. The module is about the history of the design culture. Where it all started and why design is a profession and the changing role and influence of the industrial designer.

My expectation was that it had a bigger focus on different (art) movements in the 20^th century. This was the case with the first introduction presentation for which was no time available unfortunately.

Books
The first was about reading two chapters of Adrian Forty’s Objects of Desire. This book that was first published in 1986 is about the long-term history since 1750. It gives a good view in a broader perspective on how design affected culture and marketing since the industrial revolution. This book stops the overview at about halfway the 20^th century.

Therefore the book of Guy Julier, The culture of design was added. This book was much harder to read because it is about a shorter time span which increases the depth of the matter. This book focuses on the late 20^th century which is very interesting to read because most examples are things I have seen or heard on the news in that time, like with the Olympic summer games of ’92 in Barcelona with all implications that were related to the change of Barcelona to a post-industrial European metropolis.

Especially the first book of Forty are the basics that every industrial designer should know. The understanding of where industrial design comes from and what the social and cultural changes it brought should be mandatory even in the bachelor’s. The chapters were sometimes hard to read and understand and therefore the time span of half a day to read and make a presentation of was quite hard. Also to really understand and pick up everything that is presented by the others was mentally quite exhausting. Therefore spreading the reading over three or four days with more reading could be better to make the most out of it.

Rietveld-Schröder House
The Rietveld-Schröder house was really fantastic. I knew it existed but I never visited it. The lower floors are quite uniform and interesting, but the best part is the active living on the first floor. The moving walls and seeing the whole room changes from day- to nighttime gave insights of the experience and perception of a room. The uniformity of ‘De Stijl’ is quite impressing. Just like the things that did not fit and Rietveld had to find a very down to earth solution for was great to see.

The next part was to design a piece for the inside the house. I looked at the kitchen table which did not fit the zig-zag chair and did not contribute to the idea of active living. I also added one of Rietveld’s tricks with the wedges and hinges to make the table foldable.

In the beginning the table is folded and the room can be used as any other floor space for children to play or walk on. The chairs can be put on the side because they take as less space as possible in the room according to Rietveld. When the table is needed it can be picked up on the notch and unfolded. Then the wedge can be turned over to leave the leg in that position. The same goes for the other side and the table is standing.

Of course when the table is flat on the ground people walk on it and it becomes dirty. Every time you want to use the table for example dining, you have to clean it. This makes sure you have a clean table every time. Nowadays we assume the table is clean when it is not very dirty, but in fact it is collecting dust and other unnoticeable bacteria.

Summary of meeting with Kees Overbeeke.

• Another way of interacitivty with a focus on time/space
• Make models!
• No semantics, only use when it is meaningful
• Facilities available like 3d printing and laser cutting

Tips

• Design for a specific user group
• Early models and sketches are good to use to have a conversation about what you are doing.

• Talk to people about your project and always tell about the project as if they do not know anything about it. Good for practice.
• Empty presentation for structure of project
• Work in parallel, keep your project in mind
• Look at the IFA of last week for new consumer electronics
• Detailed planning, calculate additional time

After meetings, send short minutes

27^th project proposals, show a vision

Remember, designing is fun!

Unlike last semester I wanted to take an off the shelf project that is concrete and down to earth with lots of design and iteration possibilities. Therefore I have chosen the remote and time project, which is based around the way of interacting with digital television and its new functions.

Here is an overview of the design brief.

Background

The introduction of digital television not only led to an enormous amount of channels, a range of new functionalities (e.g.,programmes and films on demand), but also new time dimensions. While watching a programme you can pause it, and simply continue when you’re back from the sanitary stop.

New functionalities and extra dimensions ask for a new generation of remote controls. Instead of simply adding buttons or heaping up functions on one button, one might think of more designerly solutions.

Product

The product is a remote control for digital television. The student has to explore new possibilities that are expressive, contain feedforward and feedback, or push back.

Main objective

The student has to explore how playing with time dimensions and lots of functionalities can be represented, made tangible, and challenging for the user. At the same time the remote should be “invisible” to the user, it should not interfere with the experience of watching television, but enhance it.

Design process and deliverables

1. What does “time” mean? How can it be represented? Look at current solutions. What is flow of time? How can it be represented?
2. Design Interaction and Form Concepts
3. Investigate technological possibilities, the actions required of the user, and how the latter impose interaction and form to the remote.
4. Building and Product User testing.
5. Final Working Product prototyping and demonstration.
6. Design Report including a thorough evaluation about growth as a designer.

This is a design project that is basd on the IS way of working. Unfortunately I have been placed in the EP track. So the coach is not one of the people who wrote the description. Next Thursday a coach is allocated.

Upcoming semester I am doing other modules than the standard given ones. This is because I already did five of them last semester and it is completely useless to redo them. Therefore I am doing the next list of modules:

• DB403 - Design culture in historical and socio-cultural context
• DB302 - Multi-user/ Social Interactions
• DB405 - Rebound Rehab Rebirth
• DB204 - Autonomous Behaviour
• DBB05 - Design Science
• DB502 - Identifiying Uncertain Customer Needs
• DB304 - Mental Models in Users

the full list with explanation can be found here

It is a little less design focus because this is what I want to focus on in my project. I think this will enrich and extend my knowledge more than just redoing the core modules all over again. The downside is the planning. There are strict dates for presenting moments and stakeholder meetings which in this case are during at least two of the modules. My deadline should be just a week in advance and just tweak and finetune the presentation the night before instead of working on it till the very last moment.

Welcome to my design in progress weblog where you will find everything of my upcoming M1.1 semester at the faculty of Industrial Design at the TU/e. I hope this will show me more insight in my development and not leave all the documentation for the end of the semester.

This is the first post and not the last I hope.