The project moved through three phases, each with internal iterations of design, research, and evaluation. Design based research allowed me to engage users early in dialog over design artifacts encountered in real-world settings outside the lab.
Moments and places, despite physical limitation and narrow localization, are charged with accumulations of long-gathering energy.
John Dewey Art as Experience
This phase explored people's existing processes for recounting place-based experience by deploying cultural probes to Atlanta residents representing a broad range of life experience. I also reviewed existing technologies that connect people to places. Finally, an Android prototype was developed and given to users during a field experiment, which evaluated three interaction designs for retrieving media on site.
Taking findings from the exploratory activities, I converged on a set of product use qualities to guide the look, feel and function of the app. Illustrated storyboards and scenarios explored functional possibilities at a high level, while a user flow provided a technical specification navigation through the app.
Based on the final usability test and field experience, which subjected the prototype to user evaluation in the lab and in the field, I provide a set of guidelines for mobile experiences designed to increase sensory awareness of physical surroundings.
Placebase