Activate: Good and Bad

I was not able to see all of the projects at Activate, and the only few I experienced were not as interesting as I expected… But if I have to choose one favourite, I would say “Happy Box.” It evoked curiosity and an interesting visceral reaction in the users. A big black box and a long lineup raised my curiosity. (But I might leave if I was not recommended to experience it by other people since it took me lots of time to wait.) Inside the box, it was totally dark and quite at first. When I was wondering what would happen next, suddenly many pairs of staring eyes appeared on the walls! Actually, I was not scared or surprised by them because I was busy taking photos at that moment, yet I believe it could create a good feedback in other users. After that they sent out a cupcake which I’m not sure it was a reflective design or not. I also like the idea that they had a survey right after the users went out the box, it makes the users feel like, as someone have mentioned, had been a subject of an experiment.

The worst one… should be the OCADVAS. Obviously, it did not require much thought and effort, lacking visceral, reflective, and behavioural reaction. The only feedback was the paintings on the person’s skin which was very predictable. I did not even want to try it when I passed by, but I thought it might have some hidden meanings after the whole experience. Surprisingly, that’s all…

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