R U Experienced?

the best and the worst April 11, 2009

Best vs Worst Activates:

From the experiences of different types of activates from different classes, I would like to agree that the magic sustainability was the best activate of all. When I passed their activate setting, the first thing that made me attract to it was the unusual materials they were using, which was the soil in a huge box. With interest of suspicious look, I went up to the big box that contains real soil. Then, one of the student of that activate came up to me to plant a seed in the soil. With beating heart, I tried and said a magic word. Suddenly, the real fruit came up from the beneath of the ground and surprised me in a natural way. I did not really expect the real fruit would come up. It was no long a surprise when I found out some one lift up the fruit to the ground below the box, but the idea of popping fruit from the ground gave me a joy of laughter. Nonetheless, the more enjoyment they presented to us was, because they did not take the fruit away from us and maybe reused, but actually gave us, this idea of leaving something to us made the user happier than any other activates. Plus, as we eat the fruit or cook the vegetables they gave back at home, we can remember the enjoyments we experienced at their activate. In contrast, the worst activate I chose was the one that presented the Alice and the wonderland site. Because they set up the character models and other flat designs as wall, it made the user feel not welcomed and user did not know what to do or where to enter and how to start experiencing their activate. Somebody actually had to tell their activate was good to the users and let them know it is a fine place to experience. Due to the wrong set up, there was less connection of attracting users to experience the activate and less visual communication between the entrance and the users.

Exercise 4 April 9, 2009

The best work that I have seen during the activate
The most successful activity that I like during the activate is called “the happy box”. The happy box is a huge box made by black cardboard. I like it because of the following reason.
First, the happy box gives me a very good experience when I examine it. I was lining up for my turn and when I get into the happy box, I found many eyes were looking at me. some of them have facial expression, some are cute and some of them are scary, which makes me curious to know what they are doing. Inside the happy box, we can see the people are looking are you, which is a feel of the panopticon, and you realize people are watching you so you had a interaction with the people
Second, the happy box created a very good atmonsphere. They have the music which made people have a adverture feeling during the examine. when we get into the happy box and the lady who is in front of the door is quite polite. We also have a chance to win the cookies before we leave the happy box.
Third, I really enjoy their feedbacks at the end of the activity, when we leave from the happy box we get the cookies and there are two students are doing some feedbacks. I think is a very important way to do this investigation because it really helps them improve their project.

Best vs. Worst April 9, 2009

The best one for me, besides ours of course, would be the MAGICAL GRADEN. Personally I love to see vegetables and fruits growing on trees, so that idea attracted me the most. When a fruit and vegetable poped out from the dirt, it was a surprise. And the surprise kept going on, because you didn’t know what would show up next. Also, the idea of getting my hands dirty made me feel like I was actually at a farm harvesting the fruits and vegetables that I have planted; it was a good experience and feedback.

The worst one would be the STARING CONTESTS. My friend was in that class, and I asked him before about what would be going on, he said “You just stare others.” That’s it? “Yeah, it’s a staring contest, what else are you expecting?” I guess he was right; I couldn’t really expect anything other than looking into others’ eyes without blinking for a while. The whole concept was too simple and was not original; I saw this game on TV shows quite often before, they should have added more ideas based on that game to make it interesting. I don’t think I’ve got much feedback on it, and the winning price wasn’t really an attractive surprise.

The Best and the Worst of Activate April 9, 2009

The Best and the Worst of Activate

In my opinion the best experience was the happy box because its touchpoints were well executed. Location, signs, advertisement, actors were connected resulting in an intriguing experience. The box itself was very well located, centrally positioned in the main hall, right across the entrance doors, its size and form instilled lots of curiosity. The bouncers helped to stimulate my interest in it by what they were saying. The processes were fairly clear and direct: I got some information that in order to give it a try I should wait in line and that two people should go together. After waiting for my turn I was instructed to go inside the box. It was pitch black for a second and then I could see pair of eyes through little apertures, there were many of them, monitoring and staring at my actions. The actors were impartial to my actions. The Panopticon feeling of being over watched might have been more intense and intimidating if I were trying it alone, the fact of trying it in pairs caused less impact on me. The gut feeling of being overly observed endured only feel seconds because I felt it a little noisy inside and I could not discern any sound but the sense of disturbance due to the darkness was strong. I felt more uncomfortable because of the feeling of being a subject of voyeurism. The “treat”, a cupcake, made me feel like a mice in a lab awarded by its accomplishments. I would suggest that they should had tried to invert the position or roles for the participants, for example, let them be part of the group observing other people and seeing the other side of the experience. The questionnaire afterward should be shorter and more intuitive. I really enjoyed the metaphor used.

The Worst was  the “Pollock, Van Gogh, Picasso, YOU”, their advertisement was promising but they didn’t deliver it. They missed the point completely wasting the touch points, great location, great signs, and posters with poor results. The experience didn’t engaged to much to the feeling of being an artist or that the actions of painting were made by the user. The metaphor was lost because they were unable to expand the experience; they should have done a better use of the user scenario and avoided some weakness of the project. The canvas was permanently on the ground, there was no surprise in terms of use and the interaction was too obvious.

Best and Worse at Activate!!1 April 9, 2009

The project that stuck out for me was the Magic Grow dirt pit in the entrance area. To be fair I might just be more interested in the mechanics of it, but I liked the surprise of different fruits and vegetables popping out when planting seeds. The feedback was very satisfying. The different kinds of fruits and vegetables made me try it myself, rather than passively watch. Even if I understood the concept before trying, seeing a giant watermelon emerge was still hilarious. Perhaps they could have taken that idea further, who knows what bizarre things could pop out? That may have helped them give their project a message of sorts, but I digress. The visceral appeal of getting my hands dirty was hampered by the way they executed instructions. They had students hand out seeds and demonstrate who to bury it. Personally I think they missed out on a more intuitive sequence. Give me a seed and a giant dirt table, and I already know what to do. When planting the seed the fruit may have come up a little early, but it’s forgivable because I was really impressed that they managed it at all.

The worse was the “Your 15 Minutes”, or the “Pollock, Van Gogh, Picasso, YOU” project. It was a fun contraption, but there was no experience to reflect on. The paper on the floor already had paint on it, giving away the result. When I participated, I was expecting some surprise, it went exactly as I’d imagined it. In light of the class’s content, the project was like a joke with no punchline. They tried to extend the experience by handing out a small card with a URL where they’ll upload photos for us to see, but I had no interest in going to see them because I knew how they’d turn out. Unfortunately the drab weather didn’t help there cause.

The funny thing is that Dario’s evocative feedback project was related but immensely more memorable. And made by one man!

The Good, The Bad, The WTJ? April 9, 2009

Just to start off, I didn’t get a chance to experience all the projects that the first year class had to offer but for the ones I did see, I can’t say that I have a favourite, but I was inclined towards the Free Beat project located at Butterfield Park. The idea was simple, although not unique in nature, the group still managed to create a positive, creative atmosphere of sound that was pleasant and not an auditorial mess. In terms of usability it was clear, just pick up an instrument and go! The instruments already had built in affordances for easy use and it was up to the user to do what he/she wills with it. Again not original, but pleasant. The project that I disliked was actually the one situated right in front of our WTJ, a sort of Prey and Predator type game governed by small coloured pins with different species. First off, the Lion King song that was on repeat became very annoying to users of the game and others experiencing activate. I’m sure once explained the game is simple, but there were too many rules to read for a simple visceral or reactionary experience. All I knew was that I had a pin, and someone with a higher ranking pin would try to steal mine – fair. But the way people interacted with each other was completely unstructured after that, and users were left simply wandering around intrigued by the other projects. The pin bore no meaning, and that’s all users walked away with – a pin – completely dissatisfied with the experience.

Exercise 4: Documenting Activate! March 26, 2009

For your fourth (second-last) exercise you will take time out from the mirth and mayhem of our Activate! performance/happening to make a circuit of the other classes’ offerings.

I’m dropping the requirement to post photo or video. Instead, I want you to try to give the actual name, and good description/location info for the project(s). Refer to my earlier emails or other ACTIVATE!! publicity for help.

Choose what you feel are the single Best and Worst experiences of Activate! 2009 and record a few points evaluating the piece subjectively and objectively. For at least one of these experiences, take a few photos or a short video clip. Post your results on the blog.

Your exercise will be evaluated for:

• Insight and perceptiveness
• Use of course terminology and concepts
• Timely and complete upload
• Clarity of expression