Design Team Members: Melina McLarty and Katie and Cerar
Supervisor: Professor Stacey Scott
Background
Have
you
ever
wanted
your
television
to
do
more?
There
exist
a
number
of
ways
that
you
can
use
your
television
to
interact
socially,
but
none
of
these
approaches
entirely
encompass
the
spirit
of
socially
interactive
television.
This
project
intends
to
use
current
technologies
as
a
launching
point
to
learn
about
the
successes
and
failures
of
interactive
television,
and
design
something
even
better.
To
give
an
idea
of
what
technologies
are
already
currently
available
in
the
vein
of
"interactive
television",
consider:
- Cable TV Menus
- Personal Video Recorders (PVRs)
- Voting via text or email to affect the outcome of a show
- Internet pages as companions to television shows
Although these technologies are great tools, this team intends to design something even better.
Project description
The
need
to
belong,
and
form
and
maintain
relationships,
is
a
fundamental
human
motivation,
guiding
our
everyday
actions.
To
capitalize
on
the
need
to
socially
interact,
this
project
will
focus
on
how
television
should
be
redesigned
to
be
interactive
and
social.
Starting
from
scratch,
the
team
will
conduct
research
and
user
studies
to
determine
what
is
wrong
with
the
way
television
currently
works,
and
what
features
would
be
most
important
to
potential
users.
Then,
armed
with
this
information,
a
new
design
can
be
created.
This
project
will
focus
on
three
main
problems:
what
functionality
do
people
want,
how
can
that
functionality
be
provided,
and
what
will
this
look
like?
What functionality do people want?
To determine what kinds of functionality people want, the project team will be conducting studies and research to learn about what kinds of functionality are already in existence, and what is good or bad about them. They will also learn from potential users what kinds of functionality they wish existed, and why. They will also use other study techniques as outlined in the design methodology section to find out exactly what the ideal system might include.
How can that functionality be provided?
When the team has determined what kinds of features would be most important to include in socially interactive television, the next step is to figure out what technologies and interfaces would be best. The difference between typing on a remote and a keyboard are obvious, but which is best? The team plans to answer this question and others through more research and creativity.
What should it look like?
Finally, the interface will need to be designed. The specific look and feel of an application is just as important as the functionality that it provides. No one wants to use an ugly or confusing interface, so user studies will be very important at this stage to make sure that the final product is usable and compelling.
Design methodology
As explained in the project description, every piece of this project requires research and user studies to make sure the final product meets the goals set by the team. To accomplish this, a broad range of methods were chosen to explore all research and analysis aspects that could influence the design. These methods will not all be conducted fully, but their spirit will be used to collect data and feedback to create the best design possible.
Below is a select sample of some of the exciting research methods being explored:
- Fly on the wall: Small groups of people will be observed as they watch television and their behaviours will be analyzed afterwards by reviewing video footage.
- Card sort: Target users will be asked to sort a set of cards visually to indicate how potential features are related, this helps the designs determine feature prioritization.
- Scenario testing: Target users will be presented with a bunch of scenarios detailed with storyboards or other media and feedback and initial reactions will be collected.
- Draw on the experience: Target users will physically alter the designs by encouraging them draw on paper prototypes and storyboards to indicate their ideas.
- Try it yourself: The design team will gain an understanding of the users by trying out prototypes.
- Public feedback: Feedback from the general public will be collected when the design is showcased at the end of term symposium.
These methods will all mesh together to help the team better understand what their design should do, and how. Hopefully they will ensure the best final product possible.