This week started out with our quarters presentation, first thing on Monday morning. It allowed us to show our process and ideas thus far to ETC faculty and staff, and get their feedback for our next steps. This prompted us to work on our project goals and experience moments throughout the week, culminating in a presentation to our clients with our most recent project proposal.
Design Production
For quarters, Ivy continued working on our poster and half sheet to create the first version of these. The images below shop her designs for this initial stage.
First versions of poster and half sheet (front and back) designed by Ivy
Quarters Presentation
Our presentation for quarters included information about the team, our client (MuseumLab), the location of the experience (Hosanna House), our project and experience goals, and our idea. It also included a new composition box (instead of the one we submitted for the Playtesting Workshop from the previous week) and a metrics matrix.
We were offered a lot of helpful feedback, particularly to help us understand what was solid and clear about our project and what wasn’t. For instance, we got a few questions and comments on the goals and purpose of the project, and of how vague and general the idea seemed – would we deal with a generic airplane or a specific model? What exactly about the science/engineering/technology of aviation do we want to show? Does the AR experience depend on Hosanna House as a location or not? What will the guests be doing in the second part of the idea that is different from any other flight simulator or flight video? How will all guests participate in the experience if they must share a a few tablets? Several concerns where brought up about out wide target audience, urging us to choose a smaller age range.
We realized, then, that we had to work more on the specifics of the project, and on narrowing down our focus and the details of the experience.
The session reassured us that using AR to explore the components of the airplane could be exciting, especially if the virtual pieces tie with real artifacts in the exhibit and add to them (for example, by creating x-ray vision). But it also helped us recognize that we should be thinking more about designing for aspects like fun (enjoyment and engagement) and collaboration.
Additionally, we got a contact from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s (AOPA) high school training program, thanks to Bryan Maher, and got the suggestion from Brenda Harger to schedule a focus group with kids at Hosanna House – the purpose of this would be to ask them what they’d be interested in learning about. We followed up with both Bryan and our client to pursue this resources later on.
New Approaches From Feedback
With all this information, we decided to go back to brainstorming, focusing on a few key points:
- Reducing our target demographic (initially, we chose to go for 1st-3rd graders, thinking we could build the basics and then add complexity for older kids; however, after talking to Ruth and Scott, we decided we’ll target 6th-8th graders, and take away complexity for the younger kids)
- Getting rid of part 2 of the idea we pitched at quarters, and working on part 1 only (the airplane components “scavenger hunt”)
- Choosing a specific airplane model and highlighting what makes the airplane’s design special
- Focus less on the science of flight (too complex for kids) and more on the mechanics through the airplane’s components
- Incorporating physical elements that complement the app in the tablet, such that the tablet doesn’t become the only object (and source of information) to engage with the experience
- Designing for moments of fun and collaboration
It’s important to point out that, throughout this process, we contacted our client to get their feedback as well and to get answers for a few questions we hadn’t touched upon before. For instance, we learned that the exhibit is meant to be a permanent addition to Hosanna House. Our communication with our client was therefore vital (and so much appreciated!) at this stage.
We created another Google Jamboard file with our new idea and presented it to Ruth and Scott. From their feedback, we met again and created a very simple slideshow to outline the experience moments and characteristics of our most recent proposal to our clients during our weekly meeting.
It’s worth mentioning some of the sources of inspiration we encountered this week, given our previous weekly blogs didn’t necessarily do this. Honorable mentions go to The Little Prince‘s connection to aviation given Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s experience as a pilot; a nine year-old boy‘s evident passion for airplanes and their engineering; the AR app Paradise Lost & Found, designed for Milton’s Cottage museum in the UK to engage visitors (particularly kids) in a scavenger-hunt-like experience; Draw Alive, and interactive digital drawing game that allows children to see their creations collectively come to life in a virtual space.
Tech News
Once again, we received help and support from John Balash this week, when he met with Jimmy and Eric (our programmers) to go over the possibility of using ARENA and ALPS beacons at Hosanna House, as well as to answer some questions they had for him. Following their meeting, Eric created the tech-briefing below about ALPS specifically.
