Louise Skjoldborg Lessél

mapOUT

mapOUT is an interactive map for elderly men (60+).

It is a paper map just like the one we all grew up with, however it uses GPS tecnology to create routes for the person to walk.

The routes are based on the interests of the person who owns the map, however it can also be based on you friends choice of the day.

The concept

The map is designed to get elderly men out and about, both socially and physically.

When starting the map, you are met with a menu, which asks you how you want to browse todays walks. The choices are “interests” and “friends”.

Choosing “interests” you can now choose “music”, “museums”, “art”, “nature”, “food” and so on. You then choose an event and the map generates a route out to that place. Some of the events might have a perk, like, if you walk there and show them your map, you get a free cup of coffee.

Choosing “friends” lets you see what your accaintances are doing today. You have their phone number right there along with their name, so if you wanted to join, you could just call them up (using your regular phone).

Making friends with the map is easy. All you do, is place the two maps on top of each other and press remember. You can now see each other.

The map can also take pictures. Say you are interested in construction and architecture and there is a particular building you been following. With your mapOUT, you can follow the construction very easily by reviewing the photos you took last week or the week before. You can also show and compare your photos with others.

Gallery

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Group members:

HP Muema Loessl and Morten Winther Larsen

Bandbase.dk

For the exam project in the class “Media and Communication” we decided to do a Website analysis, based on a model by Lisbeth Thorlacius.

We analyzed the danish music website bandbase.dk.

We were all interested in music and wanted to improve the website. Two of us were previous users, but we stopped using it after it changed to the new layout. My personal reason for doing so was that I found it too confusing.

We did a usabilty test (think out loud test) with 3 people and found that some basic things confused them as well.

We then compared the usability test to an interview with the editor of Bandbase, Rasmus Ardahl, thereby doing a full reception analysis.



Group members:

Thomas Redder and Jette Forstholm

Blog

This blog is an exam assignment from the class Dissemination, Project Work and Webdesign (1st semester).

Look at the gallery, for a view of my own attempt at creating the code for the blog.



Gallery

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I have decided to change to this look instead, due to a more professional look with better showcasing opportunities.

Chindogu

Chindogu is a design practice where you create useless products. They literally can’t have any real use. It helps you think out of the box – big time.

Our design was a water bottle with openings in both ends. We also made a pretty useless fashion bag for the bottle.



The Process

The reason Chindogu is relevant is because of its affordances for you as a designer. It is not so much the product as the process. All you do is brainstorm, and there are no boundaries. There are ten basic rules though (read them here).

So it was more of a lesson of thinking out of the box with your brainstorming and doing rapid design.

There was another lesson in this: That stupid and crazy ideas can spark the imagination for many useful ones. Hence it was hard picking the one idea which was truly useless (the first rule of Chindogu).



Gallery

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Thomas Redder, Veronica Andersen, Marc Eiberg Petersen, and Morten Winther Larsen.

MyCab

MyCab is the first project we did on ITU. The entire DMD (Digital Media & Design) team were split up into groups and we had to come up with an application for the cell-phone.



The Concept

MyCab is basically an application, that lets the cell-phone user and the cab-driver find each other, using GPS technology.

MyCab lets you order a cab by pressing a button. It then gives you an estimated time of arrival. Your phone sends out the GPS coordinates of your location to the cab-driver, who will quickly be able to find you, even if you move. (Within the realms of reason! If you move too far away from the  spot you ordered it at, – meaning if you take a bus or the metro – it gets cancelled. The cab-driver shouldn’t be asked to play hide and go seek with you.)

You could also choose to go find a cab. The application then shows you a GPS-generated map of where the available cabs are located. You might say you go cab-hunting.

Finally the application had a “Cancel Cab”-button. So if you decide you don’t want the cab anyway, you can cancel it. However if you cancel it within the last 2 minutes of the cab getting to you, we thought it only fair for there to be a small “penalty” fee of 10 kr. ($ 2) or so. This is due to the many change-trips cabs make. It happens too often that they get to a place, and no one is there.

In summary, MyCab is a cell-phone application which let’s you order a cab by the simple press of a button, so you don’t have to deal with hanging on the phone for ten minutes waiting in line. It lets the cab find you, without you having to explain adresses you don’t know. And finally, it offers the possibility for diminishing the change-trips the cabs make every day.



The Process

The groups was assigned a location in Copenhagen (our location was Kongens Nytorv Metro station) from where we were to observe peoples use of cell-phones. Then do a brainstorm on concepts, based on what they had seen. Come up with a concept and do a presentation.

The main observation were people calling each other because they couldn’t find each other. (We did get the idea to make friends be able to see each other on a GPS map – very “monitored society” – so we decided not to go with that.)

Another obervation were two men leaving work (we presume). They both took turns putting their phones away, looking up, noticing that the other had his phone in his hand, then retrieving it from the pocket. They didn’t talk to each other.

But as we noticed, the objective for their walking along the road, was actually getting a cab.

With MyCab, the two men could have ordered a cab, before leaving the building, still had taken the walk, but this time, they could have talked to each other.

The change-trip solution button “cancel cab” and the cab-hunting feature came from a particular other scenario. The scenario of living in the country.

Growing up in the country, a few of us had dealt with not being able to get a cab if you were in town at night. Too many people were trying to order the same cabs, that resulted in a very long wait. And often the cabs were just around the corner. So if you could see the cabs on your phone, you could simply go to where they were all parked.

Cabs in the country take expensive change-trips. They have to drive further than city-cabs, thus making less money. That resulted in the cancel button. It isn’t perfect, and need more work, but the idea is there.



Group members:

Peter Bech Erikstrup, Nina Kirstine Busk, Johnny Roland Christensen, Peter Hansen Jørgensen, Mie Nygaard and Andreas Ubbe Dall

Interactive Labyrinth

The assignment was to do Rapid design, come up with a concept and do a presentation. The theme was movement.

Rapid design this time meant:

4 minute brainstorm on the theme

8 minutes to chose the idea

40 minutes to build 3D model of concept

3 minute Presentation pitching the idea (selling it)



The value pitch

A value pitch (or proposition) is a way to sell yourself. It is a simple way of convincing people, that you and your project is worth investing time and money in. It’s called NABC for short.

Here’s the disposition:

(The percentages tell how much time each part should occupy in your speech).



NABC:
First you need a hook (5%)

Need (20%)
You then explain what the need for this new product is, what is the target group and so on.

When seeling yourself it means explaining the company what they need, and why they need you to do that.

Approach (50%)

What is the project about, and how does it help the need.

What would you approach be to help this problem dissappear.

Benefit per cost (10%)

What is the benefit for the company, users, investors. What will the effect of the product be.

Or what can you bring to the company.

Competiton (10%)

What is the difference between this new product and other products that are similar.

Think ahead, and know your competition.

Resumé and finish (5%)



The concept

With the interactive labyrinth the Need was entertainment while moving and getting exercised. We also incorporated an element of learning.

So the Approach was to build a labyrinth with interactive, moving walls, floors and ceilings, where you could play various games.

The games would be a shooting game (we all know the common laser guns with reactive vests). As the shooter you would still be wearing the vest, and you and your friends could play against the gunmen on the displays or against each other running around the labyrinth.

The other games were:

Getting through the labyrinth before the monster (also on the display, or perhaps a robot) catches you.

Solving riddles and answering questions on the displays in order to get through the labyrinth (for educational purposes, you could choose a theme, like american government, making this attractive to schools as well.)

Then there was the “get up and get moving” game where you had to make it through the labyrinth by exercising. For example: jumping up and down to avoid the laser moving around the room; jumping on he stationary bike, making it up the steep hill on the display, in order to open the door to the next room; or using the trampolin to hit the button which activates the exit.

The Benefits per cost were, that if placed in the proper location, this attraction could make millions. Sure it would cost a fair amount of money to build, but if placed in Las Vegas, NV. It would pay back its cost many times over. Also, it has the potential for further developement with the addition of new games.

Competition: Well, there are no large scale labyrinth of the kind (yet) in the world. The closest thing to this invention, is the armys training grounds.(However this could also become something the army could use for training.)

For more on NABC read C. Carlson and W. Wilmot, Innovation: The five disciplines for creating what customers want, 2006.



Gallery

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Adel Omar, Raymond Christian Ortiz, Jeanette Boesen and Alex Kiszka-Kanowitz.