Design Studio for Context-Aware Products

Design Studio For Context-Aware Products

Thomas WendtSurrounding Signifiers@[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt

Thomas Wendt

UX Strategist and Researcher

Founder of Surrounding Signifiers, a strategy and design consultancy

Background in continental philosophy, psychology, and literary theory


Schedule

2:00-2:30 Context2:30-2:35 Intro to Design Studio2:35-2:45 Persona and Problem2:45-3:15 Storyboard3:15-3:30 Break3:30-4:00 Individual Sketch4:00-4:45 Group Sketch4:50-5:00 Post Mortem


Context


http://img103.fansshare.com/pic12/w/non-celebrity/800/8520_jean_baudrillard.jpg

“We live in a world where there is more and more

information, and less and less meaning.”

Jean Baudrillard

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Context ≠ Sensors

So what does “context” mean?



1. The parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning

2. The interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs.

Webster says

“The notion of “context” has been adapted to computing from its original use referring to

language, which is reflected in the structure of the word itself: con (with) text. In using language we

produce a text, either written or oral, intended to be interpreted by one or more other people. That text is not an encapsulated representation of an intended

meaning, but rather is a cue that allows the anticipated audience to construct an appropriate

meaning.”


Winograd says

Terry Winograd

“Context is an operational term: Something is context because of the way it is used in

interpretation, not due to its inherent properties.”


Winograd says

Terry Winograd


Context Layers

situation

environment

cognition

emotion

language


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Context creates meaning





Text

Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt http://www.deviantart.com/download/281824001/reading_book_by_srnnrgz-

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Context shapes experience





Context is always of something

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Context is never static

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=qpWnd3U5dLkNYM&t





Text

Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt https://www.cbsoutdoor.com/PhotoGallery/Subway%20Corridor_New

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Architecture for everyday life





Text

Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt http://fogsmoviereviews.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/

blue_velvet_frank_booth_jeffrey_beaumont_dennis_hopper_kyle_maclachlan.png

Context is all we know





The body presents a problem.


1) We’re thrown into the world.

2) We interact with objects.

3) We cope.


Smooth Coping

User is in the midst of a seamless experience, acting-through, without distinction between self and object.


Theoretical knowledge, disconnected from here and now. World presents itself

as an obstacle.

Intentionality


Smooth Coping

Intentionality


Coping

Intentionality


Intentionality

Coping

Section Title


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Surrounding Signifiers srsg.co | @thomas_wendt | [email protected]

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“Intelligence and understanding are rooted not in the presence and manipulation of explicit,

language-like data structures, but in something more earthy: the

tuning of basic responses to a real world that enables an embodied

organism to sense, act, and survive.” Andy Clark






http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wxrYOHd_MKA/T9d3EJi8LXI/AAAAAAAAAB8/TzmCg7Htk9k/s1600/andyclark.jpg

“Embodiment is the property of our engagement with the world

that allows us to make it meaningful.” Paul Dourish






WORLDUnfocused Existence

Decision-orientedInfluenced by Microworlds

MICROWORLDFocused Existence

Task-orientedInfluenced by World


Smooth Coping

Intentionality


FragmentsSense of self is focused on many

concerns at once.


ConnectionsContext is found in the

interconnections between self, world, and microworlds.


DifferencesMeaning emerges out of the

differences between self, world, and microworld.


Intentionality

Coping


Context Layers

situation

environment

cognition

emotion

language


LayersMany experiences are layered upon

each other.

emotion

cognition situation


Schedule



Design Studio Methodology


Generative Ideation


Schedule



Persona


Rob: Weary Traveler“I spend more time in airports, planes, and hotels than I do in my apartment.” - Rob

Rob works at a global technology consultancy. He lives in NYC but works on location with clients, often flying to their location on Monday and back on Friday. Most of his travel activities—booking, packing, getting to the airport, navigating, flying, transportation—are habitual. He doesn’t really think about them. But there are certain times when something goes not as planned or feels like it could be easier, and Rob can’t help but think technology can help make his experience better.

Goals• Feel like travel time is not necessarily

different from any other time• Be prepared if things go wrong (delays,

cancellations, traffic, etc.)• Make his technology work harder for him

Pain Points• Digging for the right information at the right

time (boarding passes, meeting info, directions, traffic, weather, etc.)

• Feeling lost when something unexpected happens

• Interacting with disconnected systems


Problem Statement


Problem StatementRob is often subject to the whims of the travel industry. His schedule is often dictated by plane schedules and traffic. Given that he cannot control many of the nuances that affect of these variables, he needs to be fully prepared for a variety of situations.

Our challenge is to design a system that accounts for his current context to deliver the right information at the right time.


Schedule



1st Iteration


Pitch


Critique


Schedule



2nd Iteration


Pitch


Critique


Schedule



Group Sketch


Pitch


Critique


Schedule



THANKS!

Thomas WendtSurrounding Signifiers@[email protected]





Design Studio for Context-Aware Products

Technology

Transcript of Design Studio for Context-Aware Products