TEAM
Darwin / David M / Dr. Liz Sanders
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Project Proposal + Project Co-lead
• Facilitation of Generative Co-design Workshops
• Data Analysis & Synthesis
• User Experience Design + (Informal) UX Testing
• Prototype Development [C#, Javascript]
GOAL
• Explore and experiment on co-creation, i.e. design by people, through a concept called Collective Dreaming.
• Provide a glimpse of the form and method of participatory design could be taking in the future.
• Demonstrate the potential of virtual collaborative space for creative expression in co-design process.
• Reflect on participants’ individual and group behaviors in the virtual environment.
BACKGROUND
This is a collaborative project to develop a networked co-design virtual space prototype. We started with paper-based tools, where we asked participants to express their “present learning experience.” The paper-based tools informed the development of a virtual prototype in which participants were asked to do the same exercise.
You can download the full proceeding paper here
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The area of exploration we’re interested in lies between Play and Problem Solving where the approach are more virtual than physical.
PATHWAY OF EXPRESSION
The framework we used, when we asked participants to express their “present learning experience”, is based on Dr. Sanders’ conceptual model of experience called “the path of expression.” The purpose of this framework is to guide participants’ awareness by thinking about present experiences and evoking past memories to eventually generate dreams for their future aspirations.
Four steps of the Path of Expression:
1. Immerse yourself in the current experience
2. Connect to past experiences through the expression of feelings and memories
3. Proceed to dream of future experiences
4. Generate and express aspirations for ideal future experiences
The study started with “current” experiences. However, “past” experiences may overlap from participant’s feelings and memories to inform their present experiences.
PROCESS
The process throughout were iterative and continuous. Each stage informed the other by various concept development, observational research, user experience feedback, and so on.
CO-DESIGN PROCESS
Our design approach was and iterative process involving the experimentation of different toolkits and the observations and participants feedback, in which one stage informed the next. We started with paper-based tools and analyzed the behaviors and outcome of the participants work.
USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN
The next step, while we kept on researching with paper-based tool, we started to concept the user experience of the digital-tool and eventually developed a prototype using Unity game engine.
EARLY PROTOTYPE + USER TESTING
The early prototype had two functions:
1. Test the concept to see if users were engaged in co-creating virtually and if the collective dream app was able to work as a tool to generate ideas.
2. Informally test the user experience and took notes where areas of interface could be improved or changed.
The participants were not only asked to express their “present learning experiences” using the digital tool prototype, but they were also asked about the possibility of co-creating with other people in a digital networked space. The sentiments of the participants of the possibility to co-create with other people were overwhelmingly positive. The feedback and analysis we obtained from this early research led us to the development of a networked app prototype: Collective Dreaming in the Virtual World.
SYSTEM OF COLLECTIVE DREAMING
ASSUMPTIONS
After participants were asked to express their “present learning experience” individually. Our next phase of the collective dream project is for participants to collaborate using a digital prototype in a networked virtual space to “dream” up their “ideal learning experience”. The participants had a lot of fun and the outcome of the participants’ group work was very creative.
LATER PROTOTYPE + COLLECTIVE DREAM SESSIONS
The earlier version of the prototype app for collective dream space was mocked up very roughly. So the initial prototype was completely scrapped and a new version was built. A tablet version of the Collective Dream app prototype was developed and showcased at the 2015 OGDE (Ohio Game Developer Expo). It was part of a consideration of various medium that can be used in collective dream. However, to keep things simple, the tablet version was not explored further.
We conducted three research sessions with three participants in each session. All the participants were physically in the same location, but may only communicate with each other using the chat function in the app. Two of the participants used 60″ touchscreen monitor, and the other one used a personal computer with a mouse and a keyboard.
RESULTS
The Collective Dream app prototype is proven to be quite enjoyable for the participants. Consistently, participants expressed that the experience of playing with the prototype was “fun”. One particular feature that the participants enjoyed was the interactive elements with other participants during the co-creation process. One participant remarked that “It’s just much more fun, … in real time [to] be communicating with people, instead of an artifact that people could look at, but this is, we’re here right now doing this thing.”
This prototype shows interesting and promising potential of a virtual networked co-design for participants across space to socially play and co-create in real time.
REFLECTIONS
1. On Tool Kits
Taken from the blueprint of maketools, the digital toolkit functioned just as effectively as paper toolkits. However, the digital toolkit had added benefits such as resizing of icons and infinite spawning of the icons. Thus, semantic expressions (meanings) were expanded.
2. On Playfulness
Interaction between the participants was also very playful in all three sessions. This was especially true when generating ideas in the shared world (indicated by participants’ constant giggliness).
3. On Immediacy of Interactions
Even though, the co-creation took place in a virtual space, the participants really enjoyed the live interactive feedback from the other participants.
4. On Breaking Down the Barriers
We found that open system and playfulness created freedom of expression for the participants, and the potential for outspokenness became evident as we conducted the research.
5. On Limitations
Because the Collective Dreaming is still in the prototype phase, from technical perspective, not only were the interface and interactivity clunky, but there were bugs in the system as well. Certain aspects of tactility of materials and direct human-to-human interactions may be lost over the virtual network space. Socioeconomically, the digital tool will be confined to those who has access to it.
POTENTIALS
If the Collective Dream app can be scaled for web-based platform, then it opens up for various uses.
For example, the app could be applied to other projects that are exploring future situations of use, provided that the collective dream prototype is equipped to use modular toolkits (e.g., different sets of icons for different topics, etc.). It could also be used within an organization to explore future experiences of people in different parts of the world.
