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Project Outline
Details
UX/UI Research and Design | University Case Study
Role
UX/UI Designer and Researcher
Tools
Figma, Creative Cloud, UML
Duration
6 weeks
Lions Gate Sensory System
How do we connect with nature in an urban environment?
Design and evaluate ideas for a user centered physical system to be installed on the grounds at Merchiston, which demonstrates the blending of aspects of permaculture and UX with a specific focus on mental health and wellbeing.
The Lions Gate Sensory System aims to reconnect individuals living in cities with the natural world around them by enhancing their sensual experiences whilst in nature by stimulating pulse points.
The systems development process brought to light a number of ethical, sustainable and logistics challenges. The following case study addresses these concerns.
The Problem
As anyone living within a city will know, being able to experience the eb and flow of the natural environment can be difficult. With limited wild spaces, noisy traffic and a continually faster pace of live, gradually, the inability to see and connect to the changing seasons encourages us to disconnect from nature, negatively impacting our mental health and wellbeing. How can we reimagine the limited breaks from urbanisation within our cities to help sustain mental growth and encourgae connections to the natural environment?
Edinburgh Napier University’s redevelopment project presents a unique opportunity to design and install novel interactive experiences in the grounds and gardens. In particular, The Lions' Gate Garden, an urban permaculture project, presents a great opportunity to encourage review limited urban natural spaces and consider how a users experience can be enhanced.
The Process
The process used in the Development of the Lions Gate Sensory System was inspired by the methodological approaches behind design thinking; empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test.
The methodology was adapted to appropriately represent this specific design challenge, involving user at more stages and encouraging engagement with high levels of user centrality.
Understanding
Meeting with the Client - Primary Stakeholder
The first steps of the process involved an interview with Interaction Design lecturer and Lions Gate head, Calum Egan (Egan, 2021). The interview was conducted in two parts via video call followed with an on-site visit. In the two interviews, Mr Egan discussed existing systems in development. This included QR type scanners link to augmented reality features. Mr Egan further identified ambitions to use the space increasingly as a place for student microbusinesses, performances, and outdoor classroom.
Mr Egan noted several constraints within the garden that should be considered in design including the gardens proximity to the university library meaning no loud noises, and a busy road beside the garden means it can be a loud place. Lions Gate Garden does not have a large blueprint which lowers the physical scope of the project. The garden is split into two areas, the library garden and a rooftop produce area beside the campus kitchens. Connecting the areas is a long and tall walled corridor.
‘There is this great thing with nature where, when in it, we feel calmer and aren’t so stressed, it would be good to try encourage that in the garden...non-evolutionary reaction when you can’t see the slow turn of the seasons.’
Artefact Collection
During the second meeting with the client, a significant gallery of images were taken. This enabled designs to be visualised and the space to be understood in the later stages. Furthermore, the artefact collection enabled limitations to be scoped and fully encompassed into any ideations.
User Survey
During the second meeting with the client, a significant gallery of images were taken. This enabled designs to be visualised and the space to be understood in the later stages. Furthermore, the artefact collection enabled limitations to be scoped and A survey was conducted comprising of poll styled and yes or no questions.
The survey was devised from the initial meetings with the client and focused on the mental health of the participants in relation to nature. The survey further asked questions regarding self- awareness and the senses. There were 103 participants. encompassed into any ideations.
Data Visualisation
The survey showed that this is an age group concerned with their mental wellbeing, highlighting that being outdoors and having time alone help when feeling down, suggesting that the system should be a solo interaction. Finally, it highlighted a focus on sight, sound and touch should be emphasised.
Brainstorming
A brainstorming session was held with three participants. The participants were a UX designer, mechanical engineer, and a product designer. Participants were given pens, paper and post it notes. The session took place over half an hour where the participants were given a brief outline of the project and shown pictures of the garden. Excerpts from the initial client interview were read out loud by the participants before and then throughout the session.
Part One
The participants were guided through each paper and prompted to write the first things which came to their mind based off the page titles. This activity aimed to ensure the participants were in the right mind set to think about the development of the physical system in relation to its location, aims, target market and projection.
Part Two
In the second part of the brainstorming session, participants were given post it notes to stick to a ‘physical system’ sheet. They were asked to consider everything they had written so far and how they could encompass their ideas into one system.
The group were then tasked with narrowing it down to three ideas. Anything that involved too much technology was discounted immediately including ‘digital garden’ and ‘produce stall’. Then anything not directly related to mental health and the sense and ideas which were similar were removed. In the second part of the brainstorming session, participants were given post it notes to stick to a ‘physical system’ sheet. They were asked to consider everything they had written so far and how they could encompass their ideas into one system.
Envisionment
Mood Board
In order to invite users to begin to test initial ideations, a mood board was used to display the vast array of colours, textures, smells and sights found in a garden setting. At the beginning of testing sessions, users were consider these different elements in relation to the sensory system.
Envisionment was an ongoing process in the lifecycle of this project and coincided with both the testing and evaluation processes. The project took a highly iterative approach at each stage of development due to the level of user input throughout.
User Testing
Test Round One
The first round of testing was a focus group session with five UX students and lasted for ten minutes. The focus group noted the corridor may not be the best location due to several concerns including accessibility which would mean not everybody would be able to use it, as well as considering users who may have certain vulnerabilities. Finally, it was noted that not everybody would find the experience engaging and it may not be the best solution to use speakers to communicate.
In consideration of the observations from the focus group session, significant changes were made to the design of the sensory system.
The system will encompass the entire garden.
The system is for Student Health and Wellbeing teams clients
The system attaches to the user on the neck and wrist pulse point.
Sensors will be placed around the garden and activated by user proximity or touch.
Everything emits waves and these waves can be felt if transmitted.
The body devices will heighten this response by stimulating pulse points.
Using technology like that of apples noise cancelling technology, the devices will only respond to natural noises eradicating traffic of student noise.
Sketches and Storyboarding
After the initial design idea testing phase, sketches were drawn to display the system from a high level of abstraction and ideate some of the features of the system.
A storyboard was compiled to support the abstraction of the initial sketches. The storyboard goes through the use of the device by a student referred by the universities mental health and wellbeing services and presents a simplistic, successful use of the system.
Test Round Two
The sketches and storyboard were presented to two UX design students. The session lasted ten minutes, starting by going over the concept and design of the system, the designers then thought-out-loud making observations and asking open questions. This session was not recorded; however, notes were taken. The observer did not make any comments so allow the session to flow. The designers liked the idea and concepts but had queries about:
Device Attachment
Storage
Size
Aesthetic
Going forward into prototyping consideration should be made to storage of the devices and how will affect the user journey. Additional requirements include understanding how the system will attach to the user. Whatever method used should be reusable, sustainable, and conscientious of health and hygiene. Perhaps the storage box could integrate an adhesive renewal system?
Low to mid fidelity to...
To attach the device to the pulse points, a thin adhesive film has been added to base of the sensor. The user will need to pull of the tab from the device to reveal the adhesive before sticking, this is indicated by a red tab (fig. 20). Both tab and adhesive are recyclable. The storage unit for the devices is an 8cm x 8cm box attached to the wall beside the entrance to the garden (fig. 36). The devices will be placed into this box into their holders where another adhesive sticker will go onto them further charging the devices.
Along with the sketches of the container and tab system, preliminary prototypes were designed using Photoshop and After Effects Pro (fig. 20) to show the product progression of the design. The device has been made a lot smaller in the prototype in consideration of testing two. The sensors in the garden will now look like the sensor on the user and will not require a user to touch the device to activate, just the object.
...high fidelity
The designs were then transferred into high fidelity designs and prototypes using the feedback gathered from users before going into the final evaluation stage.
Evaluation
Professional Evaluation
Part One - Heuristics
A 20-minute heuristic evaluation was conducted with two UX design students. The session began by showing the original sketches to the students one by one to see if they understood what the system was from the first ideation, the students were then shown the first prototype and asked questions.
Key insights:
The designers suggestions were relatively minimal and required little change in user journey to implement.
Part Two - Co-Discovery Session
A co-discovery session was held over zoom with four users. The group was shown a powerpoint where they were shown the device and asked to consider what it may be in relation to a garden setting. The participants were then given a scenario to walk through whilst the observer asked questions.
The session lasted one hour and gave several quality insights. As a group they went through each slide and critically analysed what they were looking at from a user’s perspective.
Ethics
The co-discovery session highlighted issues predominantly grounded with the ethical nature of the system. This includes safety of the experience and the danger of having a negative mental effect on the user where they become desensitised. To address the safety issues another issue will also be looked at in relation to the noise cancelling elements the user said they could be dangerous and that they may not want the full experience, a point mentioned in evaluation one.
Control
One of the participants is autistic and mentioned potentially being confused and agitated if there were sudden noises that they could not see the location of. To add more user control to this aspect, a three-tiered system using the button feature should be added. This will account for low medium or high cancellation and give the user a more rounded experience in turn accounting for safety concerns negating by the noise cancelling technology.
Function
It was noted that the touch sensation could come across as artificial unsure if they would know something was happening or not. To address this, an LED light will flash from the wrist sensors button to show that a touch connection has been made. To ease the unease of users touching and ‘feeling’ inanimate objects the wrist sensors button will also work like the neck sensor and provide a low medium and high setting for the control of the user.
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