Last post

So yesterday we had our very last presentation at the big finals. Here we explained the process, from the first museum visit to the finished product, and demonstrated our invention: Intuor. Unfortunately, we did not win the competition, but we certainly had the best prototype with the highest mindblowing factor.

However, there are some things we did not have time to elaborate, and that has not been mentioned in the blog as of yet. What did we actually learn from the course, and how did we apply this to our creation?

The first thing is standards. To avoid unnecessary confusion, we used a button placement that felt most natural. That is, the next button to the right of the back button and the pointer button at the front close to the index finger.

While designing we also though of the Magical Number Seven: There is no need to memorize where the buttons are, and what each button does, it should come pretty naturally to most people. And for others, it will only take a matter of seconds before he/she learns how to manoeuvre the controller since there is only five buttons and a jog to interact with.

Then there is Fitt’s law. We decided on big physical buttons instead of a touch interface, since the user is then able to feel the buttons, and can use the controller without having to look at it. The buttons all have unique shapes for this very reason as well.

As for the matter of potential errors: it is hard to foolproof everything, but we sure gave it our all. It is not possible to skip “slides” into the next or previous area since the slides are limited to each zone. If one presses the next/back button outside a zone, it would not trigger any reactions within the exhibit and startle visitors. We also added the back button and a reset button so that the user can easily correct any mistakes if they were to happen.

The screen on the controller can also show additional information when the user is performing “illegal” actions (such as trying to use the next/back button when no preset “slides” are available in the current zone).

Last but not least, the ethics. Our first ideas involved using technology to create new ways of taking tours at museums. However, this would mean that our invention would completely replace any actual guides, who are already a species in danger. That is when we developed our design principle:
Don’t replace the guides, enhance them.

That was it for us. Thank you (teachers, random Blogspot Americans and Germans, all of you) for having followed us on our journey in this course.
Sayonara!

Final powerpoint

3D prototype

As we had problems getting people to pretend they were guides (hard to find real guides willing to test our prototype) and at the same time making them feel like they were at a museum when using our digital prototype we came to a solution:
We created a prototype where you can test the features of our controller in a 3D-environment (a fictional museum) and have an easier time becoming immersed in the role of being a guide at the museum. This prototype also makes explaining what the controller does a lot easier.
The prototype can be found here: http://xml.csc.kth.se/~fberglun/MDI/webbuild/ (Right-Click -> "Go Fullscreen")

Final Prototype

First prototype

The first prototype we made was a web-prototype where you could click on the controller to go through the light/effect-slideshow in each room: http://xml.csc.kth.se/~fberglun/MDI/prototyp/
We used this for our think-aloud.

We also made a point and click prototype in GameMaker to showcase this function of the controller which can be seen in this video:

First concept (before the think-aloud)

Think-aloud results

The controller, with it's large buttons, was deemed easy to use by most. The fact that there weren't so many buttons also helped, but it’s clear that we need to add symbols to them so people know what button does what. The colour on the display matching the zone you’re in is good.  It’s possible we need to add a back button.

There was a problem conducting the think-alouds, since we didn't have easy access to the museum guides that would be our target group. Instead we had to use people around us, so maybe the results aren't as specific to the guides' issues as we would have liked. Another problem with the prototype is its second hand nature; you’re experiencing a simulation of the actual experience rather than the experience itself, unlike e.g. an app that you can test directly, which may have affected the feedback.

Feedback from other group

• Andra personan glöms om de inte tar guidad tur
• Tar fokus från andra turer
• Lämnar lite utrymme för improvisation 
• Lägga till steps on the fly
• Frågor om annat
• Är effekter verkligen vad besökaren vill ha?
• Hoppa för långt fram/bak
• Reset?
• Händer för mycket? Tar frokus från faktan?
• Hur mycket bättre blir det med lite rök och ljus?
• Bra design - Låter guiden köra utan att tänka på det.
• Idén bra och intressant - kombination musee/film
• Hur funkar det på andra museum?
• Idé:
• Alla har färdigbestämt effektprogram?
• Laserstyrt ljus

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Visibility status: Rätt dålig

Matching system riktiga världen: Riktiga världen vill man kanske kunna gå var man vill

Constistens standard: Bra intuitiv

Error prevention: Finns ingen riktig felhantering

Recognition: Vilken knapp är vilken? Trycka fel?

Flexibilitet: Bra

Minimalistisk: Bra

Reading Seminar 2 – Marcus Ahlström

The chapters contained in this week's reading seminar describe the different approches to: Going from a blank paper to an idea (brainstorming for instance), thinking thoroughly about the ways in which the user will use the product, design decisions, refining and lastly prototyping.

Reading this made me notice the massive amount of ways to tackle a problem while designing. It feels like we have only nibbled a bit on the edge of the entire cake. Our brainstorming sessions went along well although a bit fast and hectic. The method called brainwriting seems to be a good alternative to the one we used: Yes, and. A little bit more relaxed. As they said – most ideas often come inbetween the sessions. The bizarro world feels really interesting - the inverted way of thinking might bring a fresh perspective on a missed oppurtunity (Like when you mirror a picture to see hidden flaws when drawing).

The second chapter thoroughly went into the process of refining the ideas you got. Thinking about our project, I feel that user feedback will become an essential part of the project, especially when designing the interface and the way our remote will function. The concept of feedforward could be really useful when the guide wants to highlight a showcase, so the guide knows what is about to happen (maybe a faint light or something on the remote display) before the choice is made. Many of the tips in this chapter seem applicable to our project: Our interface for setting up the tour will take more of a sovereign posture while the remote used on the actual tour is supposed to be hidden and non-intrusive (almost daemonic).

The last chapter about prototyping had some interesting things in it. The thing about our eye movement in the west world compared to the east, going from left to right, top to bottom seems like a really important aspect. Furthermore the method about squinting makes sense, seeing areas of rest and detail (Don't want the interface to be all jittery noise). About the different prototypes, low- and highfidelity I feel we have to atleast make a lowfidelity one where we use the Wizard of Oz method (Using smoke and mirrors) before we go on. Our project is almost built for it and it will help encapsulate the feeling better. Later on they were talking about a work method named Agile, where you break down the bigger pieces into smaller ones and rigorously working on them. It does sound a lot like the Scrum method where you more or less do the same, work on separate modules, setting goals within each week. I wonder what the exact difference is.

My question: Are there any design projects where you would actually want the product to stammer (wait for 0.1 – 1 second) after a user input, instead of responding immediately?

Reading Seminar 2 - Fredrik Berglund

Brainstorming: I think there are some really good examples of brainstorming techniques covered in chapter 6. If we had planned more before our brainstorming sessions and maybe used one of the examples in the book like Brainwriting or Questioning we could have gotten more ideas in the same amount of time.


Design principles: This is definitely something I think we should do to make sure the team is working towards the same goal and make sure we are designing something different enough from competitors.


Affordances: A great concept about how the properties of a product provides an indication of how to interact with it; just how a product looks, it's weight, texture etc. indicates what to do with it.

"The size, shape, and even weight of mobile devices let us know that they should be carried with us. [...] The empty space in a cup is an affordance that tells us we could fill the cup with liquid."

Cool stuff.


Feedback is really important in all products and we have to make sure the user gets appropriate feedback for all their actions. Feedforward is also great to have in mind so the user knows e.g. what a button press does before it is pressed.


My first thoughts about the part on controls: This part feels to me like it's targeted towards people who don't use... stuff; who hasn't learned what kind of control should do what by just using standard products not made by imbeciles?

But then I started to think about where I've seen these simple "rules" about controls being broken before, and a great example came to me:
The original GoPro HD Hero had two buttons, and their functions – as described by  the company – are:

"Basics: Turn the camera on by holding the front button for 3 seconds; turn it off by doing the same. Press the front button to cycle though camera modes: press the top button to enter these modes/adjust settings."

GoPro HD Hero

Sounds simple enough. 
Unfortunately it is a pain to change settings (like resolution or picture mode) on this thing since one button is used as a one-way navigation to the next setting – with no way of coming back to the previous setting except going through ALL the other settings. The other button turns on/off the setting or cycle through options (such as different resolutions).
The way you have to go through all other settings to get back to the previous one really messes with my mental model of how it should work.

There are certainly a lot more examples of bad control use in our everyday lives. We should think through how we use controls in our design and what those controls should do.

Now I'm well over 400 words so here's my question:
Is the best idea for our project to do many low-fidelity prototypes and one final high-fidelity prototype, or just make one high-fidelity prototype and iterate on that?

Reading seminar 2 - Linnéa Björklund

Chapter 6

Brainstorming is hard… It’s especially hard for me not to think critically during the process, to remember that even outlandish ideas are welcome. Larry Tesler’s thought on beginner mistakes are really good, like the tendency to design only for someone like you. (Stanislavsky! I never did get his method acting to work for me…)

Of the structures I like

Metaphors: Oh, this sounds cool!

Brainwriting: Sounds like a less chaotic and more controllable way of doing the “Say Yes” thing we did at one of the exercises.

Questioning: Why is an important question that often gets forgotten.

Design principles is basically deciding what your most important focus points are, and seem really helpful. But how do you decide what the most important bits are?

Brainstorming can be mysterious indeed. One of the more difficult bits, especially for engineers who are not used to think outside the box.

Chapter 7

Oh god, the constraints...How, who, with whose money? You, what skills you have and so on is really important and can tend to be forgotten. Can I really do this? 

I heard a game developer say once that if people are complaining about the load times, just put a progress bar there. That seems about right about the importance of feedback. Also, delays that you are used to are not a concerning as when something that usually works fine just doesn’t. With feedforward you need to be careful so that what you say is how the action is then perceived. 

Everything should be standardized, always! Okay, Cooper has a point with unless it’s markedly, significantly better but standards becomes better just by being a standard. Ctrl-C is in my muscle memory, I can’t change that.

Magical Number Seven, like in one of Jan Gulliksens lectures. Although wasn’t it five numbers a person could remember? Maybe that was just me having an off day.

Chapter 8

I didn’t think about the thing with Western vs Eastern cultures, and the reading order with left to right or right to left. Squint test: proof that the easiest way is sometimes the best. Sound effects can be used as feedback as well, like the clicking sound when you type on a smartphone keyboard.

We should probably work a lot on low-fidelity prototypes, but for the controller/remote we need to build a physical prototype. You can’t judge something like that that you can’t hold.

Testing, testing, testing. How will we find the time? Where will we find the users? It’s a good thing we had lectures explaining the testing bit in more detail, otherwise I’d be terrified at the prospect. (I still am, a little).

The difference between a high fidelity prototype and a final development is important, but if I understand things correctly we won't actually get to final development. 

Reading Seminar 2 - Ellinor Jutterström

Chapter 6 

I never really thought that much about brainstorming before I began my studies at KTH, but it really is a useful method. The process of just emptying your brain of all ideas you can think of, no matter the quality, is quite liberating. I like the idea of putting all your brainstorm material up on the wall, to bad we can’t really do that now (perhaps digitally though, but it’s not the same).

They list many cool brainstorming techniques, the poetry one sounds both funny and strange (to reduce the problem down to a Haiku or short poem). It seems a bit excessive though, but still want to try it sometimes.

The TiVo mantras are awesome! I can totally see where they come from though, the team had quite some challenges to overcome. Maybe it’s easier today, since we are more open for new things and technology, and used to working with it?

We should have read this chapter several weeks ago, I’d say :/

Chapter 7 

“The best designers are those who can juggle the most constraints”. Ooh, I like that! Very true, some of the best inventions and designs comes from nothing, really.

Haven’t thought about it that much before, but instant feedback really is important, better remember that! It reminds me of people on the subway; when the train has stopped and the doors don’t open immediately, people get a little antsy and start pressing buttons. I think people get used to delays though. For example, my computer is running a little slower than it should normally do (it’s getting old), and I’m ok with it since I’ve used it for a while. However, when someone else is using my computer, they go nuts. When we use an application for the first time, we expect it to have no delays and get annoyed if it does.

There clearly is a lot to think about when designing an application, such as the users cognitive ability, not to have too many options, placement (Hicks Law), no errors (the errors popping up should explain why there is an error, else the program should manage them itself), Poka-Yoke (avoiding errors) etc. A think-aloud user test seems more and more useful in order to avoid possible traps!

Chapter 8 

In the beginning of this chapter they mention the same thing as the speaker at the last lecture: the placement of graphic content is important, e.g. we tend to believe that information on the top of the page is more important. We need to create a flow in our app, the users eyes should not have to jump all over the screen! 

They don’t seem to mention that one major benefit of prototyping is that it greatly reduces the costs (and time!) of a product. I have worked at an engineering company, who was developing products worth hundreds of thousands SEK. Since they bought a 3D-printer, which prints all their prototypes really cheap, they have saved quite a lot of money.

Design sketches

Brainstorming session

As a guiding aid this concept will allow preprogrammed light patterns combined with ambient sounds and maybe sound effects to be sequenced and controlled by the exhibition guide much like a slideshow. The guide will be able to control this through the use of an app on a tablet, she will also be able to control the audiovisual elements down to individual source level. Some kind of area sensor will automatically pick up which exhibition display the guide is using, maybe an RFID tag or NRI technology. The visitors will be able to enjoy a limited version through the interactive displays when the guide is not around.

Exercise 3 - Brainstorming

A visor which put the object on display into another context. For instance, a rifle: When looking through the visor you will instead see the rifle in the same worldly position but in a different scenario, like a 3D still frame. There could be a soldier holding the weapon in a crouching position with his comrades right behind.

A robotguide, small and neat with the possibility to work forever.

Developing Personas and discussing Horror Movies

It's hard to schedule a meeting when people have wildly different hours. We had this problem, and we solved it… Drumroll please… With Technology! Skype and Google Docs is a marvelous thing, that let us do things together without actually being in the same room.

We had some basic ideas when we started: We knew we wanted the personas to be a female guide in her twenties and an older male visitor. During the meeting we sat with open mics and brainstormed. Basically, everyone typed their thoughts, just to get them down on paper, and then we gradually worked it into something resembling a coherent work.

It was a bit difficult to keep the personas and scenarios loose enough to be interesting, and yet focused enough to actually be useful. There were some flights of fancy (there is an alternate ending for Katarinas first scenario, that will be posted below…) but I think it was tied together rather nicely.


If only she had a… rifle. To show them something cool like that might calm them down and get them interested. Katrina’s hand grabs the nearest showcase and smashes it to the ground. The sword, lying under the shards pierce her long fingers, but it’s worth it.  The sword, glistening in the spotlights from the ceiling, feels so good in her hands. She raises it above her head… And the kids were bored no more. Then she woke up. :)

Scenarios: Olof

Scenario 1: Rise of the planet of the apes

Today Olof will be visiting one of his favourite museums; the Army Museum in Stockholm. He has been here many times before, but always seems to learn something new, much thanks to the many different guides working there. Today there will be a guided tour about the Swedish king Carl XII. Olof grabs one of the portable chairs, a blessing to his aching back, and follows the guide through the exhibition. The tour starts off really interesting, and Olof is having a great time. But suddenly a chilling scream is piercing the atmosphere, effectively drowning the sound of the tour guide. The stuffed monkeys seems to have awaken from the crowd entering the room, and is now fighting each other in a game of who can sing the loudest. The tour guide smiles apologetically, but Olof is not amused.

Scenario 2: Let the not wrong one in

This weekend Olof has brought his wife to the army museum to indulge her in his world of the past. This is only the second time he has been here so the first thing on schedule is to find a guided tour. Olof knows that this surely will make Gunilla interested in his hobby. Walking up to the counter, the cashier tells him that “I’m sorry, there are no guided tours available today”. Something feels off, there is cool breeze flowing from behind. The goosebumps multiply like never before. She asks him if he wants to use the audio guides instead, but Olof will have none of that. Gunilla takes a pair and the “tour” begins. Here they are, separated by a layer of macguffin. He tries to talk to her, explain the things he know, share the experience - but there is no use. The tour quickly turns bitter and sour for our protagonist as he tries to enjoy himself. Deciding to find more information on his own, he turns to the interactive displays - but what a mess. The text is so tiny and his back aches from crouching down over the display. If only there was a way to experience the content in a better way.

Scenarios: Katarina

Scenario 1: The Shitty Kids Project

Katarina spent several hours last night preparing for the tour she is going to lead later today. She knows kids that age will have a hard time concentrating when with their classmates at a place filled with new stuff to explore. Therefore preparation is vital for Katarina’s success.

When the time for the tour has come the kids are, just like she anticipated, all over the place. Hyperactive little buggers, they run around screaming and not paying any attention. If she had something more physical to show them, something that felt real and cool, maybe they would be interested. She knows that they could be, it’s a museum about war. But instead she drags them from room to room, the teacher meandering along at the back of the group staring at his Iphone. Finally, she is done. The kids go away and she drinks half a pot of coffee.

Scenario 2: The walking silent dead

It’s an evening group, and those consist of random people. This makes her job harder, since she’s not able to prepare a specialized tour. Instead she must try to figure out as she goes what the group finds interesting. The problem is that no one in the group is asking any questions, or answering hers. It’s difficult to tell if they’re uninterested or just quiet. When they stop at the room of trophy room, there is finally some life in one of the ladies, as she knows for sure what county has a symbol of two crossed arrows. After this things go a bit smoother, but it is still much more quiet than Katarina prefers. Having gone through her regular tour at least ten minutes faster than usual it is done. One or two of the visitors linger, asking a few questions they could very well have asked during the actual tour. She goes home to an empty apartment and a frozen pizza, still not knowing if the people were bored, or just quiet.

Guide Persona

Name: Katarina Sundqvist
Age: 27
Hometown: Uppsala, Sweden

Background:

Katarina studies History and Ethnographics at the Stockholm university, and is currently working on her master thesis. For the past x years she has been working part time as a museum tour guide, sharing her interests with visitors from near and far. She aspires to become a historian, and would not say no to traveling the world and discover ancient artifacts and mysteries. Katarina lives in a small apartment outside of Stockholm with her roommate.

Personality:

Katarina considers herself a little nerdy, and loves her job even though the pay is low. She is confident talking in front of people, and thinks that the best part of being a guide is to get people interested in things that they used to find boring. Katarina is very creative and makes her own historical outfits that she sometimes wears during tours, seminars or other gatherings. She also likes to bring props, the fancier the better! When not working or studying, Katarina enjoys reading fictional books or watching Dr Who.

Today:

She is trying to find a postgraduate position so she can get her PhD. Since this is not easy, she enjoys working with something related to her field of study.

Visitor Persona

Name: Olof Ek
Age: 68
Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden

Background: 

Olof used to be a factory worker back in the days, but is now enjoying his life in retirement along with his wife Gunilla and their Irish Setter. They live in a small house close to the woods in Nacka. Olof has an interest in warfare, especially the second world war, and is a frequent museum visitor.

Personality:

Olof is a peaceful person who has always been a big reader. He does not like having to tinker with technology. Seems to be the know-it-all, and has strong opinion on everything. The aching back isn’t helping either. Does like to go on guided tours but he feels that he can obtain the information from a more reliable source if he wanted to.The audio guides was never a fond spot, too frustrating to use. Olof has always had a soft spot for carving wood into tiny figurines, it helps him relax.

Today:

Spends his days reading and exploring the past. Tries to find new places to explore in the city each day. Slightly bored since his retirement he looks around for things to do with all his free time.

State-Of-The-Art Analysis Summary

The Army Museum seems to use more technology than most museums, but they could still use some improvements. They have all the potential but it does not feel very inventive nor exciting.

Nowadays all or most of the information about a museum is on the web, so why should you go? - Answer: the experience! The Army Museum are using a conservative style of creating their exhibitions, the focus lies more in the way to supply the information, rather than creating a new and thought provoking experience. There is a sudden disconnect between the user and the exhibit when they have to read on a tiny screen with a tiny picture about some object right next to them. 

Furthermore, most technology in the museum seems to be intended for single use. As many people visit museums in groups, it might be beneficial to develop group interactivities. Designing the exhibitions with group behaviour and interaction in mind might be a beneficial approach for conservative museums such as Armémuseum, might be something to think about right?

Interview conclusions and analysis

Through our interviews we gathered information about the essence of what makes a good, or bad, tour guide. One of the more pronounced opinions we got, were about the way in which the tour guide could explain history. It seemed preferable for the guide to use a storytelling approach rather than relying on cold hard facts. Letting the people visualize the story through things they see helped a lot in bringing together the experience.

Furthermore, we asked about human tour guides versus audio guides and came to the conclusion that the content of the audio guide is not enough for a regular visitor. The way each tour guide brings something new to the table is really refreshing. Each has his or her own style of telling a story and hopefully, you get a good one. Upon further investigation we noticed that the elderly had some prejudice towards the audio guides, thinking they were too hard to handle - when that really wasn’t the case.

Lastly, people really want to have some kind of an experience, not just an infodump. And to strengthen that feeling, props went a long way - or at least some kind of physical thing that could connect you even more to the stories.

Apart from the visitors, we also had the chance to talk with two different tour guides at the museum, and join them on their tours. They both had quite different approaches to guiding, one spending the majority of the time talking, while the other tried to get the audience more involved. However, a common opinion was about the importance of keeping the crowd interested, which is not always a simple task. One of the guides mentioned props, and how they can add to the experience. An issue here though is that sometimes the tour guides lack relevant props, or are simply not allowed to use them as in the case with the Army Museum. It is generally not allowed to bring modern weaponry, even replicas, on tours which our guide thought was a pity.

The overall consensus seems to be that people enjoy listening to an actual person talking about things they find interesting and are knowledgeable about. The ability to ask questions and go into details draw people toward traditional tour guides, as well as audio guides lacking an interactive element.

From our observations and inner thoughts we feel that people does not really want to read things at the museum. Some folks are really interested in the subject matter of the museum and can therefore use a tour as a vent to express their fascination, discussing things.

TL;DR
People generally don’t want to read things
Props is a big plus
People prefer interactive information gathering
People are sceptical to new technology
Audio Guides can be some sort of escape

State of the Art analysis of the audio environment at the Army Museum

The Army Museum has an audio aspect to its show rooms. Certain displays have proximity-triggered sounds that go off when someone comes close or stands at a particular spot. This adds a dimension of realism to the exhibition, as well as making it more entertaining to wander around on your own. However, I noticed during a guided tour that the system was a bit of a hindrance to the guide. She had to ask people to step away from the monkeys (when you enter the exhibit you are faced with three chimpanzees fighting) so she wouldn’t have to drown out the screams from the monkeys.

As it is, the sound system is fairly unnoticeable, so much that I’m unsure if it exists in more than a handful of places. When I did notice it I found it a little annoying. The sound levels where perhaps adapted for a larger group of people, but with a small group it was a bit too loud.

So, how could this system be improved? Well, for one with a more directional sound system you could focus it so it would only be audible to the person standing at that exhibit, instead of spreading in the whole room. If you could combine that with a more sensitive triggering system you could possibly construct a sound design that changes as the visitor moves through the displays. Sounds of battle morph to the noises of a soldier crying in pain, to sound of laughter and song coming from the tavern. That, combined with a control system that allows the guides to turn it off or turn it down  when approaching, would be really cool.

State-of-the-art analysis of armémuseum's webpage

armemuseum.se

When I land on the home page of armémusem’s web page it’s not that hard for me to take in the featured information since it follows many heuristics of web design. For example the row of tabs at the top of the page for general navigation as well as the way the rest of the page is built using four columns to group the content.
One of the columns on the home page contains a calendar making it really easy to find the specific showing you want to go see.
Another column features a link to a page dedicated to information about how to get to the museum. Also featured in this column is information regarding prices and open hours which is great to have so readily available on the home page since it must be one of the major reasons most people visit the page.

One thing I would like to see when I click on an event in the calendar is more info about the event, such as the name of the guide of a showing.

It appears to me as if the target group for the web page doesn’t include seniors because of thin and small text they use; instead they seem to be targeting a younger audience (families with kids etc).

The use of the museum’s two “trademark” colours - one a bluish green, the other a yellowish green - throughout the website is great as it binds the site and the museum together.

One major flaw with the website is the lack of responsive web design which makes it sub-optimal when viewing it on a mobile phone or similar since you have to zoom and scroll to read/view the content.

State-of-the-art analysis - Digital Museum

Subject: This is a digital-museum where people can go to watch photos of everything that the museum has to offer, even things that are no longer actively displayed.
Source: http://digitaltmuseum.se/info/owners/S-AM

Benefits

An ever expanding gallery of photos from history itself, the first benefit is the never-ending space – nothing has to be taken down because of a lack of room.

It allows people who may not be able to visit the museum to at least experience some of its content. Sure you won't get the right atmosphere, since it's all secluded in individual photos, but – because it is photoed in a sterile environment, the camera can get so much closer, providing further detail of each object.

The target group is probably people who want to delve deeper into the museum, fascinated about each piece of clothing, gun part or painting. Also for people who can't visit the museum physically for different reasons. And lastly it is probably excellent for staff and people who want to provide new things to the museum when the can look up exactly what they've got.

The digital-museum provides the user with a solid search function, making it easy to find what you are looking for. Further, there is some amount of social interaction within the comments of each object. People can share what they know about something and thus expand the common knowledge.

It's also free! You can buy a physical photo if you really like it as well.

Problems

There is not much context to each picture, just a brief description of the object and you can't really get a feel for the history it has been through. Thou that isn't a big concern if you visit the museum since you usually listen to the museum guides for that - (Watch suggestions). You can only view it from a single angle or two - (Watch suggestions).

It does not give of the genuine feel of being there, when it's all separated into single photos. It has quite the sterile look to it, probably since it features multiple museums and cannot afford to specialize into one style.

Suggestions

Maybe you could use Autodesk's 123d Catch to create a better environment to explore each object. By converting them into 3D objects it allows for a much better exploration of tiny details and gives it a sense of volume and scale. Would also be great if you could compare models with accurate sizes.
Source: http://www.123dapp.com/catch

Another suggestion is to allow for an audio-guide to run while it goes between the different objects in a specified order, allowing for a minimalist virtual tour through the museum.

State of the Art Analysis - Audio Guides

Audio guides are portable devices which the user can listen to through headphones. They are often designed to provide audio and information with as little interactive input as possible, making them easy to use for most target groups. Despite of this, many people tend to avoid audio guides since they don’t believe themselves “techsavvy” enough to use them. This attitude is one of the problems regarding the devices, and is probably best solved with better instructions and a simple design.

At the Swedish Army Museum (Armémuseum), audio guides are frequently used in the exhibition. The device has a simple design with only one stop button and one button controlling the volume. Around the exhibition there are small signs next to each showcase. When holding your guide against these signs, it will blink after a second (instant feedback!) and the corresponding audioscore starts to play. This allows the user to walk around in their own pace, watching the objects and be sure that the information is delivered accordingly. The audio guides also plays in different languages, which is suitable for tourists when a guide speaking the preferred language is not available. 

Another problem with audio guides is of course that some people simply prefers listening to an actual human standing in front of them, and the experience may not feel as vivid when it is just you and a piece of technology in your hand. This however, depends entirely on the content: an audio guide that delivers stories from different “characters” and sound which sets the mood and makes you feel like you are actually “there”, may beat an actual guide who recites facts as he/she has done it a million times before. 

 On the flip side, a guide who dresses and acts out the information in a way that engages the crowd can make even the dullest exhibition worth visiting. That being said, there are pros and cons with both types of guides, and one does not have to replace the other. Rather, it is a matter of complementation. Although, when binaural (directed) sound is becoming widespread on the market, audio guides will most likely take the museum experience to a whole new level.

Interview with 43 year old man taking a guided tour at Armémuseum

An interview with a man who seemed quite interested in the subject of war and history. Seemed pretty relaxed.

Varför valde du att gå en guidad tur istället för att använda audioguide?
För jag föredrar känslan som guiden medför, hur de pratar och inlevelsen de har. Jag har varit här förut och audioguiden kan bara ge så mycket när den alltid är samma. Eftersom det finns olika guider lär jag mig oftast något nytt och det är ju skoj. 

Vad gör en bra guide? (Vad gör en dålig guide?) 
Hmm.. En bra guide håller sig relevant till det han/hon står framför och spårar inte iväg på långa anekdoter, eller ja - det beror ju helt klart på ämnet (hehe). En riktigt bra guide är mer av en sagoberättare än en faktamaskin - gör en intresserad och går in på små detaljer. Jag gillar att kunna föreställa mig det han/hon säger och skapa en scen framför mig. 

Hade du lätt att förstå och hänga med på vad guiden sa?
Just den här guiden pratade lite för fort, jag blev nästan andfådd själv. Hans innehåll var dock väldigt spännande så jag höll fokus hela tiden. 

Vad kommer du mest ihåg? 
När han pratade om kläderna och hur de utvecklades genom tiderna, speciellt hattarna. Hur soldaternas höga kragar fick närkontakt med hattarna för att skapa ett skydd för vind och blåst. Jag kunde verkligen se framför mig hur en ensam soldat stod på vakt i den kalla vinterstormen. Det var mycket lättare att visualisera hans historier när kläderna fanns framför mig.

Interview with 67 year old lady taking a guided tour at Armémuseum

We conducted this interview right after a guided tour about the swedish army during the 17th century. The guide was speaking very fast which made me feel quite exhausted at times. Despite the no-pause guide this lady was in a good mood and looked quite happy that she had been following the guided tour to the end.

Varför valde du att gå en guidad tur?
Därför att jag ville veta mera om Armémuseum och tyckte att det var bra att få det så komprimerat som möjligt.

Har du funderat på att använda audioguide?
Nej, faktiskt inte; jag föredrar att få information på det här sättet. Mycket, mycket mer inspirerade och givande tycker jag.

Vad gör en bra guide?
Fångar mitt intresse, och kan inspirera och skapa lust för mig att också vilja veta mer utanför den kunskap som jag fick idag.

Vad gör en dålig guide?
En dålig guide för mig är oinspirerad, har dålig timing, får inget engagemang med sin grupp... ja, ungefär så, lite slätstruket.

Hade du lätt att förstå och hänga med på det guiden sade?
Ja, faktiskt, det hade jag; jag tyckte han var så oerhört snabb. Så att det krävdes ju lite att tagga upp för att hänga med, men inledningsvis var det... att komma igång själv, att möta honom, men det gick. Och nu tänkte jag "Va? Är det redan slut?"
 
Vad kommer du ihåg?
Mycket kring kläderna tyckte jag var inspirerande, som jag över huvud taget inte visste. Sen det här, absolut, det här sista: den här journalföringen, Ehrensvärds, som jag gärna skulle vilja försöka få tag på.

Interview with Tommy Hellman, guide at Armémuseum

The following is an interview with Tommy Hellman, a freelance guide at Armémuseum, who has been in the business since the middle of the 80's.

Vad gör du för att göra en så bra guidad tur som möjligt? 

En bra guidning beror mycket på publiken; är de intresserade så är det lättare att göra ett bra jobb. Vissa grupper är svårare att leda, tillexempel skolgrupper och gymnasieklasser som ofta dyker upp här. Själv har jag tur som ofta har turer för besökare som kommer hit frivilligt, eftersom jag inte är fast anställd på Armémuseum. Att ha en bra och spännande utställning hjälper givetvis också! 

Hur gör man besökare intresserade? 

Jag tycker själv att det är roligare med lite mer annorlunda historier och anekdoter från förr, exempelvis hur ofta Marie Antoinette badade, än att bara höra ren fakta och årtal som man kan leta upp själv. Så jag försöker använda mycket sådant. Sen finns det ju folk som nästan är lite för intresserade och ifrågasätter det jag säger. Men det är roligt att diskutera historia, det ska man göra! 

Är det något du saknar som du tror skulle hjälpa dig med ditt jobb? 

Nej, jag saknar ingenting! Det man saknar fyller man ut med ord. 

Vad tycker du om audioguider?

Jag har aldrig använt en sådan faktiskt, jag är inte så insatt i teknik. Men visst, det kan väl vara bra för vissa besökare. Själv tycker jag att det verkar lite dött på något sätt. Förr var det annorlunda, då fanns det fler guider, och till och med vakterna kunde tillräckligt för att berätta om saker i utställningen. Det blir mer och mer teknologi på muséer som tar över, både på gott och ont. 

Intervju med Elin, guide på Armémusem

Vad gör du för att få till en bra tur?

Det beror väldigt mycket på vad det är för grupp, vad det är för målgrupp, om det är pensionärer, om det är vuxengrupper, om det är de som har varit på konferans här som har druckit lite... Det spelar väldigt stor roll, för då måste man redan där ha bestämt sig för var man ska stanna och vad man ska prata om.

Vet du det här innan?

Innan visningen? Ja. Oftast så bokar ju grupper några veckor i förväg, så att man vet om vad det är för grupp man ska ha. Och vid bokningstillfället så frågar vi ofta också vad är det för grupp, vad de kan. Det som jag ofta lägger vikt vid och som jag försöker göra är att ställa frågor till människor, och om man har en allmän grupp så kan det bli svårt för då vet jag inte innan vilka som är här. När det kommer en årskurs 7 så vet jag att det är en årskurs 7, jag vet vad de läser i skolan och därför anpassar jag mig efter det. Jag jobbar mycket med frågeställningar, hela tiden, kastar ut frågor. Jag behöver inte alltid få ett svar, men försöker involvera människor i som i ett samtal istället för en visning. Det är väl framförallt frågeställningarna jag använder mig av. Jag kommer inte på nya inför varje visning, utan det finns några jag använder mig av och sen vrider och vänder man lite på det. Sen att försöka snappa upp vad folk säger och frågar. Om det är någon som är lite intresserad av vad som helst kan man snappa upp det och spinna vidare på det, då är ju ofta de som går på visningen nöjda för då får de svar på sina frågor. Det är väldigt mycket ge och ta med gruppen hela tiden. Det handlar lite om gruppens intressen? Ja, precis, i mån att man kan snappa upp det.

Okej, motsatt fråga då. Vad gör att en tur känns misslyckad? Är det något genomgående du kan se?

Ja, det är framförallt att gruppen inte fungerar tillsammans. Ungdomar som inte fungerar ihop. Man läser ganska snabbt av gruppen, vilka det är som pratar och inte pratar. Det som kan vara svårt då det är en grupp som inte lyssnar, som inte har intresse av att vara här egentligen. Det är många åttor och nior som inte tycker att det är jättekul att gå på museum, men då blir det också å andra sidan en utmaning för mig att få med mig dem och göra någonting som faktiskt gör att de tycker att det är intressant mot slutet av visningen. Men det är det svårtaste, och det som kan sätta käppar i hjulet för en. Man kan till och med få avbryta ibland för att det inte funkar, för att folk inte lyssnar och ställer icke relevanta frågor, och som driver med en.

Är det någonting du känner att du saknar, eller önskar att du hade under själva turen?

Rekvisita jobbar vi ju med, men vi har ju ett problem på armémuseum och det är ju att vi pratar om krig. Vi får inte ha vapen, så klart,  moderna vapen till exempel, att ha och hålla i. Inte ens replikor?

Inte av moderna vapen nej, däremot har vi ju äldre vapen, typ musköter och sådär, och de har vi några stycken som vi har använt och som vi använder ganska flitigt, men det är väl egentligen bristen på relevant rekvisita. Det är det som jag tänker att jag saknar. Vi har några objekt vi kan använda, men man skulle vilja ha mer. Man skulle vilja ha sånt som kan representera en period, sånt som kan representera lite större sammanhang och just det här med att ta på saker är ju väldigt viktigt både för vuxengrupper  och för ungdomar, då blir allting mycket mer verkligt. Det är någonting jag saknar, som jag skulle vilja ha mer av.

Varför tror du att folk väljer att gå guidade turer, istället för att vandra runt på egen hand eller använda sig av inspelade guider?

Det finns nog många olika anledningar till det. dels tror jag att vissa inte tycker om att läsa stora mängder text, att man hällre vill ha någon som berättar för en. Dels att historien jag som guide berättar blir mycket mer levande när man hör någon prata om den. Dels tror jag att man har lättare att förstå just för att man kan fråga saker under tiden, om man vågar. Det blir på något sätt mer värt för många att gå på museum om det är en visning där. Man får mer för pengarna, och många kanske struntar i att gå på museum om det inte är en visning där. Just för att man kanske vill ha en annan kompetens än sin egen på historien, man vill ha någon annan som kan saker som berättar saker för en. Med det menar jag inte att jag är världsbäst, men kanske mer nördig än de flesta.

Tack så mycket, det var alla mina frågor.

Tack själv!

Reading Seminar 1 - Marcus' notes

When I read about the four different ways of approaching interaction design Genius design really felt like it hit me. I have always been coming up with ideas before I actually check what the users want. Now is a great time to learn more about the other styles which hopefully will make my use of the Genius design work better. Seeing our other posts, I recon we will try all the methods. The Systems design is quite intriguing since it has a firm sense of logic, breaking down all the parts but still containing the whole view. I like it!

Something we really should acknowledge and work on is our hunt statment, this will surely be a critical part of the first process which will in turn affect the whole project. The challenge will probably be: How focused can we get without painting ourselves into a corner? If our view is too narrow/specific the product might become too niche or the information might lead to nowhere. If it's too wide we might have problem with all the scattered information and no sense of direction.

As I continued reading, there was a mention of payment if you hired a testgroup. Since we won't deploy these tactics but instead, go around interviewing folk – there is still a way to use this. Ususally when people set up shop to raise an opinion or awareness they give away stuff for free. This might help our interviews if we bring a box of cookies, giving more people insentive to actually stay and chat – if it's not already really easy.

Personas, as mentioned by others seem like a really useful tool. Easy to use and good for maintaining focus since you can create scenarios. Though as they said, if our project is a bit smaller, it might have a negative effect – forming barriers and making us use less input from our users. Something to think about.

Question: Are the cookies a good idea, or could it be counterproductive?

Reading Seminar 1 - Fredrik's notes

In the book Designing for Interaction, author Dan Saffer gives us four different approaches to the design process:

User-centered design, where the products are designed with the users' needs in mind throughout the whole design process making the users an integral part of development;

Activity-centered design, where focus lies on designing products to support particular tasks;

Systems design, an approach focusing on how components in a system works together, and the environment in which the system resides;

Genius design, relies on the developers' intuition and experience to create a good design.

I find that focusing too much on any one of these approaches will, in most cases, yield not-as-good-as-could-be results. However, in my opinion, when producing a product meant to be used by others you should always involve the users in the design process to get a product they can use with satisfaction. Should we see these as the only approaches to designing for interaction; aren't there other approaches?

Something mentioned in both the book and Key principles for user-centered systems design (J. Gulliksen et al.) was Personas which is a very interesting subject, and something I believe can be of great use when designing products. Since we'll be using this conceptual model in our project it was interesting to read more about it. The possibility to test all design ideas on this fictional person in every stage of development is great, and not time consuming at all. 

Reading Seminars 1 - Ellinors notes

User-centered design

Users know best, they are co-designers and sought at every stage of process. User goals are hard to define, but why should there be any goals? Why not just to make it better/easier for people and not get hung up on why?

Not always good to rely too much on users, the result may be to narrowly focused. Seems like a good approach anyways to start of the project.

Activity-Centered Design

Activities and tasks affect the design. Probably really good to see how users interact with the product, and foresee eventual mistakes and difficulties the users may have.

System Design

Good to have an overview on the design process. Also good if you collaborate with other people, since it is very structured.

Genius design

Easy to fall into a trap of not thinking about users and only see it from your own perspective. Everybody is not the same. Although, for larger companies as Apple, it seems to work for them, probably because they are very good at what they do and have years of experience. They have found what works and what doesn’t work thanks to previous mistakes.  Failures are good as long as they aren’t pricy!

Conclusion: The best alternative seems to be to use a little bit of all methods. Keep in mind that the product is meant for the user, so a thorough research on user interaction is a good idea. However, most users are not experts and might not know exactly what they want. Be the solution!

Unconscious bias – We tend to engage with people who appear similar to us.

Interesting, but is it really true? Especially when doing research, then you want diversity!

Note to self:

• While doing interviews, work in pairs! (extra set of eyes and ears are good)
• Don’t just record it, write it down in case of technological malfunction.
• Keep unbiased.
• Remember to observe people at the museum! Watch them use the interactive technology!