torsdag 25 september 2014

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


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.

onsdag 24 september 2014

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!

fredag 19 september 2014

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. 

torsdag 18 september 2014

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!

Reading Seminar 1, Linnéas notes


Chapter 2
The different design approaches seems to me to be philosophical differences; where a UCD works around the computer for ease of the user, a systems designer might find the user to be a necessary evil. Engineers in particular are probably prone to preferring ACD and systems design, and finding the “softer” ways the be a waste of time.

Chapter 4
This “Double diamond” looks maybe different to the one Kristina Höök showed in her lecture? I prefer hers, though there might just be a difference in word choice.

Research is an easy thing to rationalize away with, in that it’s time consuming and might not seem necessary on the surface , since as Brenda Laurel points out (I’m paraphrasing) we as appointed experts most certainly know what will work and what will not.

No leading questions! No focus groups. No recording? (I guess that depends on the length of the interview, I can’t imagine that for a short interview a recording isn’t useful) It’s actually helpful to get some things to avoid.

Chapter 5
Difficulties for us include the lack of a set space in which to work, since that makes physical data harder to manage. I’d love to make a gigantic poster covered in post-its, but you can’t carry that around between classes, and storing at someones home seems very impractical. Are there online options?
Task analysis: Easy for computer interfaces and the like, more difficult for more abstract of physical objects.
Circular flow: Possibly more useful early in the design process? Less so when you have to find the singular issue that’s bottle-necking your progress.
Personas seem to require a lot of people to be based on. It might be tempting to just extrapolate and guess what they should contain, but that also sounds rather risky to do, since we’re far from perfectly informed about the user base.

Question
How do you  get in contact with users for interviewing? We can’t offer them money, and don’t have the time to spend ages on site, hoping that the right kind of person we’re looking for stumbles by.