The Task
Shortly explained, the design task was to create an app using AR technology that had Cli-Fi as an inspiration. After a lengthy design process we had to present our revised product in a web-based portfolio which had to include the following:
- A demonstration of the concept.
- An overall reflective description of the design process.
Climate fiction, or cli-fi, is a form of speculative fiction that features a changed or changing climate as a major plot device.
Forrest Brown, Stories for earth
Among other things that would create a complete presentation of the project and make it understandable to everyone else reading the wep-based portfolio. We also had a specific design brief that we had to follow throughout the project.
Design brief
The design brief for the design task includes the following:
- Background
- Target group
- Purpose and aim
- Design assignment
- Execution
Background
Gaining an understanding of an uncertain future can be difficult to assimilate through science and forecasting alone. In order to increase many people’s ability to imagine possible futures based on the challenges, changes and opportunities we face, we need several formats and experiences that, through their design, create relevant, exciting and engaging experiences and questions for more people.
Target group
18+
Purpose and aim
The aim is to provide the user with an AR experience of future opportunities and threats inspired by the field of climate fiction.
Design assignment
My design assignment is about creating and designing an experiential service for a target group consisting of people over the age of 18. The service will offer the target group to explore future changes in a specific place on earth that they have physical access to in an AR format.
Execution
The service will convey possible environmental changes caused by nature and mankind using augmented reality which will be staged on a paper-based map.
Result
We who work with Ezra care about the environment and the future. With our product, we want to engage the Swedish population in protecting their local environment and actively take the initiative to educate themselves about how today’s climate change not only impact the rest of the world, but also our beloved Swedish local environment and everyone who lives here.
A paragraph from the webpage that is intended to explain what ezra works with.
The result of this lengthy design process, which I have written about below, resulted in a web-page portfolio for a company named Ezra, that uses the web-page to advertise their app: Havet.
Ezra is a fictional company that focuses on providing people with information about the environment and how to help it using a mix of AR technology and Cli-fi. Ezra was a long project spanning over several weeks and the entire process is documented on a padlet which you can view here: https://digitaldesign.padlet.org/arndtsson/svfxcev30ipul0yy
To view the whole web-page dedicated to this project you can visit this link here: https://sandraarndtsson.wordpress.com/
The webpage will probably not be up forever, which is why I will include a few photos of the web-page as well as some videos from the page. However, the whole designprocess and all the prototypes are included in this page as well and should be enough to present the whole work.
The final design concept
After exploring the various prototypes and studying my previous concepts, I could finalize my project and create my revised product. You can read more about the process, prototyping and the concept further down this page.
Ezra
Technology and function
The technology used is based on mobile services and AR technology. The user only needs to allow the app to access its camera to use it. The app also plays sound clips and sound effects that contribute to an increased immersion in the AR environment.
The user receives a physical map sent home via the mailbox or via email, which he then scans with his mobile camera via the application. Every month, a new letter with a new map comes home to the user who has chosen to subscribe to the Ezra service. The user then receives a map that he can use to take part in an AR experience. Each month has a new theme with a new location. For example, the next theme could be heat and the place could be Stockholm. All themes deal with man’s negative impact on the environment and all locations are initially limited to Sweden.
Each map contains a pair of marked points that the application reacts to when the user points the camera at the map. Each individual point symbolizes a new story that basically deals with the same theme, but tells a new scenario for each location. The stories are told by the user being able to see the place via their own camera and look around the place, as it looks today, by touching the mobile phone and angling the camera. The user can then switch to an AR mode where he can see how the place will look from a dystopian future perspective in accordance with the theme. While the user looks around the apartment with the AR mode on, information is played back in the form of a narrator who tells the user back what has happened in the last 25 years and why the place looks the way it does. The narrator also tells the user what kind of risks these events have for the immediate environment and the people who are in it. The narrator also provides the user with information on how they can protect the environment and slow down the negative impact.
Purpose
The purpose of the app is to motivate users to protect and take care of the local environment. By visualizing, with the help of AR technology and an auditory experience, what the future looks like after a constant negative climate impact, the application should motivate the user to want to take responsibility for their immediate environment.
Graphical profiling
Color profile
Logotype
Slogan
For the nature we hold near and dear.
Fonts
- DESIGNER – Logotyp
- Sans serif – Arial – in different cuts and sizes, – main text, headings, sub-headings
Designprocess
Below are a description of the lengthy designprocess. It will include a lot of different parts of the process, but if you would like to see the raw documented parts of the process you can visit my padlet for this project here: https://digitaldesign.padlet.org/arndtsson/svfxcev30ipul0yy
Design space
Inspired with the design brief and task at hand the first stages of the designprocess began, which started with creating a design space to map my ideas, inspirations and so on.
Google maps
The technology and function of Google maps and Google AR & VR gave me a good insight into what the AR technology in my app could look like.
P3 Dystopia
P3 Dystopia is a Swedish podcast made by Sweden’s Radio P3 that covers important topics about the environment and what a dystopian future might look like. With the help of the podcasts, my imagination was flooded with ideas and it was much easier to visualize what the application and the design concept could possibly convey to its users.
Förutom det så samlades mycket fakta och information från diverse artiklar och vetenskapliga dokumentärer om naturen och miljön och dess utveckling.
In addition to that, a lot of facts and information were gathered from various articles and scientific documentaries about nature and the environment and its development.
Pokémon GO
Pokémon GO is a very popular game based on AR technology and the nostalgic game Pokémon. Pokémon GO was also a good source of inspiration for the creation of my own projects design and function.
After working with the collected materials for the design space and gaining inspiration, work began on creating a unique and rewarding concept of my own.
Initial conceptualization
After gathering enough materials and getting inspired, I created two different initial design concepts based on the design brief. These initial design concepts were created as a part of the process and to continue exploring and refining the design. After working with both of them I decided to continue working with one of them which became the concept I presented and turned in for grading. I will present below the concept I turned in for grading and worked more with.
Design concept: Havet
Background
The ocean is affected by human environmental destruction. We have known for a long time that the ice is melting, that temperatures are rising and that ecosystems are dying, yet the change to counteract this is not happening fast enough. Hence, those who protect the environment are trying to spread more knowledge and awareness to actually warn people that as soon as 2046 we could end up in a dystopian society.
To spread this message, the app Havet has been created.
Just like Google Maps function, the app should be able to place the user in specific areas on the map by dragging and dropping a yellow figure somewhere on the map. The user then gets to see a specific location as it looks today and can look around by touching the mobile phone.
When the user switches to AR mode, it shows how this specific location looks like in the year 2046. Using AR technology, a filter is applied to the real image that illustrates a nightmare scenario. While the user looks around the place in AR mode, information is played in the form of a narrator who tells the user back what has happened in the last 25 years and why the place looks the way it does. The narrator also tells the user what risks this environment poses to humanity and also gives the user information about what they can do to stop this drastic change and what humanity can do to slow down the process.
Purpose and target group
The target group for the app is adults over the age of 18 who have a need to inform themselves about today’s environmental impact on the sea and what consequences it has for the future. The app also targets people who live around and in the Gothenburg area and Gothenburg’s northern archipelago. The purpose of the app is to inform its users about what is going on in the environment and climate today and what our future will look like if humanity continues to act as it does today. It is intended that the app should contribute knowledge and a developed thinking about the consequences of human impact on the sea for humanity and the local environment that we love.
Scenario/Sketches
The user A is very ignorant about the environment and environmental degradation, especially when it comes to how the ocean is affected by it. She has received a tip about an app that shows what the future will look like if the world continues in the direction it is heading now.
User A downloads the app that her more environmentally conscious friend has recently started using herself and has recommended to her. The app is called Havet. User A pulls up a map of Gothenburg and Gothenburg’s northern archipelago. On the map there is a yellow button that she can click to bring up a yellow figure that she can then freely place on the map.
When she has placed the figure in an area on the map, she is loaded into an apartment. She first gets to see how the apartment looks today and it looks like any other apartment. But when User A clicks on the AR function, she sees how the entire apartment is filled with water up to her waist and the walls are dripping with mold. She can move the camera up, down and left to right to look around. As she does so, audio clips are played where a narrator tells her that this is around the year 2046 and tells her what has brought the place to this dystopian situation.
Prototyping
Before the actual prototyping could take shape, a study was carried out regarding which types of prototypes benefit the design process and can lead the process forward. Together with the collected material in the design space and the processes below, a couple of prototypes were created to test the concept’s various filter dimensions and functions.
The process: using the Double Diamond
Design Council’s Double Diamond clearly conveys a design process to designers and non-designers alike. The two diamonds represent a process of exploring an issue more widely or deeply (divergent thinking) and then taking focused action (convergent thinking).
- Discover. The first diamond helps people understand, rather than simply assume, what the problem is. It involves speaking to and spending time with people who are affected by the issues.
- Define. The insight gathered from the discovery phase can help you to define the challenge in a different way.
- Develop. The second diamond encourages people to give different answers to the clearly defined problem, seeking inspiration from elsewhere and co-designing with a range of different people.
- Deliver. Delivery involves testing out different solutions at small-scale, rejecting those that will not work and improving the ones that will.
This is not a linear process as the arrows on the diagram show. Many of the organisations we support learn something more about the underlying problems which can send them back to the beginning. Making and testing very early stage ideas can be part of discovery. And in an ever-changing and digital world, no idea is ever ‘finished’. We are constantly getting feedback on how products and services are working and iteratively improving them.
The information was taken from the following page: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/what-framework-innovation-design-councils-evolved-double-diamond
The design principles
The framework for innovation outlines four core principles for problem-solvers to adopt so that they can work as effectively as possible.
- Put people first. Start with an understanding of the people using a service, their needs, strengths and aspirations.
- Communicate visually and inclusively. Help people gain a shared understanding of the problem and ideas.
- Collaborate and co-create. Work together and get inspired by what others are doing.
- Iterate, iterate, iterate. Do this to spot errors early, avoid risk and build confidence in your ideas.
The information was taken from the following page: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/what-framework-innovation-design-councils-evolved-double-diamond
Filter dimensions, Prototypes, Low- & High-fidelity
Lim, Y., Stolterman, E. & Tenenberg, J. (2008). The Anatomy of Prototypes: Prototypes as Filters, Prototypes as Manifestations of Design Ideas. Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 15(2), Paragraf 7, ss. 1-27. doi: 10.1145/1375761.1375762
The prototyping work was a long process consisting of different techniques, programs and results. Each prototype had a specific filter dimension in mind and explored the design concept’s potential in specific areas. The prototype work created a good basis for the final result and gave me as a designer an excellent insight into which way I should take the concept further. Below are all the prototypes that were created through the design process, as well as what filter dimensions they explored and what was positive about that particular part of the process.
AR-frame
This prototype is an initial prototype to visualize how the design concept from the filter dimension functionality can look like. This is a very simple, fast and economical way to initiate the prototyping process to generate more ideas and thoughts without wasting either time or resources.
UXPin
This prototype explores the design concept from the spatial structure filter dimension, in other words its structure and placement of different elements within the app.
I wanted to explore the structure and spatial structure of the filter dimension to get a better understanding of how different elements would be placed and function in relation to other elements. I wanted this prototype to be clean of colors and information and only structure simple elements in the form of shapes.
Unity
This is a prototype that explores the design concept from the filter dimension of functionality to the extent that Unity and the AR Foundation work as a simple prototype of how the app would use AR to show the water level in a building to the user.
I wanted to explore the filter dimension functionality to see how the app’s future AR function might look and explore how I want to work further with the AR function.
After effects
This prototype examines the design concept from the filter dimensions functionality and appearance in a very simple simulation and visual experience.
Visually, the prototype is appealing, however, the functionality is very limited as this is not a prototype with real AR functionality.
What did I learn from prototyping?
I wanted to create a couple of different prototypes to give myself material to choose from, where I could test and point out what I liked and didn’t like about each prototype. My goal with the prototypes was not to produce any finished and integrated product yet in the design process, but to investigate the possibilities of the design concepts and explore how I want to work with them further.
By generating a couple of different prototypes, I was able to pick out which aspects I liked about each prototype, develop them further and apply that to the final result. The prototype work also gave me an insight into how I needed to rethink and revise my design concept further.
What I mainly took away from the prototypes was that:
- The design concept needs to be revised
- The Unity prototype showed a good and interactive function
- The structure from the UXPin prototype seems good, but needs some work
- The color scale in the Invision prototype needs processing
- The visual aspect from After Effects was very appealing
All of this then went into making the final design concept and creating the final product, which I have presented here as well.
Sandra's Design 