[Sep. - Oct. 2009]

In our Interaction Design Practice course, our team was placed under simulated conditions that Crate & Barrel and Google were forming a partnership. We were challenged to create a design that could lead a new line of digital home products for this partnership. The task was quite wide open, although we were asked to look at Weasley’s Clock (from Harry Potter) and also next generation GPS. We used personas, affinity diagram and ethnographic studies to reach the core problem. We ideated and sketched. When we decided on our final concept Mirror Map, we also created a prototype and conducted usability tests.

Process

Since the problem space was quite open, the main task for us was to find/define the core. We began with researching on Crate & Barrel and next generation GPS. Based on demographic, we created personas to narrow down the problem space. After using affinity diagram to further distill the problem, we decided to conduct ethnographic studies in Crate & Barrel store on the following Saturday, which would help us understand better the potential users. On Friday night, a curve ball was given to the class. One random team member chosen by professor was switching to another team. After quickly explaining to our new team member the stage we were at, we completed observing the actual customers and interviewing several sales persons in Crate & Barrel store, where we confirmed our target audience at 25 – 40 years old affluent mothers. We refined our personas to fit in the target audience. Several brainstorming sessions followed up, in which we ideated, sketched and reached the concept of Mirror Map. Using foam core, tinfoil and cardboard etc., we developed a life size prototype for usability tests. Based on the tests’ results and critiques from our fellow designers, we iterated our design and decided on our final concept.

Final Concept

Mirror Map was a large decorative wall mirror that could also turn into a map. Using GPS technology, the map would keep track of the location of family members. Detail information about family members and locations was also available due to the huge database from Google. Through three cameras on the frame, Mirror Map using face detection could recognize particular users (for privacy issues). Users would interact with Mirror Map from a distance using large hand gestures, with a cursor on the screen telling the user where he/she was pointing. Large hand gestures, which were exclusively tested, such as wave, zoom, pan and grab were intuitive for most users.

Video Prototype

To demonstrate how our design worked, we created a short video prototype.