Week 1: The Beginnings
Week 12 (Feb 12th to 19th 2021)
Designers: Kate Chernysheva, Maria Shuttleworth, Qendresa Selimi and Tatiana Bohsali
Kate (top-left), Maria (top-right), Qendresa (bottom-right) and myself.
In this unit, our class was split into four groups, each working with an external partner. My group is working with Applied Works, a London-based design agency. In 6 weeks, we had to respond to the following brief:
Design a way for people to experience The Hoffman Centre collections.
The Applied Works team firstly introduced us to the Hoffman Centre. It is a digital archiving platform, whose goal is “to achieve a sustainable resource economy, in which the world’s citizens and the environment can thrive” (Applied Works, n.d.). The aim of the project is to design a compelling experience that facilitates exploration of this platform in a dynamic, compelling and human way for new, post-factual audiences.
At first glance, the brief seemed to me a little difficult, as the challenge was to design a way to navigate through a complex system of interrelated information. Moreover I was not very enthusiastic about the topic, and believed it was a little dull. But I took it as an opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and turn this brief into an exciting experience.
Our initial group of 8 split itself into groups of 4, depending on which subcategory of the brief we were interested to tackle. My group chose to focus on “reinventing air travel”.
Research Methods
I referred to the Universal Methods of Design by B. Hanington and B. Martin to look into potential research methods, from which I created the diagram below.
Fig 1. Deciding on a research method. Credit: Tatiana
Aware of the instrumental approach, we ended up going with the flow depending on our findings. But this diagram helped us decide on a starting point, as we initiated our research process with the literature review and the case studies.
Becoming experts of the topic
Fig 2. Combining our research into one massive diagram. Credit: Everyone. (Click to view)
Since our understanding of the topic was limited, we did some desk research about air travel. I looked into sustainable aviation, and the industry’s ecological transition. We grouped our research into one giant diagram (Fig 2), after which realized we were getting lost with the amount of information. We consequently created a simpler one (Fig 3). Through categorizing and building connections, I considered this as our first step towards a tangible understanding of the topic’s interrelated informations, favorable for an easier navigation.
Fig 3. Synthesis of our research. Credit: Everyone.
Fig 4. Case study and/or short behavioral mapping of the Hoffman Centre’s website. Credit: Tatiana (Click to view)
While Qendresa looked into the Hoffman Center, I complemented her with a very short behavioral mapping about their website. I concluded that the designed platform could be improved with more hierarchy, favorable for an easier navigation through the multiple interconnected subtopics available.
Fig 5. Understanding the Hoffman Centre’s. Credit: Qendresa (Click to view)
Defining a target audience
Fig 6. Understanding post-factual audiences. Credit: Tatiana (Click to view)
As the brief refers to post-factual audiences, I did some readings to know more about it. I understood that in an age where online communication eliminates the boundaries between fact and fiction, people are more likely to accept an argument based on emotions and beliefs, rather than one based on facts. I started thinking that the best way to work around this would be to allow people to think critically about the future, through a personalized navigation, or the ability to complement content through sharing thoughts and opinions.
From Design Fiction To Case Studies
Fig 7. Case study of the Beirut Street Museum. Credit: Tatiana (Click to view)
“Reinventing Air Travel” sounds like a futuristic topic. Kate suggested to explore design fiction to navigate our research. Speculating inexistent design and exploring innovative technologies could open the door to new design possibilities. This led us to explore case studies both related to the future of air travel and design futures. While the rest of the group looked more into exhibition design, I looked into a friend’s project, the “Beirut Street Museum”. It revisits the definition of a museum by turning the city of Beirut into a virtual museum, keeping all artifacts in their environment. They would be highlighted through the use of print materials such as posters and stamps. While the use of technology was limited, I was inspired by this project digital potential. What if we could use AR to access information around us through branded or codified items?
In the end, my peers’ research was more insightful. Not only do the examples below allow people to imagine possible futures, but they opened for us the door to design methods we would explore next week such as gamification.
Fig 8. Combination of my peers’ case studies featuring Maria’s (top-left), Qendresa’s (top-right), Kate’s (bottom-left), and potential card game idea based on a case study by Maria and Kate (bottom-right).
Feedback
Our instructors and peers valued the depth and abundance of our research. A common remark was to research through design. A card game idea proposed was encouraged to be used as a research method to get us somewhere, instead of a final outcome. We were also encouraged to look into Backcasting and at Cameron Tonkinwise’s perspective of speculative design and the future’s cone.
Reflection
I was personally happy about diversity of our work we put in place. My peers and I were able to open our eyes to diverse design perspectives and possibilities. However, I believed it was time to focus on one main direction in order for us to move forward and start making instead of reading. I was also comfortable with the successful remote collaboration, despite the pandemic’s limitations.
References
Applied Works. n.d. Identity, website, infographics & reports | Hoffmann Centre. [online] Available at: <https://applied.works/work/hoffmann-centre> [Accessed 5 March 2021].
Alvermann, D.E. (2017). Social Media Texts and Critical Inquiry in a Post-Factual Era. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 61(3), pp.335–338.
Beydoun, S. (2019). Beirut Street Museum. [online] Behance. Available at: https://www.behance.net/gallery/80863023/Beirut-Street-Museum [Accessed 16 Feb. 2021].
Boyd, R. (2013). Why SAF is the future of aviation? [online] www.iata.org. Available at: https://www.iata.org/en/programs/environment/sustainable-flying-blog/why-saf-is-the-future-of-aviation/.
Ettema, J.S. (1987). Journalism in the “post‐factual age.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 4(1), pp.82–86.
Iyengar, S. and Massey, D.S., 2019. Scientific communication in a post-truth society. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(16), pp.7656–7661.
Martin, B. and Hanington, B., 2012. Universal methods of design. Beverly, Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers.
Supporting European Aviation (2020). We need to reinvent the air travel experience. [online] www.eurocontrol.int. Available at: https://www.eurocontrol.int/article/we-need-reinvent-air-travel-experience [Accessed 16 Feb. 2021].