CIID IDP 2015: Emotive Digital Services
taught by Jacek Barcikowski
and Ulrik Hogrebe
Melina Pyykkönen
Karan Chaitanya Mudgal
Sergey Komardenkov
Kåre Solvåg
field research
concept design
UI design (wireframes)
videography
Socialyst is an app and web service that helps people organize and keep memories of time spent together. It is also a great tool to kick start an event and to keep your finger on the pulse as events unfold.
An event is created in Socialyst and once participants arrive they are checked in and given the ability to share any digital content they generate with others during their time together. Pictures, videos, places, and many more artifacts from the event are available for review both during and afterwards, making Socialyst a central reference point for the event’s happenings and experiences.
Project team was asked to explore the idea of “live”, embracing a full spectrum of mediated experiences - from the simple act of observing a live event, to documenting it, to direct participation in it. What it means to be present in the world today with it’s permeability between online and IRL (in Real Life)?
The team went through an extensive user research process. First, we ran a few interviews and inquired people about how they use technology and mobile devices in their daily life and specifically during social events. Our insight was that many people consciously avoid the use of mobile technology when they meet with friends because of how distractive it became.
This insight led us to search for a solution that would assist people in their live experiences, yet would make sure people fully enjoy the event and the company. Ultimately, we wanted the tool to automatically keep track of what is going on during a social event and allow user to access this information during or after the event.
Next research task was to create a prototype and host three parties of around 10 people each to get them introduced to the general concept. The prototype prepared allowed participants to collect on a single page pictures they took with their phones during a party and made it available for instant review. Through some hacking of IFTTT and clever work behind the scenes the prototype was responding to the arrival of new people, change of a party’s location, and even included messages about the music that played during the party. To the outsiders it looked like a fully-working autonomous mobile application.
This research allowed us to gather multiple responses about the concept as well as our prototype. We found the proof that our concept was answering real needs of respondents and we were able to better craft the final prototype according to the wishes of our research participants.
