Mini Project - Environment

Problem
Horribly long elevator waiting line in the building ( 2 W 13th St.) before class start times. The major cause of this problem is the inefficient use of the elevators (have each of them stops at almost every floor). This wastes time and causes long waiting line formed at the first floor.















Project Description
Purpose: Maximize the usage of limited resources.
Target Space: lobby at 2 W. 13th
Audience: people who have access to 2 W. 13th
Method: Design an environment that direct the users to designated elevators according to their destination.

Design Questions and Challenges
Best Practice - What's the best way to allocate elevators to floors?
Aesthetic - The design should not conflict with the original environment.
Flexibility - The design need to account for non-rush hour usage.

Precedents
1. Existing Elevator System Models









2. Innovative Traffic Control - Technology and Practice in Europe
http://international.fhwa.dot.gov/Pdfs/Innovtce.pdf


































3. NY Subway - 7 Express v.s. 7 Local












4. Portable-deflatable Led-Matrix
http://www.mediaarchitecture.org/















5. Restaurant Logo Projection















6. Philip Color Kinetics - NECA 2008




Design Plan

Elevator Assignment












On-floor lighting instructions and traffic direction layout












Operating Hours
8:40 am - 9:00am
11:40am - 12:00pm
2:40pm - 3:00pm
5:40pm - 6:00pm

User Scenario: Off-Peak Hours
































































User Scenario: Peak Hours

































































Strength & Weakness

Strength:
- Optimize Resources
- Blend in with original environment

Weakness
- Implementation Cost & Technical Possiblity
- Is the proposed elevator assignment the best practice?
- Human behavior - will people cooperate?

Mini Project - Object

Question
What is the social consequences of online interpersonal communications and social networking?

Problem
1. The communications through IM, blog, or social networking sites are not as immediate as traditional communication methods, such as telephone.
2. Not every one is online. Even the internet users are not necessarily doing social activities online.

Research
1. "Sense in Communication" by Dauglas Galbi
Sense of presence in communication: face-to-face > telephone > IM/text based > social networking sites
2. "Generational Differences in Online Activities" by Pew Research Center
Teens and Generation Y find entertainment and social networks online. Older generations use the internet as a tool for research, shopping, and online banking.

Project Concept
Create an object that functions offline, and should be sustainable as a social tool which will stand the test of time.

Project Description
Be-In-Touch is a customizable cell phone reminder, which reminds people to get in touch with their contacts by making phone calls. Users can specify how long they want to keep in touch with each contact by modifying the "be-in-touch" length (in days) in the edit contact mode.

Target
The target group of this project is Generation Y (age 18 - 32). The reasons for this is that Gen Y has the highest percentage of population doing social activities online. Therefore, this group of people has the greatest need of this application.

Precedents
1. Facebook Birthday Reminder - same concept of giving people an opportunity to get in touch with their friends/families by reminding them to do so.
2. Cell phone Event Calendar Reminder - same technology
3. Pictogram - use simple graphics to represent the idea --> important in designing user interface

User Scenario
1. specify the "be-in-touch" length (in days) in the contact list
2. cell phone alerts when when user do not contact that person in the specified days

Prototype

main screen



















in contact list



















in edit contact mode



















done adding the function



















the alert screen



















the reminder



















Click here to view full Presentation in PDF

Domain Research

Mind Map


















Domain

• Sociology

Areas of Interest

• Communication
• Human Behavior
• Online Communities

Possible Research Questions

• How does instant messaging (ex: MSN, Gtalk) change interpersonal communication?
• What is the relationship between a person's virtual identity and his/her personality in the real world?
• Why people may have personality shift when they go online?
• What are the societal implications of online social network (ex: Facebook, Myspace)?
• What are the social impacts of online jargons?