Project overview
TIME:
Summer 2018

DURATION:
2 Weeks

​TOOLS:
Adobe Illustrator CC (Wireframes), Adobe XD (Prototype), Sketch, Keynotes
​MY ROLE:
User research,  Wireframe

TEAM:
​Alaina Creager, Spokes People & SenseMyStreet (Open lab teams)

PROJECT TEAMS

SenseMyStreet, & Spokespeople

​Spokespeople
​is a research project that considers how technology can make cycling in Newcastle a better experience. It links cyclists with researchers, planners and policy makers and helps make their voices heard.
SenseMyStreet
enables local people and communities to commission sensors and locate them on their streets, collecting evidence to inform or even change their communities, specifically in relation to air quality.
CHALLENGES

Making meaningful data, encourage positive engagement.
Both teams worked with shared the same goal of empowering the citizen to using current data collection to support issues raised by existing users of the technologies. 

​They want to use the collected data points to promote further engagement and dialogue between citizens and city council, which allows citizens to document and tell the story of their group’s aims, activities, data collection proposals to facilitate transparency and replication
CHALLENGES
Using data document and story sharing to support  group’s aims, activities, data collection and proposals to facilitate transparency and replication.
 Picture
​
​The current site for both Spokespeople and SenseMyStreet is currently providing ability to allow the users to input their data description (Incident Report) as well as the individual route, all the information are presented anonymously. ​

​Supporting dialogue between citizens regarding the issues raised by data collection.
Both projects are concerned with how people can make visible their everyday experiences. The system enables the collection of rich qualitative data situated within the context of a given journey. They really want to help the citizens/organizations to link the insights and lessons collected from the sensors to help them with supporting evidence and bring further engagement with the city console to influence policies/city change to their local areas.
INTERVIEWS

Acquire outside perspective and understanding​ on current data presentation.

​
​We had them to interact with the current project site in relation with asking question and feedback about how they would interoperate the data presentation. As well as, suggestions on adding additional content for supporting their advocation.

(3 participants)    
AFFINITY DIAGRAM

Gathering ideas, opinions, issues and organizes them into groupings based on their relationships.
​We used Affinity Diagramming to sort the participants' suggestion/comments/questions into 5 most common categories:
1) Map Clarification
2) Route Making for Cyclists
3) Implementing Data & Links for Action
​4) Creating a Personal Narrative
5) Physical Engagement within Newcastle. 
SCOPDOWN
Then we sat down with open lab project team member to decide on which ones meet the most needs of the project, as well as how they really want us to carry on to the next step of the project. With their decision, we were able to narrow down to 4 categories:
1) Map Clarification
​2) Creating a Personal Narrative 
​3) Physical Engagement within Newcastle
4) Implementing Data & Links for Action.

We then went back to pull out some inspirational and useful quotes we had from all participants, to consider as the direct source for the start of ideation.
​​
​Map Clarification

​Using Data
& Links
for Action

Creating a Personal Narrative

​Physical Engagement in Newcastle

“Don’t want to see all the pins at once.”
“Using different colors to indicate positive/negative experiences“
​“Make Filter more obvious and easy to use.”


​​“Provide educational information about what is happening around”
“Advice on actions to take next”
“Take information to report out”
​“Provide social media sharing of data”

“Using personal artifacts to create deeper connection”
“Translating data points in to personas/scenarios for storytelling”
​“Link all the pins dropped by the same person to create a journey”

“Using poster create public engagement on collected data”
“Place physical pins or represent where incidents have happend”
​“Link, campaign items to specific incidents”

IDEATION

Taking insights to create solution that tackles the challenges.

Taking the direction and suggestions the lab team member gave to us, we dive right into ideation. From there, we create ideas that could each tackle the 4 problem areas we mentioned above. We used Personal Narrative as a vehicle to bring some of the design solution onto the same page, such as 
Map Clarification and Implementing Data & Links for Action.
​Map Clarification
Using different color indication personal travel routes .
Apply colors to different types of transportation, to indicate information related to live traffic.
We kept the current idea of the site with using colored pins to differentiate the incident types, and extended along with individual travel route.
Creating  Personal Narrative
​Physical Engagement in Newcastle


​ An experience’s site (location) is its context: where it is, what was there before, and what else is around it. People interpret the world based on their context, a physical experience is no different. It’s important to take into account the spaces and environments that bookend an experience. What you perceive immediately before or after affects how you view that experience. That context informs what a visitor brings to an experience, be it expectations, frame of mind, behaviors, etc.
​
SOLUTION



​The final pitch was very successful! Our client was very glad our team ended up still doing the user research and created something that could carry weight and adhere to user needs. It was a great learning experience for me to see how technology could engage community by empowering the citizens with providing the data back to their hands.

play with the prototype:
http://192.168.1.3:54459/all?challenge=0186809a-3800-4dc7-9e7f-0af4bd380432
​