OUTCOMES

At the end of this 5-week long project, we produced a work-in-progress prototype to communicate our idea with the rest of the class. Both the audiovisual and snowboard design were refined. However, as we needed more time to integrate all the elements together, we instead presented with a video showing how the audiovisuals are intended to interact with the participants while we let people try balancing on the prototype snowboard.

FINAL GENERATIVE VISUALS

We developed three different visuals to complement our idea through p5.js.

  1. At first when no one is interacting with the snowboard, a gentle background will be on screen by default.

  2. When participants climb onto the board and struggle to balance, audiovisuals are activated to recreate the unpleasant feeling of being in a blizzard.

  3. The third visual is activated when the participants hold onto one another's hand for balance, transitioning back to pleasant audiovisuals with a gentle snowfall.

FINAL RENDERS

We also produced renders that visualised how our idea would be applied as a full-scale project. This involved thinking about context and location in which our installation would be best situated in. We imagined our interactive installation to be displayed at Alpine Adventure's flagship store, where it could be showcased as an attraction for families to encounter while they go shopping.

FEEDBACK

Overall, the feedback was positive, with praise for the design of the deck and the clear articulation of the ideation process leading up to the development of the product. However, some members of the audience during the presentation had suggestions for how to improve the immersive experience, such as translating environmental aspects of snowboarding (e.g., cold breeze, snow falling, fog) for a more realistic experience. Others suggested exploring more challenging snowboard designs or making the branding more consistent. There was also a suggestion to document the research process more thoroughly. Overall, the audience appreciated the engaging presentation, clear insights, and well-documented prototyping process.

CONCLUSION

Overall, it was a fruitful experience from start to end because we learned something every step of the way. It pushed us to think outside the box in terms of how to engage our audiences through non-conventional means. Since we had to share our developments throughout the week with the class and lecturers, we had a chance to improve our presentation skills. We also learned how to see things from a client's perspective- seeing how interactive experiences function for the brand and how it fits into a brand's overall narrative.

All said and done, we enjoyed the project and we are proud of what we have accomplished. Moving forward, we understand and appreciate the importance of persuasion and presentation skills much more and hope that we can integrate it more into our own practice moving forward.

TEAM VIEWS

Shalom: Since the focus of this class was on designing an interactive experience, I initially thought that the main part of the project would be creating prototypes that worked well. However, as weeks went by, I learnt that storytelling and narrative was fundamental to the project. I guess that’s the reason why Andreas was encouraging us to do better after our first round of presso slides.

Christopher: The value in this class for me was in the opportunity to try new things such as the double diamond work process and prototyping. Through these 5 weeks, I definitely learned a lot of presentation skills that will serve me well in the future. Now, I'm eager to find more opportunities to do more projects like this!