UX Reflection: Miyagi-ed Yet Again?

In the past I've always enjoyed the projects that have required a deeper level of research: April Greiman, Maori Warriors, Gertrude Stein, Union Station, and even he who shall not be named aka Koenig.

This class has felt like an extension of what we've already been doing. We've been put on this path of design research from the get-go without even knowing it! (You've just been Miyagi-ed)

Anyways, one of the most important things I've learn from this class is that people are more receptive to design that speaks to them. Design that notices them, takes the time to genuinely understand their uniqueness, and even possibly make an information graphic about it. What I'm trying to get at is that it's easy for designers to forget that they're designing for people and end up designing for designers. 

When we as designers begin designing for people, by this I mean specific people, we can stop generalizing what people need and ask more direct and unique questions. With direct and unique questions come unique and functional solutions.

I feel like my role as a designer has changed for the better.

Lastly, roller derby girls are awesome! Let the funk be with you!

ADAA Submission

HANDBUILT Presentation

In the final stretch of it all, I believe Matthew and I were able to bring it together in the end. The biggest issue that needs to be resolved after presenting to the Nelson, are certain details on the cards themselves. However, in regards to everything else that came prior to today, lets just say it was definitely a challenge.

There are many aspects to this project that contributed to the difficulty of this task. One of the most challenging, I felt, was finding a balance between simplification and functionality. The introduction of user testing proved to be extremely insightful and a useful tool in the development of this project. In most everything we do, it's easy to get stuck in our own heads, so its important to get feedback and see if something is actually working.

Another challenge, Matthew and I struggled with was in how to frame and explain the presentation. In general this semester we both felt has been about learning how to present work and pitch ideas in an manner that is engaging and tells a narrative. We figured, what better way to explain our system then to show the system in action in the park where it will be held! As a side note, it's important to check the weather in scheduling a photo shoot outdoors.

What I found most interesting from the whole experience is how there are so many unique possibilities to engage children. I suppose this can be said about everything, but what is unique about designing for children is that you have to, in a sense, remove a grown up identities and learn to see the world again as a child.

Lastly, congratulations everyone on job well done!

User Testing Day Reflection

After taking a moment to reflect on our user testing experience here are some problems we identified: Firstly, rather than using the map to orient themselves it seems that both families identified the icon. We need to give the map more real world/actual reference points such as landmarks, pathways or directional elements to help families orient themselves. Secondly, there is a bit of a disconnect between the cards and the map in regards using the cards as prompts. The educational concept of learning about the materials and making those connections between the cards were initially overlooked. We need to give more of a purposeful explanation and directional cue in our description of the map. In both tests, majority of the time was spent on the hunt of the sculpture rather than the learning aspect it seems. We need to make the learning aspect more exciting to then also make the hunt more exciting.

Next Steps:

1. Give more identifiers landmarks on the map

2. Write a clear purposeful, and directional explanation that links the cards and the map

3. Play up directional descriptors on map

4. Refine, Refine, Refine!

Nelson Atkins Internal Testing

Tailored Communication: Final Deliverable

Derby Funk

Influencers Short Documentary

Just a bit of thought provoking inspiration. There's some nice insight into what it means to be influenced and to be an influencer in society.

Also, in the later half of the documentary, there is some interesting dialogue about how brands are embracing a culture and empowering it by aligning with the scene.

P3 Intranet Update

This past week I was given the task of redesigning P3's intranet page which as you can see below isn't very pretty. For the first phase of this project I had to go around the office and interview different people such as developers, producers, and creatives to get a sense of everyones wants and needs. This was a great opportunity to talk to people I usually don't get to interact with and learn about what they do. The second phase involved sketching wireframes and the third, which I'm on now is essentially building high content wireframes. Inputting actual content quickly is essential in defining the visual direction. It allows you to see the relationship between different elements and informs therefore informs the form. So far it's been pretty neat to be able to see the parallels between school and work and utilize the skills we're learning. Both design research and information architecture were at play this week.

Progress:

Night of the Loving Dead III: Only Fools Fall and Shove

This past Sunday McKenzie, Jessica and I attended our first bout! GO PAINS!

This was the first game of the year for the Dead Girl Derby League, which our interviewee Jackie aka Mega Manic invited us to. The bout began at 6 PM so she suggested we get there early because the line usually starts to build up quickly, and boy, she was not kidding!

The lineup for the evening was the Royals Pains vs. Shotgun Shelias and the Lovely Lethals vs Deadly Sirens. It may seem pretty obvious, but reading about roller derby and watching videos online does not compare to experiencing it first hand. Here's a visual walkthrough of our experience...

Pre-bout warm ups

A sold out event! Fans consist on majority of friends and family members.

Your host for the evening

Pre-bout referee introductions

Pre-bout team introductions - Shotgun Sheilas

Pre-bout team introductions - Royal Pains

Pre-bout team introductions 

A zebra huddle

The starting line 

The shot I got before the Sheilas pivot pushed the Pain's active jammer on us :O

Hips checks are acceptable contacts

There's always a ref following a Jammer

They call it the suicide seats for a reason!

Girls respectfully stopping in place due to injured skater

Shotgun Sheilas Win!

The End

More notes to come...

Roller Derby Personas

Name: Patti Tracy

Derby Name:  Patti LuPuncha (I was named after Patti LuPone)

Age: 38

Occupation: Accountant

"I have two kids and am raising them on my own and it's nice to have something that is just for me."

Single Mother
Personal Focus
Camaraderie
Social escape/break

Patti is a single mother of two who found roller derby as a chance to spend time on herself. Her time is usually spent at work providing for her two children and being a mom. She wanted an outlet to meet other woman like herself as well as a way to be her own person. Being able to get away from the PTA or her mom duties for a couple hours each week. She was inspired after a friend at work mentioned the sport to her. She didn't know much and the last time she put on a pair of skates was in middle school. She found a local team and attended tryouts.  She was happily surprised by the welcoming personalities of the other woman. Little did she know what an affect these woman would have on her life. She now has her "Derby Family" and has full faith and trust in them.

Name: Zooey Peterson
Derby Name: Zooey Bash'EmAll
Age: 23
Occupation: Student

Camaraderie
Creativity
Sense of belonging
Acceptance

"I needed something in life. I was bored"

Zooey is a nursing student at KU. She needed something in life. She was bored. She was going to school, working and interning, but she needed something more. Someone mentioned derby and Zooey tried it out. She never looked back. Growing up she never felt a place where she belonged until she joined the Royal Pains where she met a group of women that she was able to feel connected with. Before every bout, she always wears bedazzled panties. And eats a banana for potassium.

Reading Response & Notes: Design Research

Designing for Interaction: Design Research

Design research is pulled from many disciplines and has many methods. It is the act of investigating the prospective audience in their natural environment to gather details that the designer may have not known before. Insight from research can help shape a project, making it more useful to the user as well as preventing costly mistakes due to lack of knowledge about the audience. Designers are often working with cultures that are unfamiliar and not only is research helpful in collecting insight, careful analysis can help spark new ideas.

Design Research by Ed. Brenda Laurel, p 22-23, 30-33, 36-37

+ The "mass market" mentality is in the U.S. is changing, we are moving towards diversity
+ People have learned to choose how they spend their time and money on individual beliefs
+ Qualitative design research is learning about the people by listening to them, watching them or experiencing their lives first hand.

+ Anthropology is the study of human behavior: how people experience and make sense of what they themselves and others do
+ The practice, artifacts, sensibilities and ideas that constitute and inform our everyday lives
+ We don't realize how and to what extent we are participating in and therefore shaping culture
+ Situatedness means the multiple ways people consume and integrate designed artifacts into their lives through interaction
+ Ethnography involves the study of a small group of people in their own environment
          - attempt to get a detailed understanding of the life and circumstances of fewer people
          - significance in detail in the relatively narrow scope

+ An alliance with sociologists and designers will help to reshaping consumer culture in unexpected and positive ways
+ Conducting field research can help to delight people
+ Equation as opposed to the production side

Visual Communication by Jonathan Baldwin, p 74-77, 96-97
+ Culture according to Raymond Williams
          - The process of a society's intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development
          - The particular way of life of a people, period or group
          - The works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity
+ Popular culture
          - Phenomenon evolving out of the consumerist
          - it's products are accessible and mass-produced
          - Work deliberately setting out to win favor with the masses or specific communities
          - Culture produced by industry and consumed and popularized by word of mouth and the media
+ Subcultures refers to any minority group with a shared set of beliefs, values, or lifestyle that resists the dominant culture
+ Subcultures are a spontaneous reaction to something in the dominant culture
          - Expresses itself by appropriating and reinterpreting the symbol of that culture
+ Analysis of subcultures are problematic
          - They tend to be selective
          - They tend to be overly romanticized
          - The spontaneous aspect of subcultures might become loss in the articulation of the their signs
+ Subcultures include a respect for an internal group hierarchy and the use of rituals

Roller Derby Girl Research

"The idea is simply this: to kick ass."

HISTORY
Roller Derby was invented by sports promoter Leo Seltzer in 1935 in Chicago, Illinois. Seltzer created the Transcontinental Roller Derby in effort to bring more attractions to the Chicago Coliseum. Roller derby began as a co-ed endurance race, modeled after dance marathon and bike races that were popular in the 30's. By the 1960's roller derby evolved into a full contact team sport with a large spectator fan base. However, due to economic downturns in the 1970's, the official league was brought to a halt.

Today's roller derby was as a result of a resurgence that started in Austin, Texas and had started to spread across the country throughout this decade. Due to it's DIY entertainment value mainstream media has helped in it's growth and popularity.

THE BOUT
What's a bout? A bout is what a match is called in roller derby terms. There are 3 types of players: Jammers (Stars on helmet and point scorers), Pivots (Stripes on helmets and sets the pace), and Blockers (Skate in packs, assists their jammer, and stops opposing jammer). Bouts are played in two periods of 30 minutes and point scoring occurs during "jams" which last for two minutes. During a jam, a team scores when their jammer laps a member of an opposing team. Each team's blockers may use body contact, changing positions, and other tactics to help their jammer to score while preventing the opposing team's jammer from passing. Certain types of blocks and plays are violations so referees can call penalties and require violators to spend time in a penalty box.

Here's a visual:

CONTROVERSY

After visiting websites, blogs, and watching videos we have come across a lot of issues concerning the Roller Derby world. People have very strong negative and positive opinions about this sport. One of the main issues we encountered was this preconceived notion that these women are sometimes tattooed and pierced, but all types, shapes and sizes fill the rink. The concern takes place in the clothing, names, the overall facade that these women portray. Their punk nature often leads people in a negative direction, but really once you look closer, these women portray a sense of strength, friendship, and competition.

"Some have criticized roller derby as relying too heavily on shtick or sex appeal, but for many participants highlighting their sex appeal or kitschy fun adds to the value in the sport. Derby girls may be embracing their femininity in the form of funky (and often skimpy) outfits, but they are undeniably strong and fierce, evoking Kali on wheels. This duality is, to me, evidence of how far we’ve come: why shouldn’t our sexuality and our strength be displayed simultaneously..."- Younger Women's Task Force

THE WOMEN

The best part of the sport is not the pushing or the speed on the track- it is the women that fill the skates. These women are moms, lawyers, students, and teachers. They find this sport as a way of individualism and a way to focus on themselves outside of their families or school. There is a wide range of females that make up these teams. They have a punk esthetic in which some girls are tattooed and pierced but all shapes, sizes, and types fill the rink. All body types are welcomed because there is a place and purpose for everyone. These women love the thrill of experiencing a new hobby, understanding a new devotion to only themselves, and friendship. These women make roller derby their lives. Often many of the team members haven't been to a skating rink since middle school, but everyone is welcomed with open arms at a chance to take part. Veterans are the ones encouraging and helping the newcomers. Roller derby is giving younger women a sense of purpose and pride, but also a way to have stronger self image through the mind and body. It serves as a outlet for stress and place for women to connect on a completely new level. 

VALUES
1. Camaraderie
2. Individualism
3. Pride
4. Purpose
5. Outlet for relieving stress

RESOURCES

Blogs:

Younger Women's Task Force

Roller Derby Disorder

Cincinnati.com

Angry Robot Roller Derby

Mean Feminism

Roller Derby League & Resources:

Fast Girl Skates

Two Evils (Name Database)

Derby Life (Article on derby names)

Women's Flat Track Association

Kansas City Roller Warriors

Derby Data

Interviews:

Maria Carter Public Radio Roller Talks Joining Roller Warriors (The Pitch Interview)

Derby Girl's Blog (Interview)

Videos & Documentaries:

Hell On Wheels (Documentary)

Derby Baby: A Story of Love, Addiction, and Rink Rash (Documentary Trailer)

Roller Derby Wheels Into Fashion (CBS Interview)