Concept #1
Beacon Groups
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Working Flash Prototype
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We developed our lo-fi working prototype using Adobe Flash. We used this prototype for our preliminary user test and collected users’ feedback.
Working Flash Prototype
(Click to Start)
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Features
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Our main prototype attempts to use elements in a virtual space to improve the behavior of people in the physical world. The system will allow people who are normally uneasy about walking alone at night to be more confident. Our prototype is a mobile application that will help the user find groups of people, suggest walking routes, and it will make the user more aware of the dangers and opportunities in their environment.
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First, the system can help you plan a safe route to your next destination at night. Some areas have more activity, some areas have less. Some areas are considered “safer” than others. It may not be the quickest route, but the system finds the best for you at night.
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If you don’t want to walk by yourself, publish or join a group of people walking to the same destination! They may be people you’ve never met before, but the system allows you to build trust by interacting beforehand through the app, and it allows you to view the name and some other information.
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Join informally or formally through the app. If you join formally you’ll display a badge until you meet, so it shows your identity of yourself and the group you join. You can join and leave the group at any time you’d like.
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Significance to Design Goals
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Our goals when creating this interface were to:
- Make people feel empowered when walking at night, or provide people with incentives to empower others.
- Encourage people to walk more, plain and simple.
- Make the design immediately significant to the user, and keep that significance over time.
- Ensure the design is relevant to “regulars”, or citizens that are already familiar with the area.
- Help make the user’s quality of life better
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We believe it’s likely that this concept will push heavily on social and cultural comfortability for some people. Will people want to meet strangers? The system must support and relieve this hesitation. Despite this hurdle, users will value the ability to trust some strangers enough so that they don’t have to walk alone. But the design also allows flexibility and provides the user with suggested routes along safer and more active areas of the community.
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The system will maintain significance over time. This is because even if you know the city’s layout by heart, you may not know the best route for a group to walk. And since you value walking with others for as long as possible, the system will still be useful in many future experiences to come.
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Storyboard
Walking to Meet a Friend After Work
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Story Part 1
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Story Part 2
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Concept #2
Light Snake (A Game)
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Working Flash Prototype
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We developed our lo-fi working prototype using Adobe Flash. We used this prototype for our preliminary user test and collected users’ feedback.
Working Flash Prototype
(Click to Start)
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Scenario
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The snake concept provided a way of thinking about our design goals in a very different way, by enhancing the experience of walking through a game. The game provides many incentives, which encourage the user to be active with the game. At the same time, as the user does better at the game, they are also more empowered as they walk. This is because the game gives more points as the user moves in closer contact with other people. So, the person will be more empowered with the awareness that others are nearby. However, the user is not forced to interact with them outside of the passive anonymity in the game.
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Features
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Each user has a trail of light that leads behind them as they walk. The system rewards points when users cross paths with one another (a spark!). It’s a passive digital interaction, and users receive bonus points for collecting in large beacon areas — areas with a lot of activity or people. This provides people the incentive to stay near others, but also maybe walk an extra block to pick up a few more points.
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We’ve also considered including a sound element to this game, as inspired by our previous prototypes for a sound game. This could possibly add more personal interest and value to someone who may be more comfortable walking by themselves at night.
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Significance to Design Goals
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This game can be a powerful motivator for people to walk that additional block to get more points. It also provides the opportunity for people to come closer to other people in case something dangerous were to occur at night (there would be someone nearby to notice).
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Users can benefit from the game every time they venture out to walk. It will be a way for them to pass the time as they go from destination to destination at night.