Concept Development 6/27/16

Week 1: Ideation

The goal of this week is to ideate potential design direction based on our secondary and primary research. The technique we used for ideation includes design prompts generation, interaction, individual ideation, wishing, and group ideation.

Design Prompts

Design prompts were the core of our ideation, by generating design prompts, we had a better understanding of what kinds of problem are we try to solve, who are the potential user, and how are we going to solve it.

The design prompts we used were:

1. 
   
2. How might we empower clients to feel like they are part of the design team?
3. How do we elicit emotional connections between stakeholders and the project?
4. How can we make remote interactions feel more dynamic and personal?
5. How can we make complicated design tools intuitive enough for non-experts to pick up and use?
6. How might we help architects connect with clients on an emotional level in the absence of explicit social cues?
7. How can we minimize the technical language barrier for clients? 
8. How can we help stakeholders transition between 2D and 3D perspectives for better understanding of spatial flow?
9. How can we help clients view the design concept like an interactive story?

Ideation Process Overview

We started our ideation with design prompts and interaction map among stakeholders. After the analysis, we moved to individual ideation by coming up with 20 concepts from each person. The second ideation method was "wishing" which enabled us to generate bold and unrealistic ideas, group them under different themes and develop them into more realistic concepts. At the end, we group all the concepts into nine themes, combined overlapping ideas, and picked five design concepts which were most interesting and promising to us.

Interaction Map

Individual Ideation

Generating ideas individually is an efficient way to start the process since we might have different interpretations of the problem and expectations of how the problem might be solved. This also allowed us ideate without being interfered by others’ opinions. 

Process

1. Each team member generated 20 ideas with visual and verbal descriptions overnight
2. We had group discussion where each of us walked through each idea
3. The ideas were grouped and labeled based on emergent themes

Individual ideas

Wishing

Empathy is essential to user-centered design. We used a “wishing” approach to come out with unrealistic but valuable “wishes” based on stakeholder perspectives.  This gave us a diverse range of themes that were unrestricted by realism.  These wishes were then turned into more feasible solutions through group ideation.

Process

1. We tried to put ourselves into the architect’s and client’s shoes, and generated ideas based on “I wish we had... “ or “I wish I could”
2. Wishes were grouped into several categories based on similar themes.
3. “Realistic” ideas were then generated to try to fulfill the wishes.

"Wishing"

Group Ideation

We conducted a group ideation session to organize all of our individual ideas and to form our potential design directions. We took our 60 ideas and grouped some of them while combining others to arrive at five design directions.

Process

1. Each team member generated 20 ideas with visual and verbal descriptions overnight.
2. All ideas were laid out on a table for group discussion.
3. The ideas were grouped and merged to form themes and potential design directions.

Grouping and combining ideas

Based on grouping and combing out ideas, we summarized five design concepts, which are:

1. Increasing client involvement in the design process by providing intuitive toolkits.
2. Improving spatial understanding for non-experts by translating 2D concepts to 3D.
3. Improving understanding of static concepts through simulations of real-life scenarios.
4. Increasing the viability of implicit social cues for a more emotional connection between stakeholders.
5. Providing or creating 3D visualization of pre-existing spaces to facilitate communication of design intentions.

And for each design direction, we creates a storyboard to show how we might solve the problem.

Design Concepts

Concept One: Design Toolkit

Intuitive design kit in AR or VR format for clients to manipulate virtual 3D models.

Problem space

Clients are not trained in spatial design so it is often a challenge for them to explain what a building should look like to the architect. It might take weeks to wait for architects to rebuild a model when it does not meet the client’s expectation.

How it works

After architects import models into the design toolkit, the model will be automatically broken down into smaller components. Clients can move components around just like playing with Legos to express their design intention.

Target user

Clients

Value

The design kit provides and easy way for clients to play around with the model without learning how to use the traditional software, and it also provides instant feedback on how the space will look like after changes.

Concept Two: 3D Model Reviewer

Virtual space where clients can make 3D sketches and comments on the design concepts, and experience real-time update of the space design based on their request. 

Problem Space

For clients, most current solutions either present the model in 2D or in low-fidelity 3D that could not truly represent the design. Furthermore, clients are required to learn how to use the review software to leave comments. For designers, it can also be challenging for them to understand the comments and 2D sketches left by the client.

How it works

Clients can leave sketches and comments on the space, and see real-time updates in the space based on their request.

Target user

Clients, designers

Value

The solution provides an easy way for clients to review and comment on the 3D model. Designers can update the model immediately without needing a back and forth communication just to clarify what clients want.

Concept Three: Real-life Scenario Simulator

Animation-based simulation system that helps clients understand the spatial flow through real-life scenarios.

Problem space

Lots of money is spent to change or revising designs when clients find out that a room actually doesn’t work for what they intended.

How it works

By experiencing spatial flow in real-life scenarios, clients can better understand how the space might function. The solution can also provide a preview of how the design might look in different scenarios (raining days, at night, or 30 years later).

Target user

Clients

Value

The solution allows client to have a complete overview of how the room or building will look after being built. Since clients rely heavily on narrative storytelling as a means of understanding space, these solutions help communication during the design process.

Concept Four: Non-verbal Behavior Translator

Visualization of social cues that helps connect collaborators through understanding of emotion and common ground in the remote context.

Problem space

Designers rely heavily on non-verbal expressions so they prefer to meet in-person to tell whether the client likes the design or not. In the remote context, these social cues are often unavailable. For example, collaborators could not tell whether they are pointing to the same object during the discussion.

How it works

With gestural tracking together with attention and gaze information, the solution can record and translate how the client feels or which part of the design they are referencing in to the architect in real-time. With this, the designer could understand the non-verbal expression under remote context just like they are meeting them in-person.

Target user

Client-facing professionals

Value

The solution provides non-verbal social cues to designers so they are able to tell whether the client likes the design or not with the provided information, particularly in remote contexts. It could also ensure that designers and clients are establishing common ground during the discussion.

Concept Five: 3D Reference Database

 Providing or creating a 3D library that consists of visualizations of pre-existing spaces to facilitate communication of design intentions.

Problem space

Finding reference images is challenging, especially for non-experts. However, it is also challenging for them to express how they imagine the space, which architects are often struggling with to figure out exactly what the client wants.

How it works

The solution provides a database with a variety of indexed pre-existing designs. All designs are presented in 3D with environmental context so that clients and designers can use them as references.

Target user

Clients and architects

Value

The solution provides an easy way for both clients and architects to present their ideas. Architects can simply set up the 3D space to show to the client, and clients no longer need to try to find reference images to convey how they want the building to look.

Reflection

Although we tried to generate the idea as broad as possible, we were still somehow limited to some of the specific domains. In the ideation process, we encourage ourselves to go wild and go crazy, which we are going to keep ideate some more compelling and creative potential solutions. Also, we still had not clearly define the user and the value of each concept that it will be the main focus next week.