temporal calendars
We focused on kickstarting and moving into the ideation phase of our project. The crazy 8 ideation was a great design method to come up with quick design directions and think out of the box. Below are the outcomes of these quick ideas supported by sketches.
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Ana and my crazy 8 ideation outcomes
We looked at how we could expand our design with some of the following ideas:
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Creating a toolkit to understand the different paces of time and cultures like the food and music. Could have digital and physical elements
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A mixed-media installation with textures, smells, and visuals. Walking through different paces of time
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A cultural capsule allowing you to experience different cultural tempos, a sensory experience
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A series of clocks that represent different characteristics (work, food, travel...) of cultural tempos from different places
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A cultural calendar always different kinds of times based on temporal signatures and the ability to share it with others
Ana and I felt we could expand on the idea of designing a temporal calendar as it had a good amount of potential and we had few ideas for taking it forward. A calendar gives the opportunity to have layers of information. The ability for it to be personal and extended to a larger audience worked well with our initial thoughts of the kinds of functionality we wanted our project to have.
Our starting point for this design direction was questioning what a calendar is and brainstorm all the possibilities that could come through. This brainstorming led to the creation of a mind map which we then organised into buckets of categories being: what we think a calendar is, who are the groups of people that would use a calendar, what metaphors could be linked and what features could it have. This categorisation can be seen below.
What a calendar could be
Features
Metaphors
Different forms of a calendar
Groups of people that use a calendar
MARKET RESEARCH
Our next step was to explore and research existing calendars and mapping platforms. We conducted market research starting with Apple and Google calendars. We extended our search to gym apps, study platforms for students, changing routine based on different timezones and nature time, and apps for taking work breaks and setting your goals. Some of the platforms that we looked at were Pomodoro (https://pomofocus.io/), Todoist(https://todoist.com/), Evernote(https://evernote.com/), Gymbox(https://www.gymbox.com/), Istudiezpro(https://istudentpro.com/), Tick tick app(https://ticktick.com/?language=en_US), and Trello(https://trello.com/).
The market research method allowed us to see what features and systems are in use and we could compare various platforms to understand where the gaps were. Ana and I were sure about not creating another app which is a modification of the existing calendars, however, this market research allowed us to see which elements we could include into our experience and expand on those becoming a temporal calendar.
We also wanted to know what people thought calendars lacked in terms of features and functions and we decided to conduct a survey. We asked around 30 people if they plan their days and what features they find lacking in the current platforms. Their responses were helpful as well.
These explorations led us to design a workshop and begin prototyping towards the final outcome. Although we didn't have a clear idea of what that would be, we decided to trust the process and go forward!
Few screenshots of our transcript analysis
Looking at existing platforms
Survey answers for what features are needed in a calendar
We were advised to start making things and get experimental with our ideas, to make them weird and real. We had difficulty in trying to picture the final outcome, but it was time to move away from the paper and start creating with our hands, and bodies. Trying to create an experiential temporal calendar was a challenge. We hoped that our wide body of research paired with workshops would lead us towards the right path!