Workshop

Thought_13

Ingrid and I arranged a 3 hours workshop yesterday to investigate about our field and especially about concepts connected to transactions.
Arranging the workshop we understood we wanted to know more about what people think concerning values, trust, knowledge and frustration related to transactions.
We decided to create a booklet for every person who was participating. They had to fill it, answering to the tasks we proposed.

Feedback

Thought_12

On Friday Ingrid and I presented our investigation to the teachers and to the class.
We used as parameters trust and knowledge to analyze different transactions.
Timo recommended to take into consideration also other parameters like frustration, wondering at which point in the transaction this feeling appear, for example.
They also suggested taking a step back, not focusing already too closely on the parking system, but keeping our minds open to all the transactions.

Another important point is: “how physical shape and interaction can generate trust?”
We want to create something that people would trust, working also with service design to approach them, to introduce them to the new transaction. We want to understand how to build confidence and trust through transactions and interactions. This process involves also branding.

We also have to research about conversational interfaces. How do they communicate with us, with which tone and understand the role of people in the system.

Analyzing Transactions

Thought_11

Analyzing Transactions

In between yesterday and today Ingrid and I have been analyzing transactions in our everyday environment and around in the city.
We took into consideration many kinds of them and we found out it would be interesting working with the parking system and try to improve it with the RFID technology.

We thought you could give more values to this experience and helping people, making it simpler through RFID technology.
We considered creating a prepaid card for parking connected to a system that enables you to “buy” more time if you are late through a simple sms. The idea is that you would get a remind 15 minutes before the time you set at the parking will expire and if you want to have more time you can just top up your card by sending an sms.

We gave attention also at the system and we think we could create an RFID prepaid card which is valid to pay the entrance to Oslo, the parking in parking houses and the normal parking on the streets. This could be something useful for people driving into the city.

Also the approach to the customers is important, so we want to take care how people will get in touch with this new system, how to get the right target to know about this and to make them to trust it.

Thought_10

Main Task_Getting started

Brief_Interaction of Transactions

Yesterday we had to communicate our own direction for the main task to the teachers and to the class.
As I wrote on the previous post I was thinking to this global system where people will be able to pay with RFID for different transactions such as payment, tickets, personal transfers, access keys, parking, gym etc.
I spoke with Ingrid yesterday and she is interested too in this field, so we want to try to work together.
Our plan is to analyze transactions and to see how we can improve them using the RFID system as Timo suggested.
I was thinking at the Oyster card system in London and at the yellow symbol they have, which according to me represent and make the system recognizable everywhere.
Maybe we should go in that direction, having a symbol like that represents our global system. So everywhere you find it you know you can pay with RFID system.

But the global system is not the only direction we took into consideration. We were also thinking about travelling. When people are in a trip they usually forget how much money they are spending or in general, with credit card usually people don’t remember how much money they have, so it would be good to create a system that could help people in this.

Moreover we were thinking it would be good to help people in general, considering how they function together and how relationships work.

Thought_9

Now is time for us to start the major task and I'm quite excited about it.
I'm satisfied about the four tasks we developed in the previous weeks and I think now I want to focus on transactions, trying always having as a focal point service design.
The brief “Interactions of transactions” sounds very interesting.
I think here the main point is to be able to make it more USEFUL than simple payments, and this means to add to the system some values and services that can be valuable for people. At the same time we also need to educate people to trust these new technologies and get familiar with them.
This could be an idea for a service… to create a new transaction and at the same time to try to develop a service around it that help people to get in touch with it.
I was also thinking about a global system…where we will be able to pay everything with our RFID phone, from paying the ticket for the bus, to use it to get access to the gym, maybe we can use it to take out money from the ATM machines and maybe it can also contain our personal information, becoming a sort of our ID.
At this point another problem rises: Is the mobile phone the right object to supply to all these actions? Maybe we need an object connected by Bluetooth to the mobile that we can have attached to the arm, for example…

I’m thinking and thinking…

Anyway I want to narrow down and just concentrate on a single transaction, but I think it is important to have clear the scenario around it.

Thought_8

Here is the idea for the design of the 2 machines.

They are thought to be placed close to eachother as the shape suggests, but they can also be installed by themselves.

Now we have to start to think what we want to work at as a main project.

I really enjoyed this last task so I'm considering going for the brief "Interactions of Transactions". At the same time anyway I'm interested also at the brief "A graphic language fr RFID" which is about making symbol to visualize the RFID interaction.. maybe I can combine these two briefs...

Thought_7 interaction design

Task_4

This week the task is to re-design the ticketing system for the Oslo Sporveien considering the use of RFID cards.
I’m working at this project with Natacha and Knut.
During the week end we have been taking pictures of the existing situation and yesterday we started to define our concept.
We basically want to use just the RFID machines to validate tickets and not having anymore machines that validate paper tickets. From here raises the challenge of making also the one way ticket with RFID technology and not in paper.
Consequently we thought that’s a sort of universal ticket that you have to buy in any case, both if you want to use it as a one way ticket or if you want to use it as a weekly, monthly etc. In this second case you have in some way to UPGRADE your ticket topping it up…
We thought to have a machine divided in two parts for the 2 options:
- 1. Genarate the ticket ( if you need just a one way ticket you are done and you go!)
- 2. Upgrade your ticket (topping it up and making it to become a dayly, weekly, monthly etc )

Now we are thinking to the design of the new tickets and machines.

Thought6_interaction design

Task_3

Today we presented our concept for task 3. It is called tagger.com
It is a system that wants to empower the customers;
It is an underground system, consequently not allowed;
It is a kind of second layer information on products;
It is a Wikipedia of products to let know to people/consumers that don't see it themselves, what is going on in the world.

How it works: First step is to have something to communicate to the other customers. Then you go to tagger.com and on the tag generator you can create your own tag with the message you want to convey. In the future it will be possible to print out RFID tags. Afterwards you can go to the shop where they sell the product you want to communicate a message about and you stick the tag on it. Other customers can read it through their mobile phone with a RFID reader. In this way they are able to see if it is an approved or not approved product by you and by tagger.com. They will also read your message. If they want to find out more about that product, they can also go to the web site directly from the phone.
This system is against marketing and wants to make every consumer more aware about the products he is usually buying.