Mattress Factory
The Challenge: The Mattress Factory is a museum of contemporary art that presents art you can get into — room-sized
environments, created by in-residence artists. The Mattress Factory is one of few museums of its kind anywhere.
As a class, we explored the service experience of the Mattress Factory. Each group was asked to take a holistic perspective
on service and come up with suggestions to enhance the service experience at the Mattress Factory, utilizing
an abbreviated process for service design.
Our Solution: Our group went through discovery and synthesis phases, where we explored and documented the environment,
stakeholders, Matress Factory's core competencies and customer typology, amoung other things. We decided to focus on using the
Resource Room to enhance the Mattress Factory experience. We saw the Resource Room as an ideal venue to promote their goals
of bridging the artists and their new works to the public. We went over our discovery and synthesis phases, altering things
as needed to place more of an emphasis on our new focus. We then went through construct and refine stages, which included moment
concepts, process maps and prototypes. At the end of our process, we came up with several recommendations, which we presented to
the Mattress Factory.
Final Presentation
Team: Apiradee Honglawan, Simon King, Rachel Shipman, Christina Worsing
Advisor: Shelly Evanson
Semester: Spring 2006
Duration: 6 weeks
Connecting People and Information in Public Spaces
The Challenge: As part of the "Solar Power Computing: Another Community Supported Design
for a Sustainable Future" project, solar panels were installed on the roof of 407 South Craig Street.
CMU would like to educate the public about solar array power, this and other green practices, and
energy usage of this building. Our group was asked to find a solution which focused on the interior space
of the building
Our Solution: We designed a solution such that both the people who work in and visit
the building would be educated about energy consumption and production practices.
We identified the users of the building, and created scenarios to identify their needs and explore what
types of interactions might best suit them. We then outlined these needs, the way we would
approach our solution, the expected benefits of our solution, and any competition (NABCs).
Our solution consists of two parts. The first is an ambient display for general awareness, which
uses colored lighting solutions in the lobby area. The second is a personalized display for the computer
that affords rich information gain and promotes deeper understanding.
Final Presentation |
Final Report
Team: Gregory Mueller, Karen Taxier
Advisor: Pamela Jennings
Semester: Spring 2006
Duration: 7 weeks
Website Design for a Complicated Information System
The Challenge: I was instructed to find a system which involved an instance of
data overload or a complicated process, which I would describe as "pandemonium".
I then had to design an interactive solution that enabled someone to quickly understand
my specific concept, process, or event. This involved detailing scenarios outlining
interaction with the current system and its shortcomings, as well as my proposed system,
creating NABCs (outlining the needs, approach, benefits and competition), and creating
mockups for a website/application solution.
My Solution: The "pandemonium" I chose to address was that of the process that
a non-US citizen must go through to apply for a US student visa. My proposed system
attempts to make the process more efficient by centralization of information, remembering
user data, indicating progress, displacing the burden of searching from the user
to the system and allowing users to get help. I proposed two different website designs;
one (pictured) focused on simplicity, while the other focused more on navigation and
browsing information in context.
Website Organizational Structure |
Sample Wire Frame |
Final Presentation
Advisor: Pamela Jennings
Semester: Spring 2006
Duration: 3.5 weeks
Redesign of an Interaction Breakdown
The Challenge: From observations of people in my environment, I was charged
with selecting an interaction breakdown between a human user and a device, redesigning
the interaction with this device, and creating a poster to present this redesign.
The poster was to include the current interaction, causes of the error and suggestions
for solving the error. The completed poster was to be 11x17 and mounted on black board.
My Solution: I chose to address the interaction breakdowns associated with setting a
Go Video brand VCR to record a future program. Hierarchy is established on the poster
mainly through size. Images are utilized to visualize both the current and proposed
systems. Colors and stylistic elements are taken from the Go Video logo and device and
carried through throughout the poster for a unified feel. A simple grid system is used to
create a clean, non-complicated look, as well as guide the viewer's eyes to pertinent information.
Final Poster
Advisor: Pamela Jennings
Semester: Spring 2006
Duration: 2 weeks
Event Poster
The Challenge: I was required to create a poster for an event (real or imaginary).
This poster should be tied together by an underlying grid, and have at least three
different levels of reading - an element or connected elements that you see from far away,
a second level that you read closer and a portion of text that you read up close (12pt max).
The poster was to be 11x17 and use up to three colors. The completed work was to be
mounted on black board.
My Solution: I created a poster for Hoopsfest - an annual Georgia Tech basketball
event. Hierarchy is established through type and shapes. The purpose of the event is emphasized
through color and simplified shapes, and the type and organization of elements establish
its fun nature.
Final Poster
Advisor: Jeong Kim
Semester: Fall 2005
Duration: 3 weeks
Type Booklet
The Challenge: Presented with three short essays on typography, I was given
the task of combining them into a booklet and having the completed work bound. The
page layout was to have an underlying grid system, and the given text, title, author's
name and a callout. There also had to be a table of contents including article titles,
author names and page numbers, and a booklet cover with the name of the booklet, my
name and text as image.
My Solution: I chose a short page size and 1 column grid for this lightweight
compilation. There are wide inner margins for callouts, which are differentiated from the main
text by size, weight and style. Ample spacing between elements on the pages and page
borders adds to the lightweight feel. Subtle watermarks on the cover, and in the table
of contents and the articles playfully use typographic elements which also hold semantic
meaning in the context. These elements as well as the use of color and a consistent grid system
tie the whole peice together.
Front Cover |
Table of Contents |
Sample Chapter |
Back Cover
Advisor: Jeong Kim
Semester: Fall 2005
Duration: 3 weeks
