Hello everyone so its been a while since I wrote on this but since i started it I might as well keep up with it. So The reason I haven’t posted each project on this like I usually do is the projects we do are quite consistent and we have to write a book on it anyway so I thought I would do a short run down of what ive been doing during my time at gsa.
So for starters we did 3 projects of the gradual course of 4 months this consisted of a “cloud project” which involved literally making or designing something which fits the description “head in the clouds” and getting people to relax… yeah conceptual but fun. We ended up making an app that creates sounds of hat the weather would be according to your mood.
Next we did a photography project which was fun as each group had different themes our team had Arcades and Amusements and we visited a location and made relationships with the owners and observed activity and interaction. The last project we had to minimise the passport and again each group had a different topic surrounding passports or border. The order of weeks were 2-4-7. Since I haven’t worked in a group in a long time it was strange to adjust but you tend to get into it. Since thi was the first officually international group I worked with it was intresting to map out locations of amusements and arcades and structure thm in a “police map” i feel like this was a great way to traget our location ticking off what location works and what doesnt and also if arcades exist in this area.
We visited a lot of amusement such as bowling arcades and it was interesting talking to the people who enjoy gaming as they say it gives them a sense of place, and escapism and some people have came for a night or just to hang out with friends were as there are some who have been going everyday for 20 years. This was rather interesting
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However unfortunately we ere unable to go back their due to security reasons of Hollywood Bowl behg a chain brand and we needed permission from higher management and ethics forms were just too much faff! So we began to search eventually we managed to find a place called R-cade who were super cool super friendly and speaking to them and learning about what they were about seemed interesting as well. However linking back to our “journalistic” task the idea was to create this story naturally we took this literally and listened to the people who told us this story of a girl who felt very anxious and new to the city of glasgow, so in order to make friends she decided to join this cosy place play games and meet people creating a sense of home. Therefore we latched onto this story anf through photography we thought to re-act this. The photos turned out great but perhaps being conceptual was not the way forward especially ethnographically.
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After doing this we consulted as a group all the images we had an re visited the place until we had our defined story as we learned perhaps it is not about random,y taking pictures its about physically talking to the people their and the bonds they share with each other through retro gaming which spans over generations as they take their kids to this R-cade but also meets other parents who have experienced this way of life. So maybe pictures can enhance the experience we tell to provide this vibe and if its done naturally then even better so we decided this was a better direction because of going to events and talking to the parents and perhaps being part of the furniture which is pretty tough but after the 3rd week of interacting with this location i guess it becomes a second skin.
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Overall this project has taught to take a step back an observe the surrounding are, have a chat and understand their perspectives and perhaps see the world through there eyes.
Lastly for our very long and final semester 1 project was all about the passport pacifically for our group it was about the minimising the passport. Now i can see how this can be interpreted in a way like getting a ray gun and physically making it this passport microchip but for us it was so much more than this. For me i found it a slower process as this project certainly involved individual work of reading and desk research. Looking into things like the history or perhaps brexit or the security aesthetics all these things were very considerate or us to look into. Moreover on top of our individual work a lot of ethnography research and using actor network diagrams were discussed to enhance our research knowledge giving us perhaps a bit of depth in our studies… after all we are masters students. What was helpful sorting out reseah ws using EMT or swot analysis map separating things into History, Live/ experience, Opportunity, controveries
I find this a helpful way to organize your research even though it does look it but and organize mess it better out than in kinda like visual brain vomit!
Furthermore we had to interview people on what they think about privacy and trust as this was huge factor with the passport die to the amount of security features surrounding the passport like biometric data and uv threads and security chips. Perhaps its the case the government does not trust us an therefore we don’t trust them! We found mix in the area of having a digital passport since we have things like cloud technology and privacy policy and blockchain. A Lot of people complained about the system wanting something tangible and “real” and wanting to get through as quickly as possible and not look at “a blurry image of themselves” in the scanning machines!
Using this information and more mpas like an infinity or knowledge map helped us to narrow down our project
in the end we made a wearable tangible product which could be also a app on your phone if wearables dont tickle your fancy but essentially you import your passport details and just like magic it uploads onto the system eliminating your time on app,yking as well as passing the borders. So your details we found out is also kept for 3 months for security purposes but if your passport could make you aware of this in a terms and conditions for privacy similarly like a smart contract for blockchain would this make it more likely for passengers to travel like this?
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Overall I apologize if this seemed short but i just wanted to let everyone know what has been happening and perhaps providing a slight educated expernec. This semester i have learned a more doing approach in a more co-ed callabar learning off others and my experience be it pros and cons good and bad experiences working in groups and growing together as collaborative designers. I do believe everyone has different opinions on what design is or ehras how it should be but maybe this is a way of life, an experience an our job to enhance this experience and subjectively believe what we can do to change it through observing, understanding an acting upon those actions. These three steps is something i believe can be a way forward for us as designers but again it is entirely subjective to everyone.
Kimmy xxx