Vand Mig / Red Damask
Idea Development│Max Programming│3D modeling & Printing│Construction│User Testing
Challenging the user to interact unconventionally with installation art by encouraging them to provide water from lush nature to a withered section of wild urban plant life.
In most cases of looking at or interacting with art, one would hesitate pouring water directly into the art. At least that is what we discovered while user testing this exhibit. We benefited from using design principles like constraints and affordances to encourage the user to interact with the installation in closer alignment to what we initially intended.
The most important cue being provided to the user is the idea, that something inside the box of broken concrete is in need of their assistance.
We did this by having the auditive cue come from inside the box, sounding muffled, thirsty and dry in a sort of comical way. This already made more users curious and looking for some sort of solution.
Another important cue provided is of course the visual aesthetic of the exhibition.
We tried to the best of our abilities to create a contrast between the lush and diversified nature you would find in by a bog in a wild forest and the dried up and withered nature you would find in an urban environment. By making a big crack in the asphalt we wish to symbolize a bit of hope that something beautiful and lush could also grow out of the asphalt if we – as humans – help It along.
Watch Below
Constraints
• By providing constraints we limit the way the user can interact with the exhibition. By screening off the technical parts and making sure the exhibition can’t easily be moved around we limit the user to interact with only the visible parts.
Visibility
• By using focused light, we make the interactive part of the exhibition more visible.
Feedback
• By providing auditive and visual feedback to the user when they interact, we build a foundation of understanding in which they can decide whether to keep interacting and exploring.