Situated
Interface
This short brief was to consider and analyse how designed systems and the infrastructures of space can control, manipulate and influence human behavior.
A situated interface is one which often connects people to institutions and services, an example being a reception desk. The workings of these interfaces are also often hidden, and the person using that interface only interacts with what they require.
The aim of the project was to undertake a design research task, visiting a chosen location, analysing how the space impacted the people within it and from this research/observation, create a 2/3D artifact to be left in the space. Factors impacting behavior we were trying to consider were social, economic, political and tech/network.
The intention of the artifact was attempt to draw attention or ask questions about the space to the people within it. For example making them aware of a certain action or behavior they were doing that they may not have realised.
Research and Idea Generation
The Turbine Hall gives the feel of a ‘free’ space, similar to that of a park or a public square, peoples behaviour reflects this.
The chosen location for this project was the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern. Some notes and thoughts from a short observational period in the space were:
Certain social norms do not apply, e.g. people sitting on the floor, lying on the floor. - The space was very ‘people’ lead in the types of behaviors that were common, as apposed to being dictated by the space (Signage, security)
The points above are examples of invisible systems at play, this time, the agreed social norms and etiquette that the space creates. The Turbine Hall exhibition was a huge heat map that required body heat to reveal a hidden picture. This exhibition was a great example of peoples behaviour being influence (this time a little more obviously) However, a key thing noted was how people felt it a safe place to leave their belongings and also not feel alarmed by others. This lead to questions about how the space was influencing people to feel like this, and if our final artefact could play into this somehow.
Behavior Mapping with Elvia Concelos
Elvia introduced us to different methods of 'sketchnoting'. Ways of working with your research visually.
We used the particular technique of sketchnoting called Behavior Mapping. This involved a lot of quick research notes and sketches of our findings and observations from the Turbine Hall.
Once we felt we had an adequate amount of notes/images, we began to order them into 'influence' categories. We felt that the three main categories influencing peoples behavior were structure (the psychical space), Actions (behavior of others in the space) and senses (the 'feeling' of the space). These categories were not exclusive and a lot of our notes/images were applicable to more than one. Below are images taken from this session:
Application
From our research and the method of behavior mapping. We decided on two potential Hypothesis that our final artifact would attempt to comment on.
Hypothesis Idea’s
The Implicate approach
The idea of a space dictating how people perceive objects within it. In our example, an unattended item left in a public space, something that the current social climate wants the public to be actively vigilant off and treat as suspicious.
Reference:‘Seeit,Sayit,Sorted’campaign http://www.btp.police.uk/latest_news/see_it_say_it_sorted_new_natio.aspx
Explicate approach
This idea involved creating signage that would display made up facts about the space and see if they would alter peoples behavior in anyway. One sign included a reference to bag theft and the other about how many germs were present on the floor. The aim here was to see if we can alter the behavior we had found interesting (unattended items and the breaking of common social norms).
This is the idea we carried out as it was more practical and do-able considering the time frame we had and the expenses our implicit idea would of required.
Results/reflection
The results and outcome of our final artifact fell a little flat. When we returned to the Turbine Hall is was extremely quiet, really limiting the potential impact out signs could have. We tried to record the impact our signs had but the results were very inconclusive and not really of any value.
I also I felt like our final idea was maybe a little too direct due to the language used for our signage, it really only gave the results two ways to go either People would read the signs and choose to ignore them and carry on as normal or People would read the signs and do as we expected (move their bags, or not touch the floor as much) - Not that exciting or imaginative.
If we had been a little more playful with out signage the results may have reflected it. Something taking influence from the Rune Madsen - People Watching project.
Some of my ideas for this included, seeing if it was possible to influence people to order their shoes by colour, or to arrange their shoes in a straight line/pattern - for no reason other than following the social rule set by other people.
The hypothesis for this could have been: Do we follow social rules for ease and practicality or simply because of social conformity. The TATE would of been an excellent location for this because of the way people appeared to be more at ease and responsive in the space
Overall our 'Situated Interface' somewhat missed the mark. However the practice of location based observational research and following behavior mapping techniques were really insightful and valuable. Behavior mapping can really bring your research to life and aids in visualising what it is you have collected.
Undertaking research which required considered observations what exactly was influencing and impacting people was a very useful way of working. Without psychically being in the space it is impossible to really get a feel and sense of what is happening, it also opens up your thinking to factors that may not have been picked up on if other methods of research were used.
Video References
Social Life of Small Urban Spaces - WIlliam H. Whyte Video Reference: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uowJa3pstlw&t=19Whyte was one of the first people the study and consider the effects and influences design can have on people and the way they behave and interact with the space they are in.
PlayTime 1967 - Jacques Tati
Video Reference: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUTY0QrKJSQ
Jacques Tati’s PlayTime is a film centred around its characters interaction with a futuristic tech integrated world. Although fictional, it can be used as a great example of how design and tech integration can affect and influence human behaviour it was neither designed or intended to influence, both to good and bad effect
Website References
Architectures of Control
http://architectures.danlockton.co.uk/architectures-of-control-in-the-built-environment/ Notes:
- Consider different types of ‘Architecture’s of control’ e.g a school classroom windows considered design and positioning
- How Urban planning can be used to implement methods of crowd control both in a physical way but also psychological.
- Consider what ‘defensive architecture’ is, and if it can actually be considered ‘control architecture’
- Further examples include, London’s Ring of Steel or the early thinking behind street lighting and the effects it would have on peoples behaviour and thinking
Design for Equitable Cities
http://superflux.in/index.php/work/shifting-the-balance/#
Notes:
Research and Destory http://readings.design/PDF/vanderVelden_research-distroy.pdfPeople Watching
https://runemadsen.com/work/people-watching-plus/