creature (case study)

1

Creature

OVERVIEW DESIGNIDEATIONRESEARCH VALIDATION

PROBLEM Couples in long distance relationships have difficulty feeling connected.

Current technology has improved frequency of contact, but few significant improvements in quality.

SOLUTION An interactive experience app for mobile and wearable. Partners interact through synchronous tapping to maintain the health of a virtual creature.

MY ROLE

PROCESS Research Ideation Design Validation

an interactive experience for long distance couples on mobile and

Apple Watch

TOOLS Sketch Photoshop Hype

INTERACTION DESIGNER In a team of two, I contributed with research, interaction design, and illustrations.

Creature was created as a student project for General Assembly in a 1.5 week span in a team of two people.

Creature


KEY QUESTIONS

We began the project with an in-depth investigation of intimacy and technology.

KEY SOURCES

A notable source was a paper called “On Relationships” by Marc Hassenzahl, which discusses six strategies he has observed for creating intimacy through technology.

JOINT ACTION

GIFT GIVING

EXPRESSIVITY

AWARENESS

MEMORIES

PHYSICALITY

academic research | competitive/comparative analysis | user interviews | personas

• How do couples feel connected? • How can technology create intimacy? • What strategies do experts offer for

long distance couples?

• Relationship experts • Psychology papers on intimacy • Long distance relationship advice • Couples research labs

Here are the six strategies identified by Hassenzahl.


We conducted a feature analysis of other couple apps (including Without, Couple, Between, and Avocado).


We noticed that in existing apps for couples, there was a focus on awareness, expressivity, and memories.

The strategies most frequently used by existing couple apps.

JOINT ACTION

GIFT GIVING

EXPRESSIVITY

AWARENESS

MEMORIES

PHYSICALITY



Many interviewees cited sharing activities and responsibilities as a key aspect of feeling intimacy with their partner.

We then interviewed 15 people in serious relationships, asking them what made them feel connected. We synthesized these interviews into 5 personas.

SADIE The Madly in Love

IRENE The International

(primary)LYDIA

The Busy Bee

NEAL The Weekender

JOHANN The Traveller

The user need for joint action has not been sufficiently addressed, even by existing couple apps.

JOINT ACTION

GIFT GIVING

EXPRESSIVITY

AWARENESS

MEMORIES

PHYSICALITY


technology | MVP | feature prioritization | concept testing

We decided on both mobile and wearable platforms to take advantage of the Apple Watch’s taptic engine while still anchoring people with the familiarity and real estate of mobile.

We considered user needs, business goals, and technology constraints to understand our MVP, which we used to converge on a solution through multiple brainstorming sessions.

MVP A simple, shared activity that

will allow two partners to work as a team and share experiences through novel

interactions with technology.

brainstorming ideas around Hassenzahl’s facets


technology | MVP | feature prioritization | concept testing

tap on the creature to keep up its health

change color (background or creature) to indicate health

do something with partner to increase health sketch a circle around the creature

the partner feels your tap when you tap it

the creature goes evil when you don’t take care of it

every 12 hours, both of you have to interact with it

sketch food for the creature

both of you have to exercise together (heart rate)

misbehaving (life of its own when you’re not there)

as you interact with it, it evolves from the basic puffball

every month/6 months/year, it dies and rebirths like a phoenix

comes up on your watch without you controlling it

have to do a series of taps

some sort of puzzle or game? a secret world?

need a companion app for the sake of steering wheel:

tapping back and forth with partner makes the creature jump higher and higher until it eats food

teach creature custom gestures, like hugging

VIRTUAL PET

AR MESSAGE

JOINT EXERCISE

SECRET LANGUAGE

MOOD RINGGESTURE

DRAWINGS

STATUS

LOCATION REPORTING

CUSTOM VIBRATIONS

GAMIFIED DAILY ROUTINE

LOCATION

EASTER EGGS

SHARED STATS

We converged on two ideas that fit our MVP. We tested the two concepts with 7 people and received the most positive feedback for the virtual pet idea.

We additionally generated ideas for multiple possible interactions with the virtual creature, converging on synchronous tapping that would increase the creature’s health.


character conceptualization | survey | character design | hi fi mockups | prototype

I conceptualized various character designs for the creature, drawing on multiple sources of inspiration.

• 44 survey respondents • Majority vote for “J” in all categories • Cuteness factor 7.63 of 10

Which creature do you find the cutest? Which creature would you most like to take care of? Which creature feels most alive to you?

We tested my designs through a survey. Out of 44 respondents and 10 possible creatures, there was one clear winner.



I created multiple animations of Creature. I also conceptualized and illustrated the room that Creature lives in.

JOINT DANCE SEND TAPS NOTIFICATION

I created hi fi mockups for the watch. The primary function of the watch app involved the taptic engine and notifications to give Creature a sense of continuous life.

The functionality of the watch app allowed for notifications, synchronous tapping with the taptic engine, and sending taps through the app.


INTERACTION SCREEN

The second screen is an example of how the synchronous tapping interaction would look. In further developing this app, we would consider auditory and vibrational feedback. Click through to the prototype to see more.

E

F

E. An example of the simplified room.

F. Each person can see a colored circle both where they are tapping the screen, as where their partner is tapping the screen.

PROTOTYPE | http://bit.ly/1zlQ3LD

PRIMARY SCREEN

A A. Indication at the top of the screen of your partner’s presence in the app

B. The health and form of the creature increase and evolve based on the frequency and quality of your interactions.

C. The creature’s environment also evolves over time. Color, sound, and texture increase in complexity.

D. The dots indicate your progress during the synchronous tapping interaction by growing into pink circles.

B

C

D

Based on our sketches and user flows, I also created hi fi mockups for mobile.



http://bit.ly/1zlQ3LD

Moving forward, we would consider using real couples to test the concept of taking care of a Creature, as well as using a diary study to keep track of feelings generated by and towards the Creature app over time.

bodystorm user testing | paper prototyping

We incorporated testing throughout the design process. Due to technical constraints in creating prototypes of sufficiently high fidelity, we used unusual methods: one example being bodystorm testing the synchronous tapping interaction.

paper prototype to test on-boarding flowBodystorm user testing to test the interaction of synchronous tapping.


Build out the notifications system on phone and watch to give the sense that Creature has a life of its own.

This is my passion project because of my interest in emerging technologies, unusual interactions, and designing games that move beyond addictive paradigms into meaningful storytelling experiences.

Create an iPad version of the game to give a richer experience of the world

Develop a plan for the lifecycle of the Creature app over a month, 3 months, 6 months, and a year

NEXT STEPS…

IPAD VERSION APP LIFECYCLE NOTIFICATIONS


13

thank you

see more on my website

http://www.kimliu.co