Bubbliser

My Role

Lead Product Designer, UX Researcher, Rapid Prototyping, Electronic Programming.

Duration

Aug - Nov 2021
10 weeks

Course

Prototyping Electronics IACT 330
Professor Patricia Bell

Team

Nandika Gupta (Team Lead)
Raymond Wong (Research Lead)
Amanda Kong (Visual Lead)
Arjun Gupta (Interaction Lead)
Pranshu Argawal (Prototype Lead)

In a time when we are the most technologically connected we’ve ever been, we've become disconnected.

50% of lonely adults reported that no one in the past few weeks had “taken more than just a few minutes” to ask how they are doing in a way that made them feel like the person “genuinely cared.”

A spectrum of mental health

Flourishing

Strong sense of meaning, mastery and mattering to others

Languishing

Feeling empty, unmotivated, stagnated

Depression

Feeling despondent, drained and worthless

“It wasn’t burnout — we still had energy. It wasn’t depression — we didn’t feel hopeless. We just felt somewhat joyless and aimless. It turns out there’s a name for that: languishing.”

Reference

The Problem

Connection is a core need for people as social beings. Despite being more technologically connected, people in our society are disconnected from one another and increasingly experiencing feelings of languish and loneliness.

Collective Effervescence

Coined by sociologist Émile Durkheim

The sense of energy and harmony people feel when they come together in a group around a shared purpose.

Before Covid, research showed that more people found collective effervescence at least once a week, and some experienced it at least once a day.

“Emotional contagion is when we are literally infected with other people’s emotions,”

Gabriel, S., Naidu, E., Paravat,i E., C. D. Morrison & Gainey, K. (2019). Creating the sacred from the profane: Collective effervescence and everyday activities. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1689412

Target Audience

We focus on people in communities.

We aim to connect people and foster collective effervescence within and between communities, big or small.

Unmet needs

We are social creatures with a basic need to belong.

We are addressing the feelings of loneliness and languishing as people feel disconnected from their communities.

Our process

Prototype rapidly and fail early

We want to get as many people as possible participating in our experience to get large quantities of varied data.

Design Sprints

This approach gives us flexibility to pivot and adapt, while being focused on the problem space

Sprint 1

The objective of the first sprint was to ideate on installation and interaction concepts that spark joy amongst groups of people. In this first sprint, it was also important to test our proof of concept in it’s lowest fidelity and see if our hypothesis and assumptions were accurate. The learnings from this sprint were then built upon and improved in the following sprints.

Ideation

We conducted rounds of Crazy 8's using our design questions as a prompt. The goal here was quantity over quality to get all the generic ideas out. Then we mapped them on an impact-feasibility matrix to help make a decision on our direction.

Crazy 8's Ideation Sessions

Mapping our ideas on a Impact-Feasibility matrix

Interactive Tiles

What is it?

A 3x3 grid of switch-enabled interactive tiles that light up when you step on them

How does it work?

Step on any tile to make the surrounding LED lights glow. Multiple tiles can be pressed at once, which allows for several people to interact with together

Photo: Team testing hard wiring connections

Photo: Team waiting patiently testing prototype

Materials used

Scrap cardboard pieces
9 Switches
3 Resistors (10k, 5k, 2k ohm)
LED strips
Jumper wires
Arduino UNO/MEGA
Breadboard

Photo: Testing prototype by stepping on it

Technical Learnings

Problem

Troubleshoot

Solution

LEDs did not light up

Arduino ran out of RAM and one of the LED strip’s circuit was broken.

Use Arduino MEGA. Replace LED strip.

Reading from the resistor ladder is inconsistent

Cable gets loose sometimes and noise in environment affects analog-Read(pin)

Solder most wires and add tolerance setting for the reading

Buttons aren’t always clicked on when we step on the tile

Cardboards do not always leverage the feet’s force to press the button

Use sturdier boards, and improve activation mechanism

User Testing

Goals

To understand how users interact with the tiles

To evaluate the social interactions that happened while the user(s) are interacting with the product

Criteria of Success

Number of people using it
Number of people spectating
Degrees of separation
Smiles and level of happiness observed during usage
Number of people that are influenced to use it

Hypothesis

We will see a few people exploring the installation and they act as catalyst that invites more people to join, ultimately connecting strangers within the group

Assumptions

People will jump onto it and explore it
We expect to see different types of interaction with the tiles.
We expect a diverse group using this at the same time (Not just one person or people in the same group)

Follow-up Feedback

“The sign drew me in”

“I was scared to step on it. I dont want to break it.”

“Reminds me of DDR” - many people and even a professor

“We just thought it would be fun to jump on it :)”

“I like the feeling of the depression going downward”

“I thought it would be cool if the lights radiated outward”

User Testing Results

115 passers-bys

60% conversion rate

Heat map of results, most users stepped on bottom right and left tiles

Recorded observations

Low engagement

High engagement

[46] Passed by didn't notice it. They were looking at phone, walking in a group, or walking in and out of the building.
[23] Walked by dismissed it. They turned their heads and saw it but didn't stop walking
[4] Stopped walking to look then continued
[6] Experienced a faulty start. They were still interested in trying again to see what happens and pressed again.
[5] Stayed around to watch people interact with it
[10] Stopped walking to look because others were looking
[17] Had a full interaction, stepping on more than 3 tiles with both feet on the prototype
[3] Waved at the camera
[6] Was walking with a friend, stepped on it, and encouraged a friend to participate
[1 pair] Jumped and played on it, fully committed
[1 pair] Made a connection with a new person

Sprint 1 Findings and Next steps

Main Findings

People are more likely to interact with it if they see someone else interacting as well
People are more likely to interact in groups/pairs
People enjoyed the haptic feedback from pressing the tiles but the delayed response from the lights discouraged some

What improves conversion?

Improve affordance by adding more signifiers
Improve the level of completion of form
Increase the visual gaze points beyond floor

What improves interactions between people?

Scaling up the prototype by adding more element (platforms) or spacing them out
Improve responsiveness
Add surprising or changing elements
Add goals that require collaboration to achieve

Guiding design questions going forward

How might we increase initial user engagement - so that people don't just dismiss our prototype?
How might we make the interaction more obvious but yet leave an element of surprise?
How might we turn second-degree connections into first-degree?
How might we make a system that requires multiple people interacting with it, so they make an effort to collaborate and interact?

Sprint 2

We aim to use our insights from Sprint 1 to prototype a concept that is informed by our new design questions. Our goal with this second sprint is to take one step closer to our final concept. We want to get refine a more natural and exciting interaction model, and make headway in having our technical components functional.

Ideation direction

Clap-to-activate light and bubble installation

The concept consists of multiple circular light-up platforms surrounding a bubble generator that activates when people clap for it

The intent of this setup is for people to collaborate with each other. By standing on the platforms and clapping together, to activate the bubbles

The more people clap together, the more bubbles keep coming out!

Conceptual Map

Material

Purpose

Battery powered bubble machine

Generate bubbles

Microphones, Bluetooth connected ESP32

Translucent acrylic platforms, LED strips

Light up the platform when user steps on it

Mod 1: Bubble research

Testing different combinations of...

Bubble solutions, wands, angles, fan speed, wand movement, positions of machines

Wizard of Oz

Important bubble research to try out possible movements of the machine

Bubble machine prototype hardware

LoFi Rapid Prototype

Technical Learnings

Problem

Troubleshoot

Solution

Fan was not able to blow out bubbles

The RPM of the motor was slow, and thus didn’t have enough power

The original fan was radiating air outwards and not directly into the bubble wand loops

Purchased a higher RPM and power computer Fan

Stepper Motor was not able to coordinate with DC Motor

The speed of Stepper Motor was too fast for the the Fan

Adjusted the Rotation Speed of the Stepper Motor in alignment with the fan

Bubble solution seems fragile

Bubble solution from Dollar Tree not reliable or good quality. Adding dawn dish soap helped a little.

Buy better quality bubble soap

Technical Learnings

Problem

Troubleshoot

Solution

LEDs did not light up when pressure was placed on platform

Plugging in LED strip to another arduino board

Providing LED lights with a different power source

Platforms would get spoilt if people with wet or moist shoes stepped on them

Blue Foam under platforms gessoed and foam board tops spray painted

Extra coatings help platforms be more resilient and waterproof

Technical Learnings

Problem

Troubleshoot

Solution

ESP8266 does not connect to multiple endpoints as server

ESP8266 is not the best choice to act as Access Point (AP) mode if receiving data is not expected regularly

Switch to other sources as server (i.e. Adafruit IoT Platform, Azure IoT, Raspberry Pi as MQTT server)

Jamming two analog devices into one pin

ESP8266 only has one analog pin

Use a multiplexer to switch between signals

LED light doesn’t work in some cases

Serial port does not run well with the LED library (issues with UART and I2C connections the library establishes)

Avoid beginning serial at all when using LED strip, only use serial ports when debugging non-LED issues

Sprint 2 Findings and Next steps

Main Findings

How do we improve form and technical functionality?

Clapping as an interaction model is not intuitive or easily detectable by microphones
The platform lights should radiate inward to create a better glowing effect that is more engaging to stand on
Switching to use a cloud intermediary as there was difficulty in having multiple chips communicating with one centralised chip

Sprint 3

Sprint 3 would be our final sprint, and the goal would be to iterate on our concept from Sprint 2 based on our technical insights, and refine it to create our final concept for this class. We will be taking our combined insights from both Sprint 1 and 2 while creating this final prototype, so that it can be as research-informed and effective as possible.

Features

Functions

Pressure-sensitive platforms

Platforms light up when stepped on

Bubble machine

Bubble machine turns on when 2 or more platforms are activated

Revised Conceptual Map

Making the Bubble Machine

Refine form and encase 2-way bubble machine
Procure better quality bubble solution
Connect bubble machines to ESP 8266 to receive signal
Emits bubbles based on the strength/amount of people stepping on the platforms

Pressure Sensitive Platform

6 octagonal high rised platforms
Securing the LED lights, Arduino & wirings inside the platform
Frosted acrylic platforms as the top
Detects users with pressure-sensitive resistors

Cloud Intermediary

Sends signal if pressure is detected
Subscribe to the intermediary for changes

User Testing

Goals

Observe and understand how users interact with the platforms

Observe target audience of the product in a crowded public space

Observe the social interactions that happens when multiple users are interacting with the prototype at the same time

Criteria of Success

Number of people using it
Number of people spectating
Degrees of separation
Smiles and level of happiness observed during usage
Number of people that are influenced to use it

Location

Forsyth Park

Time duration

11am - 12:30pm

Methodology

Discreet observation
Informal follow-up interviews

Follow-up Feedback

“This project is really cool, I really like it”

“Whatever brings him joy, brings me joy”

“This made my day a little better”

“Seeing them (the kids) have fun put a smile on my face ”

“My son loves the bubbles, this is pretty fun”

User Testing Results

110 Total platform interactions

3 Unique Participants

Heat map, most interactions from entrance pavement

Heat map of movements and steps taken

Recorded observations

Low engagement

High engagement

[More than 50] people who passed by didn't notice it. They were looking at phone or talking to their own group
[More than 80] people that walked by dismissed it. They turned their heads and saw it but didn't stop walking.
[15] Stopped and looked at others who have stopped. These people did not join
[4] Stopped and looked at others who have stopped, and talked to us about the project as we reached out
[19] Very briefly touched or nudged a platform and then walked off
[3] Who were strangers to each other surrounded it and discussed what the installation is
[3] Young adults that didn’t know each other interacted with the platforms at the same time
[6] Parents with children interacted with it, and discussed with fellow parents
[4] Who were strangers to each other interacted with it and with each other
[6] Children that didn’t know each other interacted with the installation and with each other

Sprint 3 Results

Main Findings

People felt more encouraged to interact with it if someone else was already interacting with the platforms
The concept enticed a younger demographic more (children and teens), which was followed by older people (parents)
It was very successful in producing joy, however not as much in terms of connecting people

Main Challenges

LEDs were not powerful enough to be bright during broad daylight
Bubble Machine was struggling to produce enough bubbles to be very noticeable
Younger children had to step in the middle of the platform in order to activate the pressure sensitive resistors

Final Product

Next steps and Improvements

Scaling up the prototype by adding more elements (platforms and bubble machines) or spacing them out
Have more powerful lighting elements and bigger bubble machine
Adding more explicit collaborative interactions
Exploring more locations

User Testing full set up in the park test