UX video
Background
Normally, the kitchen is a private space. In student accomodations, however, it can be shared by 12-16 people. According to our investigation, random socializing can stress introverts out, as they are too polite to stop potential conversations. So we designed the Holoavatar, a hologram pet that expresses their feelings and implies interpersonal boundaries in a playful way. We aim to deliver that it’s okay to be quiet.
Design methods used in this project include prototyping (Figma), affinity diagram, six-thinking hats, etc. But this article will focus on an immersive role-playing+wizard of Oz method. This project is a group work, but this method is designed and conducted by me individually.
Keywords: introverted users, role-playing, modeling
Immersive role-playing
One challenge in this user evaluation was the user- they were introverts. On one hand, the scenario should be as realistic as possible, so as to see their true reactions to the solutions with interpersonal interaction happening around. On the other hand, it can’t be conducted in the real shared kitchen, making them too anxious to offer valuable feedback, according to previous interviews.
So what about bringing the “kitchen” to their rooms where they feel comfortable to talk?
To bring themselves into the kitchen context, I made a paper model of a Lappis shared kitchen. And since the real product was not made yet, I used paper cards to represent the hologram pets (wizard of Oz).
The task of users was: imagine you are preparing breakfast, design your own avatars in paper cards and use it/them to interact with your friend. You can either be yourself or act as an extrovert according to your memory.
Through this test, I discovered all users were excited to offer advice for our design. It was the model of the kitchen that engaged them into the real context; and it was the chance of making their own avatars that enabled them to fully understand our design and stimulated them to share their own experiences. With this, I got a lot of valuable feedback, which then contributed to the final solution.